Thinking about getting your self an affordable desktop CNC?

Check out this Shariff DMC2 designed and built by my fellow Canadian!

I wanted to purchase the first version about a year ago, but his Kickstarter campaign has ended by then and I ended up buying a used Prolight 2000 with auto tool changer.

This looks like a quite rigid, fast and a very powerful (3HP, 24k rpm) machine.

Certainly has better accuracy and power than my old heavy desktop machine with  0.001" backlash and just 1hp, 5k spindle.

Not affiliated in any way, by the way. Just looks like a great product all around.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/e5TsK2Sp-aM

Being a professional CNC Machinist myself with a good manual background I often find myself watching various machining videos and blogs.

Unlike others I do not often share somebody-else's work, I could just not walk past this one and not tell everybody how great I think this is....

This story was posted on "Russian reddit" and here is the direct translation of the author's post:

Lets begin with tyres. Vladimir (guy's name) decided to create the mould to make the rubber tyres himself. Here it is:

Here are the tyres he made with it. Beautiful aren't they?

He also made little differentials. Housings, gears. Everything made himself:

Read More 

Proper machining depth and width of cut are just as important as proper Speeds and Feeds. 

This is not only importanttant for professional machinists, who are machining on the edge of their tooling and setup capability, but also for hobbyists, who often face limits from the machine rigidity side of the equation.

HSMAdvisor Speed and Feed calculator has a unique tool used for figuring the best engagement values for each particular cut you are making.

It is called Performance Slider. And it adjusts expected load on the tool and machine depending on your preferred machining mode.

Check out this video I made that explains Performance Slider' functionality:

It is no secret that i am trying to make my software fit the broadest possible group of people.
And while my much-respected hobby customers is a big deal for me, industrial machining is where HSMAdvisor really shines.

Recently a PracticalMachinist forum member Atomkinder posted a video of him machining something on his 1997 Fadal VMC.
Here is what he had to say:

Originally Posted by Mtndew

One thing that I just thought of, you may want to look at buying the HSM advisor ($50) for your high speed toolpaths. Doesn't even have to be high speed, but toolpaths with long engagement and small stepover are proven to run a LOT faster than hogging out the conventional way that's been done forever.
Advanced CNC Speed And Feed Calculator - HSMAdvisor

I use it daily, and I can't think of a time it's let me down.
I second HSMAdvisor. I own my own seat (work doesn't have one) because I like it that much.

This isn't particularly special, but it is a 1997 Fadal VMC2216 box way machine. Removed a whole tool and something like 40% of the cycle time from the second operation of this part.

Atomkinder

And here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHN5z4EKODQ

40% of the cycle time. Aint bad, is it?

In industrial settings, with such great savings HSMAdvisor may very well pay for itself within a day or less!