Speeds & Feeds Calculators

Special Interest Groups CNC Milling
#1

Today I spent time with James Collard and Walt Groves.

We were reviewing the Vcarve Inlay class materials.
One unexpected benefit of an advanced topics class
is the sidebar insights from others in the class.

I wanted to share with you something James shared with us:

Here is the info on Feeds & Speeds Calculators as alternatives to G-Wizard:

- Shapeoko forum - 2 spreadsheet versions described in: Feeds & speeds - Shapeoko CNC A to Z

  • 1. Originally developed by Gerald Mackelberg based on a worksheet on the NCYCNC site. (attached as “AC Router SFPF Workbook Ver.1.1 (2020-04-11).xlsx”
  • 2. A much simpler version developed by the Shapeoko author (link above) based on Gerald Mackelberg’s spreadsheet described in the previous step. This is the one I most frequently use ( attached as “FS_worksheet_basics.xlsx”)

- FS Wizard: looks intriguing. Owned and developed by Eldar Gerfanov, who also owns and developed HSM Advisor. It appears to be a simpler (relative to HSM Advisor or G-Wizard), easy-to-use feeds & speeds calculator that runs as a mobile app. Will likely more than satisfy the needs of most of us though you will likely want the Pro version. https://fswizard.com/

- HSM Adisor: a competitor to and perhaps superior to G-Wizard according to most comparisons that I have read. Very powerful, but likely overkill for most users: https://hsmadvisor.com/

Side note: the first wonderfully accessible calculator is by our very own Gerry Mackelberg!

1 Like
#2

Thanks for posting Travis and to James and Walt! I’ve used G-Wiz quite a bit in the past (highly recommend calcs when starting out), but being a nerd I am always open to new tech. The option of a calc on my phone like FS Wizard sounds really cool as it would be nice to do a calc in the middle of creating a toolpath without launching a PC app. That said I have found that after a while when using the same bits over and over I rarely use the calcs unless working with a new wood type. It’s funny, even though I have a little bit beefier machine than the good old ShapeOko that I learned on I still use some of the same feed / speed rates as in Travis’s CNC class and almost always get very clean cuts!

Perry