ShopForm

ShopForm
Machine Shop Formulas Made Quick and Easy!

Provides fast, convenient access to formulas most often needed by conventional and CNC machinists.
Simplifies formula use by giving prompts for all necessary data.
Increases productivity, efficiency, and accuracy.
Takes the grief out of using hard-to-work-with formulas.
Reviewed for usefulness and accuracy by machinists, CNC programmers, supervisors, and quality control experts.
Runs on any PC—DOS and Windows compatible.

This new software saves machinists time otherwise spent tracking down essential formulas. Written by Greg Hyman, an experienced machinist, CNC programmer, and manufacturing engineer, ShopForm has undergone extensive on-the-job testing and refinement. Users need not have detailed knowledge of computer operation, and the software provides on-screen help and examples.

Menu options include:

Three wire formulas—Recommends wire size for checking pitch diameter, and calculates diameter over wires and constant value for wires used. Employs general formula, Bureau of Standards formula, and Buckingham Simplified formula. Option supports both 30° Unified (UN) and Acme thread forms.

RPM-SFPM-diameter conversions—Calculates RPM of a known diameter at a known surface speed, SFPM of a known diameter at a known RPM, and diameter from a known RPM and SFPM.

Tool radius compensation for tapers—Unless a cutter has no corner radius, it will not cut a 1" x 1" taper by feeding 1" in both axes. This option computes the corrections values needed to generate the right cutting path.

Bolt circles—Figures the X/Y coordinates for any bolt circle up to 100 holes. Output gives X/Y coordinates for each hole, chord length from first hole, and angle to each hole from 12:00. After all holes are defined, coordinates can be printed out or saved in a CNC part program format, complete with multiple tools and blank lines for M and G codes.

Tapers—Solves right triangles, given any two sides, or one side and one angle. Angles can be input as either degreesminutesseconds or decimal degrees. Output given in both formats.

Milling formulas—Calculates RPM of a known diameter at a known surface speed, SFPM of a known diameter at a known RPM, and diameter from a known RPM and SFPM, plus feedrate per minute/revolution/tooth. A feature related to average chip thickness calculates feedrate required for desired chip load at a given width of cut. Also figures tapping operations.

Part center from pins—Finds the center of a round part that is located against two pins, based on pin spacing, diameter, and orientation.

Circles—Computes values related to properties of a circle, including radius, diameter, chord length, included angle from centerline of chord, rise, circumference of a circular segment, and distances to any point on the segment.

Surface finish—Computes depth of Machines Trades Education grooves in a surface based on cutter radius and feedrate. Depth is expressed as micro-inch finish of surface and is sampled at 100 evenly spaced points to determine material condition, surface speeds, and tool wear.

Radius to taper—Provides hard-to-calculate numbers for CNC machines involving a part that has a taper intersecting a radius. Allows for accurately figuring a radius leading into or out of a tapered feature for deburr, without having to rewrite a program. Figures inside radius into taper, inside radius from taper, outside radius into taper, and outside radius from taper. Output gives start and end points in X and Z and provides coordinates of the radius center.