Machinist Calculator Apps

So on a whim today I searched "Machinist Calculator" in my App Store on my iphone and it popped up several different options. Just curious how many folks are using these and which ones are the good ones. Thanks!

Edit- I apologize , should've used the search feature first, I see there's been discussion on this.

I make my own in Excel.
I have a spreadsheet with different tabs with all the formulas I use all the time.
The formulas are available everywhere so you just put the equations in as needed.
The cutting tool companies have such great info on their websites.

Here is the one I have..

CNC Machinist Calculator available on iTunes & Google Play

The guy who developed it used to pop in here on occasion.. When I got it it was only $5,
Now its $10...

Its got all kinds of good stuff in there...

It updates once in a while and new stuff shows up.. I haven't used it in a
while, and there is some new good stuff in there.. Thread data, wire sizes,
lathe programming that calculates your start and end points while taking into
account your nose radius.. RMS finish stuff... Even has a GD&T reference
thing in there... All kinds of circle and arc calculators, trig of course.
True position calculator, first time I've seen one of those.

And on top of all that and more, its a decent little calculator.

I always forget I have it.. Went digging the other day for a hardness conversion chart.
DUH!! I've got one on my phone.


Pretty impressive for not much money... A TI30XA will run you $12 at Walmart, and it
doesn't do near as much... A Machinery's Handbook, even a used one will run you $10-$15,
this little calc doesn't have as MUCH information, but it has the stuff you NEED, and then
it calculates it for you.

My only complaint, I wish it had an off button (it might and I just don't know where it is), but
it eats up the battery quick when running in the background.

I have several all have pros and cons.
I use Nuts & Bots PRO(like this a lot) and Machine Screws Drill/Tap Info
FSWizard Pro
Machinist Helper Free
Machinist Buddy
Machinist Calc Pro 2
Most of these are only a few bucks with the exception of Machinist Calc Pro 2 and it is 30.00 or so.
All have different features that I like, of course I can never remember witch one has what feature.

I just downloaded the one above seems good I do not like the flashing buttons, would guess that is why it runs the battery down.

MachEng said:

I make my own in Excel.
I have a spreadsheet with different tabs with all the formulas I use all the time.
The formulas are available everywhere so you just put the equations in as needed.
The cutting tool companies have such great info on their websites.

Click to expand...

Ditto here, couldn't get by without spreadsheets. There's no limitation on the type and number of problems that can be solved. If there's an equation for it, a spreadsheet can solve it.

Plus the bigger keys and bigger display on the laptop, where the spreadsheets run, is way easier for me to use - AND see. Trying to make my clumsy fingers function on a smart phone (and using a magnifying glass to see the screen) isn't easy and also subject to operator error.

randyc said:

Ditto here, couldn't get by without spreadsheets. There's no limitation on the type and number of problems that can be solved. If there's an equation for it, a spreadsheet can solve it.

Plus the bigger keys and bigger display on the laptop, where the spreadsheets run, is way easier for me to use - AND see. Trying to make my clumsy fingers function on a smart phone (and using a magnifying glass to see the screen) isn't easy and also subject to operator error.

Click to expand...

dmftom,,,are u out there

I like Web Machinist. It keeps evolving and more information added all the time. I feel it is a fair price at $50 as you can put it on as many computers as you have, no internet connection needed. You can print and email formula results. Windows PC only which may me tough for some. Check it out.

Afilliate Ordering

Ian Fraiser said:

I like Web Machinist. It keeps evolving and more information added all the time. I feel it is a fair price at $50 as you can put it on as many computers as you have, no internet connection needed. You can print and email formula results. Windows PC only which may me tough for some. Check it out.

Afilliate Ordering

Click to expand...

Are you associated with the company in any way, or do you receive any benefit if people order from that link?

obviously if you take a few minutes to learn how to enter math formulas in Excel and you save the spreadsheet it can do any math you want.
.
customizing it for a row to do math on speeds and feeds and cutting forces and hp for a particular tool is relatively easy. copying the row and making a few changes in seconds for a different tool is easy. so making a spread sheet with 1000 tools is easy i just search for tool number and or diameter. i can at a particular feed and speed enter width and depth of cut and material machinability rating and get estimated hp and cutting forces and have cells go yellow or red automatically if above certain limits known to cause excess chatter vibration and or sudden tool failures. obviously a tool holder 20" long normally has quite different limits than a 2" long tool holder
.
same as any software most you need to take a few minutes to learn how to use. Excel been around a long time and although small changes over the years it is still pretty much the same program

By far this is the bit if Excel wizardry I go back to the most:

say I've calculated a dimension in inches e.g. 41.126 but I really need something I can actually measure and make i.e. feet and inches rounded to the nearest 32nd:

=FLOOR(A1,1)+ROUND(32*(A1-FLOOR(A1,1)),0)/32

As I recall it took me a bit of experimenting with the various built-in functions to make it work right but since then it has never failed me. Obviously I have to change A1 to whatever cell I want the contents of operated on (usually the cell just to the left) but after that I can copy and paste it and a whole column of decimal displays will change to neat rounded fractions. For my above pathologically easy case it would of course display 41 1/8 (once I'd formatted the cell to display in fractions).

And for a quick hand-wave at being on topic, I use Machinist Calc Pro quite a bit. It's my only calculator in the shop that will do trig. Not perfect, but handy, handy.

metalmagpie

jrmach said:

dmftom,,,are u out there

Click to expand...

Am I seeing a joke / bit of banter there ?

No dispute that an Excel spreadsheet can do the maths for pretty much everything you'd need. Despite being a totally crap program for anything other than accountancy level maths. VisiCalc has a lot to answer for as it pretty much set the standard for spreadsheet formulae entry. A really really bad one!

MatLab isn't that much better either.

Time was I could make Excel dance and debug monster sheets but that was what I was effectively paid to do as part of the day job. Just a bit easier than programming from scratch!

But what normal person has time to set-up spreadsheet calculations for everything he is gonna need. Let alone come up with a sensible input output set-up. Yup I'll hack up a sheet for odd-ball calculations and one offs but for regular results its grab a handbook time. 'cos I can find what I need uber fast. Got a few apps on my old iPhone but, so far I've never had the yen to actually learn one properly so its second nature. When needs must tho' that will happen fast.

A few drinking voucher, or maybe even free, plus an hour or so to learn an app with more than the 20% of stuff you need regular beats the heck out of equivalent spreadsheet programming time at shop rates. If the spindles not turning you're not earning. No one sane would try to machine mind whilst programming on the side. Leave that stuff to the pros, or sideline guys, who have the time and inclination to get it right, neat and more or less useable.

Clive

main advantage with excel is using tool history.
.
i got a few excel files with dozens of various spreadsheets that do different things. once setup with math formula it takes a second to change one parameter and press enter and it recalculates. or copy and past a row of formulas to try and record slightly different settings
.
main file has every standard tool setup of maybe 500 different standardized tools in tool holders (over 2000 rows) so one row has
.
1) a particular tool with rpm feed sfpm ipt hp cutting forces machinability rating chip thinning, etc
.
2) same tool might have 6 to 12 rows for various feeds and speeds tried and i record any that had sudden tool failures or other problems AND i record best settings for when i want high reliability like consistent high quality finished surface
.
3) since tools are sorted in order of diameter i often have 2 similar tools listed next to one another so if i have no one particular tool i can use the closest similar tool setup that i can "borrow" from a different cnc
.
4) basically a tool database not only listing feeds and speeds but hp cutting forces and more importantly a tool use history. obviously some feeds and speeds work better than others. to learn from past experience you can save time by using better or best settings. human memory not as good as using recorded facts based on prior results. saves making the same mistakes over and over again

Had "Machinist's Calculator" for Android on my phone. Used it a lot, but mostly for triangle solving. Lately, I got a message about Google authentication server not found. I'm assuming that means they don't want us to use it, anymore. Uninstalled it. Installed "Triangle Solver": from Play Store. Free. No data collection.

For cuts and feeds, I use FSWizard.

Amazing how these simple tools help soooo much.

buffumjr said:

Had "Machinist's Calculator" for Android on my phone. Used it a lot, but mostly for triangle solving. Lately, I got a message about Google authentication server not found. I'm assuming that means they don't want us to use it, anymore. Uninstalled it. Installed "Triangle Solver": from Play Store. Free. No data collection.

For cuts and feeds, I use FSWizard.

Amazing how these simple tools help soooo much.

Click to expand...

FSWizard is great! It’ll do triangles too. Eldar Gerfanoz ( @zero_divide ) is awesome for making that free.

Google Sheets runs on android phone, it's free, very similar to Excel, and files stored backed up online and files also can be copied on phone when no internet or wifi.
.... typically takes less than a minute to setup a formula, then only a few seconds to change a cell, recalculate
on enter usually in milliseconds. normally I use a desktop computer but using phone is also a option.
.... can also store images (picture) on a sheet, for example a chart image on eyebolt working loads. can
have many different "sheets" in one file

I use FSWizard Pro. You can get the free version I just thought the paid version was worth it. I think I paid like 17.00 US for it a few years ago.