Material Data Files are at the heart of ME Consultant Pro. As you can see
from the illustration below, a Material Data File provides much of the input
data required for each machining operation. ME Consultant Pro comes with
twenty common materials - which covers
the bulk of materials machined by most companies. You can modify these twenty
material files as well as create your own new ones. ME Consultant Pro allows up
to 100 total materials.
While there are about seventy-five data entries per material, ME Consultant
Pro makes it pretty easy to add additional materials. For example, you can
clone an existing material (make a copy of it) that is close to the
material you want to add. Then simply change its name and just those data
entries that are different for the new material. Or you can use the handy
Feed -, Feed +,
Speed -, and Speed +
buttons to modify all speeds and feeds in the file in 5% increments. This
dramatically minimizes the number of entries you need to make per material.
Your output from ME Consultant Pro, of course, will only be as good as your
Material Data Files. For this reason, modifications should only be done by an
experienced machinist. But with our standard material files and those your
experienced person creates, a person with less manufacturing experience
(like a design engineer) can easily use ME Consultant Pro and still come up
with acceptable machining conditions. This might be especially important when
people on the shop floor (like entry level machine operators) are using ME
Consultant Pro to come up with cutting conditions.
In the illustration below, notice how specific you can be with the feedrates
for cutting tools. With a twist drill, for example, you enter eight different
feedrates, based upon the drill's diameter. Similar techniques are used for
other cutting tools. Another unique feature: Machining Calculator will
calculate a different feedrate for each tool diameter. For the HSS Twist Drill
in the material data illustration below, a 0.25 inch diameter drill will use a
feedrate of 0.006 ipr (right from the chart for this tool). A 0.375 inch
diameter drill will use a feedrate of 0.008 ipr (notice that a 0.5 inch
diameter drill will use a feedrate of 0.010 ipr).
Information contained in a Material Data File - ME Consultant Pro
comes with twenty materials built-in - you can
store up to 100 total
