Author Topic: Machinist Calc Pro  (Read 5991 times)

Offline b.lindsey

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Machinist Calc Pro
« on: August 01, 2012, 02:05:43 AM »
Again I hope this is in the right place even if not actual tooling for a lathe or mill.  I bought one of these 4-5 months ago admittedly as a toy after seeing an ad in Home Shop Machinist and checking out their website http://www.calculated.com/prd311/Machinist+Calc+Pro.html. I have no affiliation with this company other than as a gullable though satisfied consumer.  No iits not a must have item by any means, but it has proven to be a valuable and now, always nearby accessory. The website has some good videos on many of the various features which I will not repeat here. But I will comment on the feature that have been most handy to me. The built in threading tables are much easier to use than the machinist handbook or even a wall hung drill chart and provides tap drill size, close and free fit clearance drill sizes. thread forming hole sizes, and min/max pitch and thread minor dia as well as max major dia.  Conversions between metric and imperial are easy and cover length, area and volume. A built in drill size table is handy too if the wall chart isn't nearby and you can type in either the diam you wish and find the nearest drill size or type in a letter or number size and get the drill dia., using the +/- keys to scroll up or down for adjacent sizes. One of the handiest features to me other than the threading info. is the additional depth required to get full hole diameter based on drill size and selectable point angle. All the other features are listed and shown on the  website....bolt circles, feeds & speeds, trig solutions for triangles, etc.  Battery life seems good thus far with an auto off feature, and the included semi-hard rubberized case with hinged cover to protect the key annd display from chips, coolant and such is a welcome inclusion. Again...no affiliation on my part but i am happy with the purchase and keep this calculator in my lunchbag for use both at work and at home.

Bill

Offline Jo

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Re: Machinist Calc Pro
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2012, 11:53:56 AM »
Looks very useful. Then I saw the price  :hellno:.

Jo
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Bogstandard

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Re: Machinist Calc Pro
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2012, 12:05:27 PM »
Bill,

I too looked at one of these a few months ago, as my brain is starting to dwindle and I am forgetting things that were usually stored in there, and thought it a great piece of kit, but like Jo, was put off by the price. It is even more when purchased in the UK, as they are made in the US.

One thing I would be very wary of though.

We are not in a production environment, and I am positive that the speeds and feeds calculations it does would be geared towards that market, not the way we usually do it, sight, sound and feel.

I suppose that if your need was there, and you had the ready cash to buy one, it could be very useful in the home shop, except for the example I mentioned above.


John

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Machinist Calc Pro
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2012, 01:10:37 PM »
John and Jo, I don't disagree with you on the price though here in the states, you can get it for less at places like amazon (which I did). Neither have I used it for feeds and speeds for just the reasons John mentioned, which is far more typical for us home shop machinists.  Though I guess the concept was designed here in the US, alas...like way too many things these days it is actually manufactured in China. I totally admit it isn't an essential tool, but for me, I can at least use it here at school as well and next week my Machine Shop lecture class will crank up with 48 !!  students along with three lab sections in the machine shop with 18 students each.  Its going to be a busy few months for sure.

Bill

Offline Jo

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Re: Machinist Calc Pro
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2012, 03:23:43 PM »
Amazon do it for ?61 in the UK.

Thanks to Johns I have just acquired a free :ThumbsUp: piece of software that does most of my workshop calculations I need.

Jo
Enjoyment is more important than achievement.

 

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