Author Topic: Small fixture plates ........  (Read 2691 times)

toolznthings

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Small fixture plates ........
« on: February 19, 2018, 03:21:37 PM »
A handy addition to the shop are small fixture plates. They can be made from steel or aluminum stock. The surfaces can be fly cut flat, surface ground or the use of flat ground stock as well. The two I made here I surface ground from some steel plate. The small plate has 10-32 tapped holes and the larger 1/4-28.
Any pattern of hole spacing works and holes can always be added for a special set up. A larger thread chamfer is recommended to prevent pull up on the flat surface when tightening the fasteners.

Example using the smaller plate holding a part in the mill vise.

Offline crueby

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Re: Small fixture plates ........
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2018, 03:33:43 PM »
I'll second that, made a plate like it for my rotary table, incredibly handy!

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Small fixture plates ........
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2018, 03:50:07 PM »
Nice looking plates!!  Hope you did them with CNC :)  Lots of drilling and tapping otherwise  :o

Bill

toolznthings

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Re: Small fixture plates ........
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2018, 03:57:03 PM »
Thanks !
The larger plate I did on the Tormach and the smaller one the hard way.  ::)

Offline 90LX_Notch

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Re: Small fixture plates ........
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2018, 10:15:11 PM »
Nice work toolznthings.   I highly recommend these.

I have a few different plates that I made up over the years.  They are the handiest things ever for complicated setups and workholding of odd parts.  I have pockets milled on the sides of my favorite one that allow for the use of toe clamps for clamping it to tables and faceplates.  They are great for angles because you can clamp the part to the plate; then the plate can be held on an angle in a vise.   

My "Tiny I.C." thread has a bunch of setups in it that illustrate just how handy these are.

-Bob
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Offline crueby

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Re: Small fixture plates ........
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2018, 11:24:15 PM »
Nice looking plates!!  Hope you did them with CNC :)  Lots of drilling and tapping otherwise  :o

Bill
On the one I made, I drilled all the holes, then tapped the ones I needed at the time, and have been tapping more as the need comes up. Otherwise the arm gets tired running the tap in and out so many times. Its been great for holding odd shape parts.

Offline 90LX_Notch

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Re: Small fixture plates ........
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2018, 11:45:24 PM »
Chris, I modified my drillpress with momentary switch that is foot operated.  I also wired in a reversing switch.  These two modifications allow me to power tap with it which speeds up tapping a part with many holes.  I've use it to power tap 0-80 holes.

 I did this before I picked up a Tapmatic tapping head which just makes it ridiculously easy to tap a fixture plate.

-Bob
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http://www.youtube.com/user/Notch90usa/videos

Offline crueby

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Re: Small fixture plates ........
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2018, 11:57:41 PM »
Chris, I modified my drillpress with momentary switch that is foot operated.  I also wired in a reversing switch.  These two modifications allow me to power tap with it which speeds up tapping a part with many holes.  I've use it to power tap 0-80 holes.

 I did this before I picked up a Tapmatic tapping head which just makes it ridiculously easy to tap a fixture plate.

-Bob
What does a Tapmatic do? Does it work with a non-cnc setup? I've had enough trouble with thumb tendons to make any tapping help sound good.

Offline 90LX_Notch

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Re: Small fixture plates ........
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2018, 12:41:26 AM »
It is an autoreversing clutched tapping head that can be mounted in any chuck or spindle.  I use mine in my drillpress.  I was fortunate to get mine with a toolbox purchase a few years ago.  They are big bucks new.  If you search YouTube, there are videos of them.

Once it is set, you move the hole under the tap.  Feed the tap with the quill to the drillpress' stop.  The tap then self feeds to the required depth, then reverses and backs out on it's own.  Then you move to the next hole and so on and so on.  You can set it for through or blind holes.  For it to work, spiral and gun taps are a must.

-Bob
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My Engine Videos on YouTube-
http://www.youtube.com/user/Notch90usa/videos

Offline crueby

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Re: Small fixture plates ........
« Reply #9 on: February 20, 2018, 12:59:52 AM »
It is an autoreversing clutched tapping head that can be mounted in any chuck or spindle.  I use mine in my drillpress.  I was fortunate to get mine with a toolbox purchase a few years ago.  They are big bucks new.  If you search YouTube, there are videos of them.

Once it is set, you move the hole under the tap.  Feed the tap with the quill to the drillpress' stop.  The tap then self feeds to the required depth, then reverses and backs out on it's own.  Then you move to the next hole and so on and so on.  You can set it for through or blind holes.  For it to work, spiral and gun taps are a must.

-Bob
Good info, thanks!

toolznthings

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Re: Small fixture plates ........
« Reply #10 on: February 20, 2018, 01:33:59 AM »
I use a Tapmatic head that has a 1 to 1 ratio and use a bore cycle to tap. The head eliminates the need for the mill to reverse spindle rotation on each hole. Same feed rate in and out.

Offline bpudney

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Re: Small fixture plates ........
« Reply #11 on: February 20, 2018, 08:12:51 PM »
When I had to work for a living, the first thing with a new mill, was to put a table sized ground steel plate with a grid of tapped holes and dowel holes (for the 3R set up system).  Great stuff!!
cheers
Bill

 

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