Fixture for 4140 PH decarb

I am thinking of placing the parts on the mill in a fixture instead of using the vise anymore. I was thinking of using the long channels of uniforce clamp that mitee bite sells. Parts I need to fixture are 6" long. I was also planning on using talon grips on the other side of the parts. I am talking about roughing operations that in the past would make my BP shake on the shop floor( maybe trochoidal milling will solve that?) YOu guys think that using 3/4" thick 7075 plate will suffice for the fixture plate or I need to use 1018? I know about not machining long length channels for the clamps in the fixture plate, but rather just pockets. Any pointers? This is a BP cnc mill, I'll be using variflute carbide end mills.

I make most of my sub-plates from 1" cast 5000 series tool and fixture plate or Mic6 which I believe is 7000 series cast. 10-30hp spindles and I'm not afraid to make them work.

I have some aluminum sub-plates that are 5/8" thick. What will determine how well it works is how well it's attached. A thin aluminum plate will work fine if its secured several places in the middle as well as around the perimeter to prevent it from flexing up in the middle.

I've seen 2" thick sub-plates flex on a large horizontal because they weren't secured in the middle.

So it seems like 5/8" thick 7075 will suffice for s fixture if bolted down to the table right. BTW this will not be some kind of pallets system with 2 fixture plates. It'll be bolted and trammed to table until job is done. Problem is that Mitee bite is not doing a good job of giving specs on either of their products. I mean to open a up a link for info I have to enter a password that I have faggoten. My workpieces are 6" Long .390 wide and .531" high. So I was thinking of using the uniforce clamp strips but don't know what size to get or what they come in. I want to use Talons on the fixed side and again no sizes or info on what size to use or how many are needed on the mitee bite website.

Rule of thumb I learned decades ago is you hold steel with steel. Sure, you can get away with holding it in aluminum, but for how long? How many cycles before the aluminum deforms and the part squirts out? If I'm making a lot of something I'll make the fixture from 4140 prehard and then never have to worry about it.

so 5/8 thick 7075 will get the job done? Looks like for the time being I don't have the luxury of 2 fixtures( one for loading and other for machining)so no subplate if that is what is meant by subplate. This thing getting bolted directly on machine table and trammed. Now I have looked at the mitee bite website and can't find any specifics on their uniforce clamp strips Long length Channel (7075-T6) & Steel Wedge | Mitee-Bite Products LLC. I mean dims for example. I can't open the links to find dims or figure out what is most appropriate for my needs. Also How about the talon Anybody have a good source with specs for these items?

madmachinst said:

Now I have looked at the mitee bite website and can't find any specifics on their uniforce clamp strips Long length Channel (7075-T6) & Steel Wedge | Mitee-Bite Products LLC. I mean dims for example.

Click to expand...

There are links to download the CAD models, that should get you all the dims you need.

Long Length Machinable Uniforce(R) Clamps | Mitee-Bite Products LLC.
Long length Channel (7075-T6) & Steel Wedge | Mitee-Bite Products LLC.

Also check out the pages for the related full clamps:

Machinable Uniforce(R) Clamps | Mitee-Bite Products LLC.
Uniforce(R) Clamps | Mitee-Bite Products LLC.

You can also find the models on 3DContentCentral:

https://www.3dcontentcentral.com/Search.aspx?arg=uniforce&SortBy=match&PageSize=10

seems to me that uniforce clamps might not be a good choice for grabbing a part for milling around the perimeter? You know, now we got talons that can grab a part from the bottom 1/16 of an inch carrier material, but it seems like uniforce clamps can't do that? Would have been cool you tighten 3 screws and can clamp 2 parts. I guess need to go with pitbulls twice as many screws to tighten? Or not? BTW those CAD models don't seem to work, but I see that for example 250 means 1/4"