Has anyone installed their own branded pull down stud system in fixturing?

Looking at either Lang's QuickPoint or 5thAxis' RockLock systems and wondering about buying the bits ( or making them ) to make our own base application. Have an already existing fixture that would benefit from having such a capability for swapping a vise or accessories in and out, with accuracy. It doesn't look overly complicated, but then I don't know what I don't know. Considering a 96mm application.

Have you done it? How did it work out? Any gotchas to be aware of?

Thanks.

I have gone so far as to design it all in cad but never got past using dowl pins and screws or vacuum. My pallets get swapped after every cycle.

How accurate do you want to have it

Here you see the erowa system a lott EROWA LTD
I know someone who did copie it So it is possible

Peter

I realize this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but I thought g-coder's idea and CAD model was genius. Fixture Plate For Machining 4 Sides of a Part

It could be scaled up for your application......

I just realized (thanks ChipSplitter) what is going on there - very clever.

And as I noted in the other thread, I wonder if the small lever-over-hydraulic schemes like used in the manual royal QC closer I bought a few months ago would be effective in this kind of application? No need for hydraulic lines (or air lines) into the machine. Lever pushes on master which pushes on clamp cylinders.

Seems to work well enough in things like collet closers (and some indicator stands!) - here it would allow "circuits" to push on as many grippers as needed on as many studs as needed.

Wonder if one can buy hydraulic components off the shelf in the relevent size range? Being able to put the stud-clamps (receivers) kind of anywhere would seem a big win.

bryan_machine said:

I just realized (thanks ChipSplitter) what is going on there - very clever.

And as I noted in the other thread, I wonder if the small lever-over-hydraulic schemes like used in the manual royal QC closer I bought a few months ago would be effective in this kind of application? No need for hydraulic lines (or air lines) into the machine. Lever pushes on master which pushes on clamp cylinders.

Seems to work well enough in things like collet closers (and some indicator stands!) - here it would allow "circuits" to push on as many grippers as needed on as many studs as needed.

Wonder if one can buy hydraulic components off the shelf in the relevent size range? Being able to put the stud-clamps (receivers) kind of anywhere would seem a big win.

Click to expand...

Maybe tap in a bottle jack with a check valve to run all the hydraulics? Couple of pumps to lock everything down.

Would Jergen's Ballocks work for what you are trying to do? We have a base plate with four holes...two have precision bushings and all four have the receivers underneath for clamping the fixture plate down. We use the shanks with the thumb screws so we can literally remove and replace a fixture plate in less than 60 seconds. G10 is loaded in the part program so away we go!

I use Lang and have installed their studs in several of my fixtures, both sizes. It works great. Never tried making my own studs if that's what you're asking; the studs aren't terribly expensive.

Nerdlinger said:

Would Jergen's Ballocks work for what you are trying to do?

Click to expand...

Unfortunately not. They're too large and I don't have room to add a plate.

mhajicek said:

I use Lang and have installed their studs in several of my fixtures, both sizes. It works great. Never tried making my own studs if that's what you're asking; the studs aren't terribly expensive.

Click to expand...

Not so much the studs, but the working bits. Have a fixture that I'd like to install studs in vises and fixtures so that they can all be swapped in and out, with repeatability. I'm considering machining the fixture itself to accept the working bits** so that I can just install the studs in my work holding and go. Seems like it wouldn't be too terrible to do... < doom inducing famous last words >

** - of anyone's manufacture, or even our own.

Seems to me the hardest bit is getting the "working bits" (the receiver) to be small and work well. Erowa for example has some stuff that appears to work just fine, but any time I look at it in CAD it seems to so large. Maybe that just comes with the territory... That's a thing about dowels in bushings and bolts - can be pretty small...

Talk to Eric N. at Lang here locally - they can custom machine something for you I'd bet.

Long term I plan on moving to Lang for 4th axis stuff. It was just so easy to put the studs (which were well under $100 a set at the time) into any fixture we built.

OrangeVise just posted on IG something new to me at least. "Delta Point ZPS" - which immediately made me think of this thread.

bryan_machine said:

And as I noted in the other thread, I wonder if the small lever-over-hydraulic schemes like used in the manual royal QC closer I bought a few months ago would be effective in this kind of application? No need for hydraulic lines (or air lines) into the machine. Lever pushes on master which pushes on clamp cylinders.

Click to expand...

Bryan they would work fine, I did one log time ago for the h210 using an old hardinge ahc air 5c collet closer. it didnt work that great on the 16c or 20s as I dont think it had enough air pressure and leaky seals. but for 5c collet stuff it is no problem.
The hand lever type would work much better for a bigger collet sizes.
as for the pull stud idea that was posted by g coder we have that job coming again in a couple of months and were going to see how that works what g coder was talking about but with using a Drawbar instead more than likely going to be hydraulic.
wish I had it all done now cause I have a few small jobs that g coders idea would work on.

I sure would like to figure out a way to tighten a pull stud tight usinga drawbar with a doing a 90º like G coders rather than out the back, I had thought about a ring and pinion like in a small chuck or small manual collet closer. figured I would get some internal threads in the ring gear and on the pull stud. Then could tighten it like a chuck instead of through hole the back of the rotary table.

one reason I need hydraulic or air is cause the parts are heavy as crap its ok for me but my wife or helper not so much.
i got 2 months to figure it out

This is a spin off of G-coders design. The parts get pushed up against the registers before tightening and it repeats very well but you could easily make the pull studs to register on both the part and fixture.

The pull studs I made share many dimensions with a cat40 stud but are shorter and 3/8" thread.

I've ran a few hundred parts on this fairly new fixture and there is zero wear, I did make everything out of mid to upper 30sRC material though.

The other side of the gripper is hidden in this picture.