Hey, my team has a CNC router - laguna iq, the last few seasons we had difficulties with profiles. We bought 6061 aluminum to make kinds of rails for each profile that we use and fixed it into the cnc table. The problem with that solution is that sometimes there are aluminum chips that make the profile to stay in offset. I wanted to know how do you make profiles in your workshop?
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I am sorry, I do not understand what you mean.
Is it that the chips cause a problem?
If so, the chips must be cleaned from the machine at each use.
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We clean it every time but sometimes it’s not enough, also sometimes the block material that we use narrows and expands because of the temperature, and its making the profile to sit in a weird offset on the rail because of the temperature transformations
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Ah, OK. That stinks.
Sorry, but now you need to consider the material used for the fixture. Aluminum has a relatively high coefficient of expansion with temperature. Wood might be a better choice. Indeed, build a rough version and have the CNC machine cut it to the exact dimensions needed.
Not a harsh lesson, but a lesson nonetheless. It’s why materials like Invar have been developed (although that material is entirely inappropriate for this application). Aluminum is not always the ideal material.
Are you talking about The fixture of the material?
If you have a slot that is exactly 2” across, you might have some material that fits in and some that does not, due to manufacturing tolerances
I would make the slot wider and add something like a mitee-bite clamp
Do you have any pictures you can share?
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So the chips get stuck in there and mess up your zero? You could try getting a soft wire brush to clean out the stickier chips, or try a different coolant.
I think your best bet is to make a fixture for aluminum tube
I would get a bigger piece of aluminum and have it span across those T-Slots, then mill a 2" slot though it and put mitee-bite clamps on it.
It’s not only the chips, sometimes the slots get wider and thinner and also sometime when we buy new profiles it’s not always the exact size as the slot
That’s why slots don’t work well in this situation. Your stock material may be sold as 1" or 2" wide, but the actual measurement could be a little different. A slot designed for that specific width won’t hold well if the actual measurement is smaller, and it won’t fit at all if the actual measurement is wider.
That’s why there are products like the WCP Tube Fixture pictured below.
It has a straight, solid side on the left, and holes for the clamps at different spacing. Those mitee-bite clamps use a bolt with an off-set head - as you tighten the bolt, the clamp (hex shaped) moves in and out, letting you clamp down onto your tube. That way, a tube that is slightly too big or slightly too small can still be clamped securely.
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Can u send a video that shows how the locking system works? I don’t understand how it keeps it fixed.
And in our workshop we use only millimeters profiles does it still works or only for inch profiles?
I’m not sure when I’ll be in the shop next (there’s usually a break around this time of year so students can finish off the school year!). In the meantime, check out the product page for the clamps, I think it does a good job of explaining how they work:
The WCP Tube Fixture is designed in inches, and probably won’t work very well with metric stock. It’s a simple enough concept, shouldn’t be too hard to copy it, adjust it to metric, and make one yourself!
Also have you faced a situation when the profile popped up because the only thing that holds him comes from the sides, are the solid side + the screws keep it fixed
It’s enough to hold it in place, nothing has ever moved when using it.
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Mitee Bites are the best, I use them a lot in industry for fixturing parts
Does anyone have a link for mitee bites that I can order easily to Israel and does anyone have a link for their cad?
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