1/2" x 5-1/4" x 18-1/2" precision machined cast
aluminum alloy plate (plastic cover still attached).
A Tooling Plate
for the Taig CNC Mill
Last updated on
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 04:10:30 PM
Mountain US Time Zone
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Bolt Pattern,
Tapping,
Alignment Pins,
Clamping Fixtures
Fabricated a tooling fixture using
ALCOA MIC6 machined
cast aluminum plate
for use on the
Taig CNC micro mill.
1/2" x 5-1/4" x 18-1/2"
precision machined cast
aluminum alloy plate (plastic cover still attached).
Scribing lines
using Steel
Blue Dykem layout fluid
to increase contrast. The plate has a 1" on centers pattern of
3/8-16 threaded holes allowing use of
various toe-clamp sets.
CAUTION: Dykem liquid deeply stains fingers & clothing.
Hard to remove from
any porous surface.
Tapping
Used the
floor drill press to make
5/16" pilot
holes (75% thread) for the 3/8-16 tap.
Also see:
How to Drill a
Hole
tutorial, "Introduction to
Taps"
pages
one
&
two plus the
Tapping Tables.
Used the hand-tapping fixture to thread 87 holes.
Aluminum tapping fluid is
recommended.
Both sides of all the holes were
countersunk
before tapping to reduce burs from threading.
A plug-type tap was used as it pushed
the
burs forward & out the through hole.
See
Automatic tapping
fixtures, too.
The extra area around the left, front &
right edges were dimensioned to
allow
room for toe clamps thus the entire
4" x 12" machining range is available.
Twenty, counterbored holes for 10-32 cap-head bolts &
T-nuts are available to attach the tooling
plate to the table.
Their pattern allows the plate to be placed at different
locations on the 3-1/2" x 18-1/2 "
Taig mill table.
Tooling plate dimensions.
Taig Mill table cross-section
dimensions.
Note the center 10-32 tie-down bolts are staggered.
To stop the studs from screwing all
the way
through the plate, the bottom threads were
deformed by carefully hammering them with a
3/8" ball bearing. This prevents stud
damage
to the mill's table while also stopping/holding the
screw when tightening down the toe
clamps.
A chisel could also have been used to the same effect
but it can raise a burr
that would have to be removed.
Alignment Pins
Twelve, precision
reamed
slip-fit 0.2510" holes
were made for 1/4" alignment dowel pins.
The Taig table T-slots are 1/4". The pins
allow quick, repeatable plate to table
setup.
Added more
1/4" reamed holes for alignment
dowel pins to help set up
subassemblies.
Added more tapped holes along the
left, bottom, &
right edges for a new total of 114 locations.
Engraved lines on the plate that
represent the XY limits of
the mill's bed.
Removed the burrs & filled-in with black marker.
The extra
clamping areas are clearly seen.
Made an acrylic table cover to enable paper &
ink path tracing of CAD-CAM
parts.
More tapped holes
for the plate.
Clamping Fixtures
Milling 3/8" adjustment slots
in an
edge fixture for the tooling plate.
1/4" & 3/32" thick tooling fixtures
for 3/8" bolts on 1" hole pattern.
Mitee-Bite
low-profile edge clamp
specs (USA).
The hardened bolt cam head pushes the hex nut
against
the part.
The bolts were shortened from
0.71" to about 0.51" so they would not
protrude
through the tooling plate.
The Mitee-Bite clamp hole
geometry was reproduced
for these low-profile, aluminum edge clamps.
Simply a 15/32" clearance hole followed by a 1/2" end
mill to a depth
that leaves a small lip at
the bottom.
Low-profile tooling plate edge holding fixtures.
Used a Starrett 3/8" shank
edge finder with
0.100" radiused tip, to zero the DROs.
A single-slot fixture is on the right edge.
A toe-clamp set that uses 3/8-16
threaded
studs.
Bolt Pattern, Tapping, Alignment Pins, Clamping Fixtures
