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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
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    Sinny, Straya
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    64
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    18

    Default How to clamp 3mm aluminium plate to a mill table

    Newbie question: I have a piece of 130x150x3mm aluminium but my mill vice is too small to hold it (see pic).

    plateholding.jpg

    This is the very first time I've tried to use my mill (Sieg sx2.7) and I'm already stumped . I do have an M10 clamping kit (bits of it are holding the vice in the pic) but it's not obvious to me how to use it to safely hold this plate.

    The plate is for a control panel, so I need to drill some 3mm mounting holes and a single 44mm hole. Also I need to mill a rectangular hole for an LCD display.

    I've googled around and things like "fixture plates" seem to be an option but they are massively expensive - probably because they work I guess. Hopefully there are cheaper alternatives out there? Or maybe I should just pay the money?

    Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

    Cheers,
    Andrew.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Murray Bridge S Aust.
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    71
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    5,942

    Default

    Hi Andrew. One way of holding it would be to use hot melt glue on a piece of timber that is flat, then clamp the timber onto the mill bed. That way you'll machine all the way through, don't want to mark the bed.
    To get it off, use a heat gun to soften the hot melt. You won't need much, about 8-10mm diameter in 4 spots.
    Hope this helps,
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Healesville
    Posts
    2,129

    Default

    Lay it on a suitable block of wood then use 2 blocks of wood to clamp it down close to either side of where you are going to cut or drill, then move the top holding blocks one at a time close to either side of where you are going to cut or drill next.
    Set yours cutters/drills to just go through the bottom side of the aluminum.

    shed

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
    Posts
    6,439

    Default

    Hi Andrew,

    You have got some good suggestions here !

    I use a similar technique to those described above. I have various offcuts of melamine faced chipboard that I use for various things like drilling holes in thin materials. One trick, if you can call it that, is to drill holes in places that I am either going to drill out to a larger size, or in things like your cutouts, then I use woodscrews to secure the work piece to the wood. In some cases I clamp the wood to the mill table or screw a bar of wood on the back so that I can just clamp it in the mill vise. Though doing that is more suited to smaller work pieces.

    Don't forget to post some pictures ! We like pictures...
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Newcastle
    Posts
    341

    Default

    MDF bolted down to table.

    Blue painters tape on MDF and on the alu.

    Spread superglue on tape and press alu onto MDF.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    BRISBANE BAYSIDE
    Posts
    90

    Default

    A 9mm ply pad under the 3mm plate will work well giving a total thickness of 12mm to clamp. Judging by the size of your plate and your mills work table, it appears that you will be limited to clamping on the ends only. Use 2 clamps each end and remove and then replace each one as required for the milling required in that area. If milling the edges, allow for the ply pad to be a couple of mm bigger all round. Set your mill cutters and drills to just go through the plate as shed has already said.

    Alan

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Toowoomba Qld
    Posts
    401

    Default

    There is 101 ways to approach this, what will be the best will depend on what you have on hand and the requirements, aim for cheap and easy.
    Painters tape and superglue if you need to profile the outside and want to do it all in one setup for CNC, eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6DCvtcU8_M
    If you want to profile the outside but doing it manually so having to adjust the clamps is not an issue then get a piece of board as others have mentioned, setup your outside clamps, machine your holes / cutouts. While it's still clamped on the outside. Once the holes are done a scrap piece of something across the holes and screwed into the board underneath, remove outside clamps.

    End of the day the clamp kit you already have and a piece of sacrificial board will get you there, you just may need to adjust or move the clamps to get clearance.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Ballarat
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    3,103

    Default

    Vacuum chuck? Depending on what's available of course.

    Phil

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Sinny, Straya
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    64
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    Default

    Thanks guys,

    Superglue and blue painter's tape did the trick ...

    2018-09-22 19.58.49.jpg

    I was able to mill the window for the LCD - with a bevel too . The finish wasn't great but, for my first attempt, I'm pretty happy with it.

    Slightly annoying was discovering that the DRO reads 110mm for a 108mm actual Y-axis travel - so I ended up eyeballing the positions - just a well I marked them out. I should start a new thread but does anyone know if I have to calibrate the DRO somehow?

    Cheers,
    Andrew.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2011
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    Murray Bridge S Aust.
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    Default

    Not that I know anything about this as yet, just what info I've picked up on here. But I think that you reset your DRO on the edge or at a particular reference point. Being that you're out a couple of mm, could it be that the cutter was 4mm, and the DRO is working from a centre point of the cutter, in other words you didn't allow for cutter thickness?
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
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    Sinny, Straya
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    Default

    Thanks Kryn,
    I'm pretty sure (now) that it's a software calibration issue. I'm using the TouchDRO android app that was shipped on a tablet with the machine. It has a "counts per inch" setting for each axis which is set as 5000 for each. Looks like I'll have to adjust these numbers. It would have been nice to receive the machine with the software already calibrated.
    Cheers,
    Andrew

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Murray Bridge S Aust.
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    Default

    That's a bit like buying a machine from China, it come assembled, so that they know all the parts are there, then it's up to you to strip and rebuild it. It pays whenever using a machine for the first time to do a trial run with some scrap, just so you don't stuff up a part you've spent days on marking out, DAMHIKT.
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

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