Low-Profile Design and High-Density Workholding—Maximizing Your Machining Envelope

To achieve high throughput and the cost effectiveness of your CNC machine, you need a clamp option that allows for high-density, low-profile workholding with a high clamping force. A low-profile design enables you to maximize your machining envelope for large parts, improving your overall productivity from your machining center. 

Challenges with Traditional Workholding 

Less robust clamping designs that feature inadequate gripping forces can cause increased vibration and shifting issues during the machining process, negatively affecting the quality, accuracy, precision, and tolerances of your part.   

Other clamping options such as dovetail clamps are great for accessibility of a workpiece but require additional work and operations which can negate the benefits of multi-axis machining. Likewise, traditional vises can fall short because they are limited to the size and type of workpiece they can hold. 

High-Clamping Force in a Small Package

Other options, such as the Mitee-Bite Pitbull clamp, improve your throughput by simple means with low-profile edge clamps that feature high vertical and horizontal gripping forces that prevent your workpiece from slipping and creating out-of-tolerance parts. 

By combining high-density workholding with a quick-change pallet system, machinists can: 

1. Reduce their setup and tool change times per part. 
2. Decrease their cycle times. 
3. Free up time to do more-profitable tasks than feed a machine tool. 
4. Get additional machine capacity through faster job completion. 
5. Lower their part cost.

Smaller clamp fixtures with strong gripping forces also minimize the amount of material required for effective workholding, thus reducing material costs, and increasing your overall bottom line. 

Arrangement of the clamps enables quick changes (6 seconds) and shorter cycle times. This allows you to have something always running in the machine with fewer tool changes. The machine also experiences less wear and tear from the reduction of rapid movements.

Increase Versatility and Enhanced Capabilities

The video below demonstrates the high clamping force from a small package like the Mitee-Bite Pitbull clamp. The back of the clamps are ground square, so it can be used to locate the next part in a series of parts. The bottom is also ground square to ensure precise location. 

Other advantages include: 

1. Elimination of dovetail geometry requirements—this means less preparation for setting up the job and less materials wasted.
2. High resistance to rip-out—during a high-torque machining process, the workpiece is not going to be ripped from the clamps. 
3. Holding force that can be increased with tungsten carbide coating—tungsten carbide is a stronger material so more force can be applied to the clamp jaws. 
4. Enhanced gripping capabilities when paired with hydraulics. 

An available slotted version offers a step, or riser, for increased versatility that raises the workpiece off the machine table for through milling and drilling, and maximum tool access to your part. So, you will be able to machine as much as possible without having to do multiple processes.

To learn more about how you can maximize your machining envelope with low-profile, high-density workholding, contact our workholding experts below.