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Making a Fixture Part 4

Making a Fixture PT4


	At this point you have a repeatable accurate fixture blank attached to your table. It can be removed, and reinstalled with incredible precision.

	You can now cut a pattern into the fixture of any part you want. Here is an example of the fixture we use to cut the inside and outside brackets.

	This is what we call the Multi-Fixture it contains 4 separate parts. Encoder Covers Bearing Retainers X-Y Motor Adapters Z Motor Spacers

	If you run production, you take good care of your fixtures. Instead of just throwing them around stack them we stack them with 2x4's between them to make sure the pins don't get damaged.

	Here is another fixture "in play" these are the Z Axis

	The soda can is for reference. That is the mountain of chips that builds up in the corner of the mill enclosure. That is about 40-45 gallons of chips. It's about 4-5 days worth of chips. The only way it would possible is with the use of a fixture based system.

Notes on Fixtures: When it comes to using a fixture type system, making the fixture is only half the battle, you still need to set and apply the proper offsets. And of course remember those offsets every time you run the fixture (cherish your offsets). Fixturing your parts is not something you learn over night, play around with it, make some small fixtures first before making big ones. With a fixture based system, your code can mature. We have 3 types of code here: Prototype: Run the very first time, usually inefficient and pretty scary to run, keep your hand on the E-Stop. Virgin: Clean production code, fairly efficient, cutter rapids 0.1 above the surface, keep your hand on the E-Stop. Mature: After 5 clean virgin runs, with no code changes, code is considered to be mature. At which watching point the machine is optional. When it's all said and done, a properly implemented system of fixtures and offsets can result in part change over times of about 5 minutes. That means you can run part A in the morning and part B in the afternoon without a big hassle.
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