BIG DAISHOWA 20 Ways to Save Time in a Machine Shop

Scenario #15:

Are you still indicating your vise all the time?

Time-saving solution : Taking a raw workpiece, setting the zero point and end stop, then running the program are all fine and good. It’s when a new batch of parts comes into play that the vise’s limitations emerge. Every time you change to a different series of parts, the zero point change often requires significant time to reestablish. What’s more, switching from vise work to fixture work can be a bear. From cleaning the table to getting the new workholding square and true, eventually you reach a point of diminishing returns. Zero-point workholding systems allow you to avoid a lot of these time-consuming operations, only requiring one-time indication. We’ve seen vises either on an adapter plate or with clamping knobs attached to the bottom of them. Many vises can be adapted fairly easily. There’s also a creative alternative that meets somewhere in the middle of converting fully to zero-point and sticking with legacy vises: We often see setups with a standard vise on one end of the machine table and a zero-point chuck on the other.

Estimated time savings: 15-30 minutes per setup

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