Hey everyone,
Just wanted to see what people are using to hold down their projects that require batches.
Currently I’ve been moving my inner hold down holes to secure my thin sheet metal about every 2-cuts.
Can’t wait to see what everyone does!
I’ve used two screws, sometimes three to act as bump stops and leave them up a little because they are only for locating the piece. Then i got some spring clips from McMaster Carr (see picture) i had to drill out the hole for the size of the screw, but then you can just swing the clamps out of the way to put in a new part, use as many as you feel you need.
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Fixture tools are very valuable! The rubber arm with a screw hole is ingenious and I love it! Definitely worth looking into further.
For rapid cuts on the same job, I like to use the first cut job and create a reference point along one of the corners or sides. I place 2-4 screws along the reference point that easily aligns the material along the bed appropriately. Leave these screws in the bed and you can refer to them whenever the job/material sheet is applied. After that I use 2-3 more screws around random locations to keep everything tight to the bed.
Another key component to the screws I use are washers. I have attached plastic nylon or rubber washers to all the screws in order to help apply even pressure that is more spread out and not rely on the flange of the screw head. Sometimes it is too small or creates high pressure points on glass that can disrupt a cut.
I’ve also used a sheet of .030" Polycarbonate(PC), screw it down to the bed, cut my outside shape of whatever I’m cutting, and use the PC as a nest. Easy to pierce and screw hold down screws thru. Only thing to watch is if the PC flexes during the cut, it can bow up and no longer cut correctly, it needs to be held down tightly…