Workholding. Vise jaws. Ball-lock tooling.

Soft jaws: aluminum 6061 — machined to exactly match the workpiece shape. Don't mark parts. Lower life (wear faster). Used for cosmetic parts, precision setups. Hard jaws: tool steel (O1 or 4140) with hardened serrated gripping surface. Very long life. Leave marks on parts but hold securely. Used for high-volume production of parts where grip marks don't matter. Mix: most customers have multiple sets for different applications.

Ball-lock system (by Jergens and others): tooling plate attaches to machine bed via ball-lock bushings. Tool change: retract bushings, lift old tool off, set new tool, engage bushings — 30 seconds. Traditional vise/fixture change: 15-30 minutes. For high-mix production, ball-lock tooling is worth investment. Ball-lock adapters on all fixtures enables consistent tool change regardless of specific fixture.

5-axis machining requires access to multiple faces of workpiece simultaneously. Fixture design implications: minimal overhang from part (tool would crash into fixture), tall parts often mounted from bottom edge only, specialty clamps (pressure pads, Carvesmart claw-lock) for minimum obstruction. We design 5-axis fixtures to maximize machining access while maintaining secure workholding.

For repeatable fixture setup, dowel pins provide precise positioning. Typical dowel hole: reamed to H7 tolerance (6-12 mm diameter), pins press in with 0.005-0.015 mm interference. Locating features repeatable ±0.005 mm across setups. Our fixture workflow: CNC precision + jig-boring for datum holes + reaming for dowel holes. Fixtures swap in and out with confidence.

Pneumatic: fast cycle (< 1 second per part), consistent clamp force, automation-compatible. Higher cost. Used for production cells with 100+ parts/hour. Manual: lower cost, simpler, sufficient for low-volume production. Many hybrid designs: manual coarse clamping + pneumatic fine positioning. We design based on production economics — right clamping for the production scale.

Simple vise jaws: 5-7 days. Modular fixture plates: 5-10 days. Complex production fixtures (multi-station, pneumatic): 3-5 weeks. 5-axis fixtures: 2-4 weeks including design iteration. Complete production tooling packages: 8-16 weeks including design, build, first-part validation. Early engagement on fixture design saves time vs redesign after production starts.