[OneAndy]

Ok, what I'm doing is mounting hardwood blanks to my table for cutting out gun grips.

My first test piece I used contact cement to secure it to the table. I was cutting MDF since it was just a test and it seemed to work fine.

Tonight I did the same only tried it on a piece of mesquite. When the router was moving away from the direction of the spindle, everything was fine. However, as soon as it started moving in the direction of the spindle, it did just as you would expect if you tried the same thing on a shaper table. It broke the contact cement bond with almost no difficulty and threw the blank across the room.

Fortunately, it was just a scrap piece of mesquite from the wood shop floor, so no great loss, but still... how can I securely mount my blanks?

I can't really use a hold down system unless I use much wider and/or longer pieces of hardwood and that'll result in alot of waste.

I've tried glue and paper before, on my old pantograph, but that was really messy. And I had to wait awhile for the glue to set before I could cut.

So what else can I do? Just when I get the machine working really well, I run into yet another big hurdle.

Please help.

[ger21]

Screw them from the backside through a fixture. Although contact cement should have held, if applied properly.

[OneAndy]

Screw them from the backside through a fixture. Although contact cement should have held, if applied properly.

Thanks, I'll try that.

It might have failed because I tried to put the ssecond workpiece where the first one was. I put a new layer of contact cement directly on top of the old one and figured it would hold. I guess next time I'll try cleaning up the old contact cement, first.

[ger21]

Are you letting the contact cement dry thoroughly before mounting the part. At least 10 minutes or more?

[BobF]

Carpet tape.
If you have a metal table, mount to 3/4 mdf spoil board that you can clamp down.

[OneAndy]

MDF table with a 3/4 mdf spoil board.

I used some goo gone to clean up the residue from the last one.

Yeah, I think I'm letting it dry enough. It's matte and only very slightly tacky when I press it to the spoil board.

What's carpet tape?

[BobF]

double sided fiberglass carpet tape sold at most box stores. Works well on new clean mdf. Has enough hold for most cutting, but can be removed. Also has some give so it can compensate for a small amount of nonflat.
If the mdf has been surfaced and is "fuzzy" it doesn't hold so well.

[mahrous]

Mechanical clamps that you can lock and unlock during machining to jump the machine toolpath.

Screw down at the corners of the piece and leave a tag that connects your final piece to the rest of the stock. You can sand away the tag connectors after you're done.

[windwalkerjim]

Pegs in holes on the table with a wedge on one side between the pegs and the workpiece. Does that make sense - can you picture what I mean? It works well for clamping and squaring.

[stevespo]

These are all good options. I have some dedicated fixtures but still rely on a lot of double sized tape, drywall screws, hold-down clamps, etc.

Depending on how many parts you're going to be cutting, it might be worth investing in some vacuum fixturing. A small pump, some HDPE, gasket - you'll never want to go back to double stick tape again. You can index with small pins and return the parts to the fixture in exactly the same place for additional engraving, etc.

For a few parts, not worth the effort. For more than a few (dozen?), you won't be sorry.

Steve