[DunsmC]

I am searching for any best practices that have been used when making fixtures/templates/jigs for hydraulic standard steel tubes ranging from 1"-3" ID, and from 8"-18' in length. I am a chemical guy by trade so I am reaching out for any infomation that people are willing to share.

[txcncman]

Are you wanting to make templates/jigs/fixtures for inspecting hydraulic tubes, or do you want them for making the tubes themselves? Give more detail about what you are trying to accomplish and what machines you have available for use.

[DunsmC]

Are you wanting to make templates/jigs/fixtures for inspecting hydraulic tubes, or do you want them for making the tubes themselves? Give more detail about what you are trying to accomplish and what machines you have available for use.

Thank you for your help. I am looking to develop the template/jig/fixture to make the tubes, not for inspection. We currently have a water jet that we use to cut the larger portions, and a vast array of hardware. The issues we have had in the past are usually related to the slide tollerance for holding one end of the tube, the inability to easily remove the tube after assembled, or the ability to place the tube in multiple configurations on the template causing orientation issues when assembled.

[txcncman]

I assume your waterjet is CNC (almost all are). To hold a tube on the bed of a waterjet, I would think you want to be using an indexing head with tail stock. If you want full rotary, this could probably be integrated with your current control. I do not see the problem of fixturing the tubes as being that much of a problem. How much experience do you have in manufacturing?

[Eric321Fixtures]

I agree, an indexing head would work great if it fits the application. More typically however, you will need to revert to classic restraing princples. It is a matter of dimensionally locating the 3D object in space regardless of whether it is for performing an operation or checking. For a 3D object it takes six well placed restraing points to hold the tube. We use spherically ground adjustable points. The points are subsequently calibrated to a few microns. A picture is worth many words but being new to this site I am not sure how to do that.

[email protected] (Specializing in fixtures for tubular products.)