Hi all, I'm not a total newb, but am when it comes to simple solutions to milling all or almost all the sides of a part.
I make mostly small, mostly aluminum parts that are irregular in shape. When I hold them "conventionally" - in a vise, my current part takes at least 3 setups with plenty of oportunity for the features to not line up right. I also am finishing all the sides of the part. I was showing my wife a cam verify of my current part and told her about the multiple setups and the strategies I was considering for work holding, and she asked why not just use round stock and the rotary table (or "thingy" as she called it) and cut it out of round stock with one setup, with just a small tab on both ends when I'm done? I see people doing lots of different solutions, but don't see people talk about this. I was thinking the rotary table (a axis) and a center on the other end to keep it reasonably ridgid. The parts are small, and the runs are smaller (~25) so the material savings and cycle times aren't significant. Any downsides to this approach? (I guess I could look for rectangular collets and do the same with that stock too)....