Hey everyone, Pretty new to machining.

I have an aluminum rod that is 1/2" thick, and about 1.5" long.

I need to do some machining on about 8mm on either side of it, and some drilling.

I am struggling to find a good way to clamp this to my bed or my vise.

I tried making a small clamp by basically cutting a 1/2" thick piece of 2" x 2" aluminum and drilling a hole in the middle with a 1/2" drill bit. I then cut it in half and screwed and tapped some holes to connect both sides of the clamp.

It works OK, but I am having a very hard time getting it perfectly squared up.

Anyone have any other ideas?