[JohnJW]

If I am milling a bunch of small 2" x 2" rectangular blocks from a 12" x 24" x.5" plate I can mill one side and then flip it over to complete the milling. I will also do the same for 2" circles. How I hold individual pieces when I flip the plate over? I thought maybe I need some sort of a female subplate attached to a vacuum system, but that seems like a expensive option and I don't know if that will work. Any other suggestions?

I probably should ask in the work holding forum, but this forum seems to have higher traffic and parts will be milled on a Haas. . . . for those that also reads practicalmachinist forums. . . my apologies. . it's the same post.

Thanks,

John

[Shotout]

If I understand you your trying do something like what I have below, see attached jpg. These tabs are .250 ± .001 thick. I needed 32 of them so I cut them .26 deep into .375 stock. I took the milled pc to the bandsaw and cut the surrounding unmilled material away and then seperated them lengthwise and cut those in half ending up with 4 pieces of four. I then face milled the sections of 4 to dimension and deburred them.

For the circles a set of vise softjaws cut to hold the circles would do the same thing, or if you can turn them in a lathe, part them off long. Turn a small step almost deep enough to hold the finished part in a set of softjaws and then face the parts to the finish length. I have a poultry plant that orders 1.750 OD, .501 ID, washers .625 thick. These require a pretty fine surface finish but it was also quick.

[JohnJW]

Shotout,

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't have a bandsaw. . . I got a suggestion from another forum to drill clearance holes on when I mill the top side so I can access the clamps after I flip the plate over. I'll give that a try . . . if doesn't work I'll look into getting band saw. . . I think the process will go faster if I can maximize the number of squares/circles milled at one time. . . but then again I may only end up milling a few dozen pieces. . .

thanks again,

john