Got Glue (And UV Light)?
Here’s an effective albeit atypical way to fixture parts such as thin-wall castings that are prone to flexing when conventional mechanical clamps are used.
Sometimes shops have to get pretty creative when trying to figure out how best to fixture a part for machining. Precision Grinding and Manufacturing, in Rochester, New York, leverages an atypical technology to fixture parts such as thin-wall castings that are prone to flexing when conventional mechanical clamps are used.
In short, this technology, available from Blue Photon Technology and Workholding Systems, uses adhesive to temporarily bond a workpiece to numerous cylindrical grippers installed in a fixture plate. Once the adhesive is cured via ultraviolet (UV) light, the workpiece is securely held at a known datum location in an undistorted, free-state condition. After machining, the adhesive bonds between the grippers and workpiece are easily broken and any excess adhesive is removed from the completed part via a quick, steam-cleaning wash.
Read this story to learn how PGM is using this technology to its advantage.
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