YMT Technologies offers 5th axis vices designed for multi-axis machining

All 5th Axis vices are designed to allow cutting tool access to five surfaces of the workpiece. They are manufactured from hardened alloy steel to extremely tight tolerances to withstand the pressures and forces of CNC machining. The simple and robust the dovetail fixture, suitable for all 3-, 4- and 5-axis CNC machines, features a low profile and precision ground surfaces to optimise tool clearance and minimise second operation clean up. Jason Short, YMT Technologies' tooling and equipment manager, explains: "The 45° dovetail ensures a high clamping force for positive holding during both high material removal cutting cycles and precision finishing operations. The dovetail fixture clamps onto as little as 1.5 mm of material. This allows the use of smaller raw material stock sizes, and shortens the machining cycle time by reducing the amount of redundant material that has to be machined away." Although requiring dovetail preparation, Mr Short claims that resulting savings outweigh this by a factor of 2:1. 5th Axis vices are compatible with many popular multi-axis fixturing systems and can also be installed in arrays to hold large components. The vice design also lends itself to mounting on tombstones. A precision ground locating pin repeats within 25 micron, meaning that parts can be easily located and removed from the fixture without loss of accuracy.