Monthly Application Tip: Use Guide Pins to Assist in Loading of Fixtures to Protect Your Investment

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition for TIP is a piece of advice or expert or authoritative information. BIG KAISER is really BIG about sharing our wealth of information to customers because, in this instance – we want to be your source for workholding!

Last Month’s TIP is from John Zaya, our Product Manager for Workholding. John’s TIP is regarding BIG KAISER’s UNILOCK products. All metalcutting professionals are aware of their enormous investments which, they want to protect in the processing of parts and also protecting their operators in a safe location away from danger.

The use of guide pins to load fixtures has been around for a long time. This same principle can be applied to large fixtures utilizing BIG KAISER’s UNILOCK zero-point clamping system as well. The main clamping knob is very robust, i.e. very hard and as such it can cause damage to a UNILOCK chuck if a fixture is very heavy or large. Guide pins setup on the base and their corresponding holes or notches on the edge of the fixture preposition the fixture so that as it is being lowered, the knobs do not impact the critical location faces of the chuck.

The quick-change UNILOCK zero-point clamping system can reduce machine set up time by up to 90% while increasing accuracy and repeatability to greatly improve your overall efficiency. Get lean and agile on your shop floor with a comprehensive positioning and clamping system that can be applied to almost anything you manufacture or assemble.

The UNILOCK system is easily adapted to existing pallets, fixtures and workpieces. Clamping chucks on every machine tool increases quality and throughput with repeatability of 0.0002″ or better with quick, accurate changeovers

If you are interested in discussing your setups futher with John, you may reach him by calling 224-770-2930 or e-mail at john.zaya@us.bigkaiser.com