How do you organize your milling fixtures/hold downs?

[slow-poke]

Agreed the holders are a PITA to wiggle the Tnuts out of.

I picked up a low cost Husky tool box for mill stuff and parked it within arms reach. I made a little bracket to hold the 123 blocks and hold down clamps.

I have a heavy vise, it lives on a tall roll-around shelf that is approximately the same height as the table on the mill, so it’s more shifting than lifting.

 

[Larry$]

Nothing upsets my day more than trying to find something (usually a tool) that I know I own but can't find.

That's my way of thinking also. Time spent looking for something is a total waste. My hobby area is starting to suffer from a shortage of places to put stuff or else just too much stuff. But there is more "stuff" I want. A BS-1 is high on my list. Ordered one from PM but is on backorder until maybe late summer, boo. I think I'll order one from some other place. Any suggestions where to buy?

 

[Janderso]

I have a 12" Enco H/V RT that the catalog says has a ship wt. of 300 lbs. It has been more or less permanently installed on my RF30 clone for the past fifteen years. It was a struggle getting it up there then and I wouldn't even attempt to strong arm it now. I thought about a sky hook. It would work if rotated the mill head but then I would also need a means to slide the RT to a cart. Another thought was to buy a hydraulic lift table.

As it is, I have my CNC mill where I do most of my milling so there hasn't been a pressing need to remove the RT. A good thing as I really don't have a place to store it when not on the mill.

I have two sets of step clamps and keep them in their original racks. The 3/8" set is the one I use most of the time and the rack consists of a piece of plywood with holds drilled for the studs and pockets for the clamps and step blocks. I have extra hardware which I keep in stacking parts bins. I use my 1/2" set rarely but haven't experienced any inconvenience with the hanging rack. It resides on the end of my rolling tool cart where it is pretty much out of the way.

RJ,
If your 12” is 300#, this C. Gorton 10” has got to be over 100#!!
I have to come up with something, I’m not getting any younger.

 

[Janderso]

That's my way of thinking also. Time spent looking for something is a total waste. My hobby area is starting to suffer from a shortage of places to put stuff or else just too much stuff. But there is more "stuff" I want. A BS-1 is high on my list. Ordered one from PM but is on backorder until maybe late summer, boo. I think I'll order one from some other place. Any suggestions where to buy?

I should have purchased the -1. I have it’s baby brother.

 

[Janderso]

Totally agree Bruce. Thanks for posting on this. Some people can deal with clutter and still be productive, while others can't. Nothing upsets my day more than trying to find something (usually a tool) that I know I own but can't find. And while my shop is often full of shavings and looks a mess, at the end of the day I like leaving the shop clean and tidy - it sets the right frame of mind the following day coming into the shop. The idea that "people with emaculate workshops/tool boxes usually don't get much actual work done" is preposterous IMO.

David,
You don’t have to defend anything you do.
You have a brilliant, creative mind and you produce amazing parts.
Your machine rework projects are legendary.

 

[Parlo]

I'm not a fan of clamps. I modified my rotary table to automatically align in the machine vice. It also has a self aligning system where a vice is automatically aligned This enables me to pop my rotary table in the vice - find the centre and the rest of the setup is simple using a dowel in the collet.
Here is a slideshow of the system. -

 

[RJSakowski]

RJ,
If your 12” is 300#, this C. Gorton 10” has got to be over 100#!!
I have to come up with something, I’m not getting any younger.

I've never weighed it. I was going by the quoted weight in the last Enco catalog. The Enco RT is a lot more massive4 than a Phase II and that was list at 200 lbs.

 

[Boswell]

I never liked the storage jig/rack that came with the hold down kit and it also did not allow for expansion. here is my solution. this 4 drawer "Mid Box" sits on a shelf just to the left of my mill and I keep other high use items in it as well. While I do use a milling vice, I find myself clamping parts directly to the table fairly often.