Work-holding on a larger mill?

[JimDawson]

Don't get too hung on the clamp kit, anything that kinda looks like a clamp will work. Even a heavy washer, or a piece of metal with a hole in it. You are only limited by your imagination, there is no right or wrong way to do this. It is only important that it gets the job done.

Here is one method I use, the large bolts are screwed into T nuts, the smaller ones are threaded into the 3/4 MDF under the parts. Just drilled & tapped the MDF for the 3/8 cap screws.

Just make sure the bolts don't bottom out in the T slots, that breaks tables.

 

[Cheeseking]

Not sure if this helps your dilemma but I use parallel bars like these for doing plates on my mills. The bars mount anywhere on the table and you use the std holding clamps or whatever to grab the plate. Its nice because the work is off the table for drilling or milling slots thru without decorating the table. Obviously in the photo my vise is still attached and the example pc clamped on one side simply for illustration. Longer plates I put machinist jacks under to prevent deflection.
Mine are hardened and ground but you could easily make a set out of crs flats to suit your mills table and the desired thickness. Also although its probably best, nothing says you must drill the extensive hole pattern up front if you looking for a quick fix.

 

[ChrisAttebery]

I use standard grade hex head 8 bolts from the hardware store. I have a them few different lengths. They are a lot lower profile than the studs and nuts that come with the clamping kits.

I also have a couple 1/4” x 2” x 7” steel plates that are drilled to match the table slots. I use them as a table width clamp plate. I put a piece of stock that matches the height of material that I'm machining on the outside of the plate. I use hex head bolts of the appropriate length with washers to clamp the material under the inside edge of the plate. The total height of the clamp is around 1/2".

BTW: When I saw the title I assumed that this was a question about clamping on a large industrial machine. Your machine is the same size as my G0704. ;^)

 

[Frank O]

Thanks to JimDawson, Cheeseking, ChrisAttebery and mmcmdl for the additional ideas.

BTW: When I saw the title I assumed that this was a question about clamping on a large industrial machine. Your machine is the same size as my G0704. ;^)

I guess everything is relative!