Facing Aluminum Box Tube w/o Distortion

[raymondg]

Hello,
I am starting a medium sized gantry router/mill build with aluminum box tube extrusions, and I would like to square/flatten them with a flycutter on my 10x50 (Table size) universal mill. What I am unsure of is how to hold them firm enough for cutting without distorting them when I clamp them down. Any helpful tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards,
Raymond

[CarveOne]

Originally Posted by raymondg Hello, I am starting a medium sized gantry router/mill build with aluminum box tube extrusions, and I would like to square/flatten them with a flycutter on my 10x50 (Table size) universal mill. What I am unsure of is how to hold them firm enough for cutting without distorting them when I clamp them down. Any helpful tips or suggestions would be appreciated. Regards, Raymond

Low profile toe clamps might be best suited for this application. They are not especially cheap though. They will allow clamping along the sides so that no tooling is above the surface being flycut.

CarveOne

[raymondg]

Thanks CarveOne, that's just the kind of solution I was looking for. I don't think the price will be too bad. I figure I can clamp stops on one side of the the extrusion using aluminum scrap and my t-bolt clamps, and use a few of the camming clamps opposite them on the other side. Time will tell if I can get by with just 4 or so, or if it makes more sense to buy a whole set of 10 like Enco sells. I guess I will need to get the big ones to fit my t-nuts, or machine special t-nuts to hold the smaller sizes.

Raymond