Mitee Bite clamps

[ajl6549]

Anyone use Mitee Bite clamps? What are your thoughts suggestions?

[psychomill]

Use them all the time,.... accurate, repeatable and good strong work holding. Easy to use, a good variety of clamp types to chose from, low clearance issues are generally not a problem. Check out their website for a variety of stuff here.

[Ken_Shea]

psychomill,
Which version do you find most useful?

Ken

[l u k e]

Use them all the time,.... accurate, repeatable and good strong work holding. Easy to use, a good variety of clamp types to chose from, low clearance issues are generally not a problem. Check out their website for a variety of stuff here.

I would love to have a T-Slot Kit but there isn't a link to any distributors. Any idea where they can be purchased?

[Ken_Shea]

Enco sells them Luke;
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?P...&PARTPG=INLMK3


MSC has a full line of these.
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/N2DRVSH

They are available lot of places.

Ken

[little bubba]

I've used the Uniforce clamps on a few jobs. pretty sweet little clamps, two parts clamped with one screw. Not good for onesie twosies, but when you have a bunch of parts or it will be a repeat job, worth every penny to design up a fixture.

[big_mak]

I've use the knife edge clamps on forgings of Modified 4340, and they worked like a hot damn.

[tobyaxis]

Have the knife set and T-Slot set. Use them all the time for anything and everything. They are great for holding irregular rectangular blocks of Aluminum that won't fit in a Vise. Also used a set in a shop I worked in a few years ago. The Feeds and Speeds were pretty High and they didn't budge .01 If you can afford them, Get Them! I got mine from a local distributer "BPT" for a good deal because they were slightly used.

[dertsap]

mitee bites are great clamps , what works well with them is to counterbore the fixture plate and install a spring under the clamp ,o ring works also, the point to them clamps is to apply side pressure and to pull the part down as well , ive found if i didnt pull the hex up before tightening it down , the part would lift , anyone with a lathe can easily offset the head on some button head screws and drill and counterbore some hex stock , what ive done is run a treadmill around the hex to give them that extra bite , they are too easy to make ,its hard to justify the price mitee bite wants for simple hardwear especially considering the wear and tear a normal production atmosphere will impose on the hex ,

with that said "I love em"

[fpworks]

Note on Mitee Bites:

Just make sure you size them right and don't try to skimp out and buy the cheaper ones if you're doing any amount roughing. The following example was a complete failure on my part. I should have spent the extra money and got the largest Mitee Bites AND the serrated edges.

I was running two different parts of 1.25" aluminum rounds.

Problems:

1. I had to run painfully slow and conservative roughing toolpaths, or parts would be ripped out, ruining the part and $70 endmill.
2. Parts would sometimes shift while machining.
3. Cammed hex screws had to be replaced after 200 clamping cycles.
4. Parts would lift off the fixture base during clamping, so parts had to be hammed down, then re-tightened. (took 10 minutes to change parts out of fixture)

Nonetheless, I am now running this job on a Chick BL6, clamping only four at a time. But, I am roughing 8 times faster, part changeover is a matter of seconds, and the workpiece sure as hell doesn't shift, so no more scrapped parts.

Hopefully, someone else can learn from my buffoonery. Garbage in, garbage out. This fixture now sits on a shelf...maybe I can cut it up and use it for something one day.

Justin

(there is a larger picture in my gallery)

[ajl6549]

Fp,
I'm going to use 1.5 * 1.5 "pit bull" clamps with the knife edge to hold an 8" sq. cast iron casting. The casting has a 3 deg. draft angle on the edges that I'll be clamping on. I'll have 2 clamps on one side and 2 gripper pads opposite them. I do intend to mill very aggesively hopfully? View the attachment if you can. All comments are welcome.


A.J.L.

[l u k e]

Nonetheless, I am now running this job on a Chick BL6, clamping only four at a time. But, I am roughing 8 times faster, part changeover is a matter of seconds, and the workpiece sure as hell doesn't shift, so no more scrapped parts.

Chick BL6? Any links?