Holding Work with Magnets

Workholding is a challenge for many shops dealing with the high-mix, low-volume world that is metalworking. Where mass production rules, custom fixtures is justifiable because it can be amortized across the production run.

For shops that don’t have high volume work to rely on, workholding that accommodates frequent job change-over is required, and it is often a constant search to find. The article “Magnetic Workholding for Production Parts” features one working system that can be an answer to the need for accommodating parts of various geometric configurations.

Holding part blanks with magnets is not a new concept. It has been successfully applied for many years, primarily in surface grinding applications.

Magnetic workholding technology has developed to a point where it is well applied for many workpiece configurations that are not only flat surfaces. Control of the depth of magnetic flux allows shops to use techniques so just the right amount of magnetism needed to hold the work is used, yet not allow cut chips into the working zone. Read the article here.