I found a friend that has a laser table and he is going to cut some 5/8" holes in a 1/2" sheet for me. I’ve decided to go with 5/8" hole size on a 2" grid. His Trumpf 2600W laser table has an accuracy of +/- .005. Do I have him cut the holes at .625? .630?
What size should I have him cut them at?
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Is your goal for every fixture to fit everywhere, no matter what, or are you willing to massage the occasional hole for greater average accuracy in your fixture locations and fits?
Any reason not to cut a test piece from a 12"x12"ish chunk of scrap?
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Why 5/8? This hole size has limitations. 3/4 would be a better choice. .625 or .750 is ideal.
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you might want to have him cut a scrap piece. You might find the taper in the hole might be a problem
Cut holes at .625
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I understand that 3/4” would be better, but honestly… I think Fireball Tool is the only place that sells that size. Everybody sells 5/8”. I can even get clamps and fixtures at Harbor Freight. If I was doing a lot more work, could afford it and wanted to buy an entire table and system, then sure… I really like the 3/4” system from Fireball. But I’m a small time guy who does this part time and can barely afford getting this laser cut. I’m not worried about the lower strength of the 5/8” size fixtures for the stuff I do.
My laser friend said there shouldn’t be any noticeable taper from his table on those holes but I’m going there possibly tomorrow to get some sample holes cut to try.
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Thanks, thats exactly what I was looking for.
I had some samples done in 5/8" thick and there was .020-.025 taper. I am curious as to what you find.
Keep us posted
So are you saying that the pins in your 5/8” fixtures and clamps are a hair less than .625” then?
Yes the tooling is unsized to fit. Hole spacing is also important. +/- .002 hole separation is the target.
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Thanks!
I picked up his test piece today and on all 4 of his .625 holes they are .015-.020 smaller on the back side.
Now try one of your tools and see how it feels. The thinner the sheet the more the taper will effect it.
.625 IS 5/8".
Yeah, it feels pretty good. I don’t feel like it needs to be any smaller or larger so I’ll probably just have him cut them all to that size. There’s a little slop but I think I’m satisfied with it.
Thats all that matters!
It’ll save me from drilling over 800 holes!
I guess I’m confused are saying the hole measures .0645-.0650? Wow if that’s true, that’s a very loose fit. With clearance built into the tooling already there’s going to be a lot of movement in the tooling.
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They are all .625 on the top and on the back they are .620, .620, .615, .610
I had a similar situation in the table I ordered. I used a Milwaukee 4208 with some chucking reamers to get to .625 and I’ve been very, very pleased with the results. Like you, I also opted for .625" holes, very pleased I did since I think 3/4" holes on a 3/8" table would have weakened the material too much anyway. Not to mention, I can get tooling from everywhere!
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