Introduction: Aluminum Vice Handle

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Howdy Y'all

My name is David Nemec, I am a Junior engineering student at Texas A&M University pursuing a degree in Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology or MMET for short. Fusion 360 is my CAD software of choice and as part of my degree, I have taken two classes covering basic and more advanced features of the software. However, one part of the software that I have not had practice using is the Manufacturing workspace used for CAM programming. At my job I use MasterCAM regularly to program CNC mills and lathes, however, MasterCAM costs upwards of $4,000/year so once I graduate I will no longer have access to it. From others on the internet, I have heard that FusionCAM is very easy and intuitive to use so I figured I would give it a try.

For my project, I decided to create my own handle for a mill's vice. I love the idea of a speed handle for a vice however I dislike the grip does not rotate, so why not make one that does? I hope I can share some of my own tips and tricks in Fusion and that others can learn from them.

Supplies

Material

  1. 1/2in Aluminum Plate/Bar measuring at least 5.75in x 1.25in
  2. 7/8in Aluminum Round Stock ~4in long
  3. 608-2RS Bearing (I had extra from 3d printer mods, but the model can be adapted to many different types)

Tools/Machinery Used

  1. Hass VF2 CNC Mill
  2. Renishaw Touch Probe
  3. 1/2in HSS Endmill
  4. Jet Edge Water Jet
  5. Grizzly Tool Room Lathe
  6. 55° Carbide Turing Tool
  7. 45° Chamfer Tool
  8. Knurling Tool
  9. 0.118" Part off Tool
  10. Drake Hydraulic Break Press
  11. Sand Blaster
  12. Belt Sander
  13. Assorted Hand Tools
  14. Ender3v2 3D Printer

Step 1: Gathering Dimensions

The first step in designing anything that must interface with something else is to gather the critical dimensions. In the case of this project, the most important dimension was the size of the bolt on the vice. In my shop, our vices use 3/4in hex bolts which is a standard size.

Since I plan on press-fitting a bearing into my handle these are also critical dimensions. 608 bearings are a standard size with OD=22mm, ID=8mm, and T=7mm.

Step 2: CAD- Setup

Armed with our critical dimensions we are able to start designing.

When modeling multipart assemblies in Fusion the first step should always be to make new components. Components allow for an extra level of hierarchy in your designs and allow for a more streamlined approach, especially when getting into more advanced functions such as FAE simulations. If you have multiple bodies that are not connected, components will make your life much easier.

To create a component right-click on the main component and click "New Component" and give it a name that is identifiable. On my model, I created two new components named Arm and Grip.

Step 3: CAD- Sketching the Arm

The next step is to start sketching your part.

Before you start sketching, activate the component that you want the sketch to be stored under. For this step I am going to be working on the arm, so I lover over the arm and click the white circle to the right of the component and it should turn black, this signifies the active component.

First I used the polygon function to create a hexagon at the origin. Since my vice's bolt is 3/4 inch or 0.75 inches I want to make the hole slightly larger than the bolt. I decided to add an extra 0.01in to the size of the hex hole. Since the Polygon tool measures from the center to one edge, I set my dimension to 0.76/2in.

I then used the line tool to create two lines at length 2.25in each. These are going to be used for spacing out the rest of the handle. I then turned these into construction lines by selecting them and hitting the "x" key on the keyboard. Construction lines do not form faces so they can be used for spacing features.

I then added a second hexagon at the end of the first construction line, then I added a 22mm circle for the bearing and then a 19.5mm circle which will be a shelf for the bearing to sit on. I will later extrude these to create these geometries.

For the width of the part, I choose 1.25in by trial and error, using nominal stock sizes as references, 1.25in just seemed right and had plenty of wall thickness. I then added arcs between the circles to get an interesting look for the handle. I used the tangent constraint on the arcs to make sure they would have a smooth transition and then used the equal constraint to make all of them equal lengths.

Step 4: CAD- Extruding the Arm

I then extruded the sketch in four separate operations to create different thicknesses. Displayed is a section view so show the different hights.

Step 5: CAD- Sketching the Grip

Now with the arm finished, I can move on to the grip. When doing almost anything cylindrical the best way to make it is by using revolve. The most important thing to know when sketching for a revolve is that you only need to sketch half of the cross-section.

There are two critical dimensions in this handle, the diameter of the pin that is press-fitted into the bearing and the length of that pin. Everything else is somewhat cosmetic. I decided to go for a 3.5in diameter handle and to have a diameter of .75in since I know we have lots of 7/8 scrap aluminum rod.

Step 6: CAD- Revolving the Grip

With the sketch complete I used the revolve tool to make the 2d sketch into a 3d object.

I then added Chamfers to the handle to break the sharp edges.

Step 7: CAD- Inserting Parts From McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is a retail giant for anything to do with manufacturing or construction, and one thing that sets them apart from others is they offer 3d files for almost all parts they sell. Fusion has a built-in feature to import these parts to make your life easier.

Under the insert tab, click "Insert McMaster-Carr Component", this should open a new window where you can browse for your part. When you find your part you can click on the item code and then under product details select "3-D STEP" and then click download. This will insert the selected part as a new component.

Step 8: Prototyping

I am fortunate enough to have a 3D printer so I decided to create a prototype of the arm to make sure the handle would fit on the vice and the bearing would have a tight fit.

Thankfully my design and tolerances were correct and it fit nicely on the vice and the bearing was held in place, even in a 3d printed part.

Step 9: Gathering Materials

Now that I had my parts planned out I can go and find some material.

I went through the scrap aluminum bin and found this 1/2in plate. I sketched the outline of my prototype to make sure I could get two parts out of it.

I also grabbed a 4.5in section of 7/8 aluminium round stock for the grip.

Step 10: Manufacturing- Waterjet

The first step in how I manufactured the handle is to waterjet two blanks out of the scrap plate. A waterjet can cut through material similar to a saw except it is much quicker and more precise. Using a waterjet as opposed to a CNC mill to create the hexes allow for much nicer corners since the corner radius of the water jet is about 0.02in while if I used a 0.125 (1/8in) endmill the corners would still be 0.0625.

Waterjets typically use a DXF file, which is a 2d vector of the part, similar to a sketch. In Fusion I selected the Arm's sketch and right-clicked then selected "Save as DXF". With this DXF file I took it to the waterjet and set up toolpaths and other settings. I will not go in-depth on the waterjet since everything is done on the waterjet's computer.

After the parts were cut out I deburred them using a belt grinder and a deburring tool.

Step 11: CAM- Disclaimer


Notice: I am not going to be changing any of the speeds and feeds on the setup. This is because every CNC machine is different and I do not want people to just copy settings and cause damage to their own machine. The following CAM should only be referenced for learning how to set up the toolpaths themselves, not for setting up a CNC machine. If you want to learn more about Fusion CAM go check out Titans of CNC who have free video series on modeling and doing CAM in Fusion, which can be found here.

Step 12: CAM- Setup

Now that I have my blanks, I am going to model the blank in Fusion. To do this I created a new sketch and projected ("P" Key) the profile of the arm and extruded it 1/2in.

Now that I have my blank modeled in Fusion I am ready to enter the Manufacture Workspace.

First I will click the folder icon under the setup tab.

In the popup, make sure the Operation Type is set to milling and then move to the next tab labeled stock. If you set up a separate body for the stock previously you can select the mode to be From Solid and then select the blank as the stock.

Now our stock is set up, go back to the first tab and make sure the WCS is correctly oriented and in an accessible spot. Since I will be using a Touch Probe to get my zero I set mine as the center of the part.


Step 13: CAM- Milling- Adaptive Clearing

First I select my tool, I am using a 1/2in endmill for this since we already have the tool setup in our CNC mill and I will not have to change any offsets.

Next I move to the geometry tab and select my two flats as the area to be machined. Then I move to the Heights tab, here I will change the bottom height mode to selection, then select the bottom reference as an edge on the flat.

I also then go to Passes and turn off Stock to leave. If I was going to do a finishing pass I would have left this on, but in my case I do not need it.

Step 14: CAM- Milling- Bore

The last CAM operation we will be doing is a bore to create the hole for our bearing. Since we have two different heights and diameter holes, we will cut the larger bore first, then bore the smaller one.

Under 2D operations, select Bore, then select the wall of the hole. It will default to the previously used tool, and in my case, a 1/2in endmill will still work so I will stick with it.

Repeat for the smaller bore.


Step 15: CAM- Milling - Simulate

Once you have all of your toolpaths done, you can simulate the operation in Fusion to check for crashes.

To do this right-click on your setup and then click generate, this will regenerate all the toolpaths to make sure you have the most updated versions. Then right-click again and select simulate. Now you are in the simulation click the play button and watch the simulation play out

Step 16: CAM- Posting Code

Now assuming your toolpaths are good, you can post your G-code.

Right-click on your setup and select "Post Process". This is where things get much more technical, depending on your CNC machine your posts will be different, make sure you post for your specific machine.

Once a post processer is selected you can hit post and generate the g-code.


Step 17: Manufacturing- CNC Milling

I again won't go into too much detail on the specific processes I used since they differ from machine to machine, but I will go over some basic steps.

I first secured my part into the mill's vice and zeroed the part using the CNC's touch probe. This means that the CNC machine knows where the part is, so that when I run my program it will machine exactly where I told it to machine.

I ended up having to increase the bore by .001in since the bore function on CNCs typically mill a little small.


Step 18: Manufacturing - Post Processing

While the CNCed surfaces were very nice, the waterjet left an undesirable surface finish. I decided to sandblast the entire part to give it a more uniform finish and at some point, I might make a second and anodize it.

Step 19: Manufacturing- Manual Turning- Grip

Unfortunately, I do not have any photos of the turning process since I was trying to finish before the shop closed, however, there was no CAM involved, I just went for rough numbers and made sure not to make the pin too small.

After I turned down the grip I press fit the parts together using our break press.

Step 20: Finished Product

I had a lot of fun along the way designing and making this project. I hope others can learn from it and get inspired to make something themselves.

Feel free to check out my design and make one for yourselves!

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