Economical Tombstone Fixtures

Machine shops looking to utilize tombstone workholding fixtures on their HMC should know about the economical and convenient way of setting-up their machine using Kurt VersatileLock Vises mounted back-to-back. The VersatileLock tombstone setup can be used on a wide range of existing HMC machining centers, particularly smaller ones with work envelope size and weight limitations. The VersatileLock back-to-back tombstone can be 200 to 300 lbs. lighter (depending on model size) than a tombstone with clamps or vises.

The VersatileLock vise used in the VersatileLock back-to-back tombstone is available in 4”, 6” and 8” vise models with jaw capacity ranging from 4” to 10” for clamping small to larger parts. VersatileLock back-to-back vise tombstones can be mounted on most HMC pallets. Because of their narrower profile and lighter weight, these tombstones will fit into smaller machining centers than larger vise tower setups. Assembled at Kurt’s factory using very tight tolerances, these back-to-back tombstone fixtures utilize standard vise components mounted to a base.

The rigid, compact design of the back to back tombstone assembly is made possible by the VersatileLock one-piece vise body and stationary jaw design integrated with Kurt’s time-proven Anglock® feature. The pull-type jaw clamping design reduces jaw stationary deflection by at least 80 percent. This provides highly precise clamping repeatability of 0.0005”.