Making a ‘Fixture Plate’
A fixture plate can be an indispensable tool on your electronics work bench.
I retired my old plywood fixture plate; it is now replaced with a new improved version.
The fixture plate (tooling plate) is used to hold components while:
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testing
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troubleshooting
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gluing
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soldering
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working out the positions of mechanical assemblies, trimming/fitting components, and holding jigs.
The plate described herein is made from 6 mm acrylic plastic.
If you are handy with tools, you can easily make a fixture plate tailored to your needs.
The plate’s 96 matrix holes are drilled at 1” centers and are 9/64” in diameter; the holes are not threaded.
Holes are slightly countersunk top and bottom.
Number 6 hardware is used with the fixture plate and includes: 6-32 screws, nuts, and stand-offs.
Off center holes can be easily added to the plate as needed.
‘T’ track, aluminum extrusions, brackets, magnetic plates, quick clamps, jack screws, bearings, etc. can be accommodated.
The different clamps mentioned in this thread can also be added; for example: the ‘pinch clamp’, ‘hold down clamp’, ‘torsion spring clamp’.
You can also use gears, pulleys, springs, motors, solenoids, PCBs, hinges, etc. with the plate.
A 90° backplate can be added which allows for vertical mounting of items.
Being made from acrylic plastic, DCM (Methylene Chloride), can be used to weld other acrylic assemblies permanently to the plate.
The fixture plate can be easily moved from one place to another freeing up your bench to do work on other chores.
A fixture plate is a near must for gluing items, assembling components, and holding components registered to each other.
6-32 brass inserts can be hot inserted into the 6 mm acrylic base.
6-32 set screws can be threaded into separately drilled 1/8” holes, great for attaching feet from the bottom side.
When static discharge might be an issue, metal components and fixtures should be properly grounded.
Several posts will follow showing a few applications of the ‘Fixture Plate’.
See post #1108 also.