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What is workholding?

Workholding is a critical part of any CNC operation. It might be stating the obvious, but while SmartBench is cutting, that stock material has to not move! Keeping that stock material secure is essential for:

• Job reliability

• Accuracy

• Safety

• Preventing damages to SmartBench

Spoilboard

A spoilboard is a disposable work surface mounted on top of the Y Bench, and sits under the stock material. We recommend using a spoilboard to prevent damage to the Y Bench if the tool cuts through.

Stock material 

Stock material refers to the material you will use to produce your final piece.

Workholding

The spoilboard is secured onto the Y Bench, and then the stock material is attached on top. The X Beam then runs along both the spoilboard and the stock material, clamping them together during the job. 

A: Y Bench

B: Spoilboard

C: Stock material

D: X Beam

What do I need to know about workholding?

Material clamping technology

SmartBench has inbuilt material clamping technology, which needs to be considered when you are setting up your workholding. Click here to learn more about this. 

Picking, positioning and locking your spoilboard

Firstly, you need to pick the material for your spoilboard. Click here to learn about what makes a good spoilboard for routing applications.

Secondly, you need to position your spoilboard on the Y bench. Click here to learn how to position a spoilboard.

Lastly, you need to lock your spoilboard on the Y bench. Depending on the size of the spoilboard, you will need to use different techniques. Click here to learn how to lock a large sheet spoilboard, or click here to learn how to lock an offcut sheet spoilboard.

Picking, positioning and locking your stock material

There are some common materials we recommend using with SmartBench. Click here to learn what makes good stock material for routing.

Once the stock material is chosen, it needs to be positioned and locked on the SmartBench. Click here to learn how to position stock material on SmartBench.

There are different techniques for locking large sheet stock material and offcut sheet stock material. Click here to learn how to lock large sheet stock material, or click here to learn how to lock offcut sheet stock material.

Jigs, tabs, and other techniques

Depending on your application, you may need to consider other techniques for workholding. 

Click here to learn about how to support the Upper X Beam when you are cutting offcut stock.

Click here to learn about using tabs. 

Click here to learn about other workholding techniques. 

Worked examples

These examples will show you two start-to-finish scenarios for setting up workholding. 

Case 1: Large sheet stock

Click here to see a full example of holding large sheet material.

Case 2: Offcut and small stock

Click here to see a full example of holding offcuts and small sheet material.

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