What Is an ID Clamp?
An ID clamp is a cutting jig. After centering a workpiece with a hole for location, the clamping jig secures the workpiece from the inside by the wall of the hole. The mouth part of the clamp is divided into several parts, which are spread by the clamping operation to fix the ID clamp on the inside diameter of the workpiece. By clamping the workpiece only from the inside, interference between the clamping jig and the machining tool is avoided, making it suitable for clamping workpieces with many machining points, multiple-piece machining, and thin-walled parts.
The clamp drive system can be manual, pneumatic, or hydraulic, and the easy-to-use manual ID clamp is widely used.
Since the workpiece location hole is used for clamping, highly accurate positioning is possible.
Uses of ID Clamps
Since cast parts have large tolerances on the periphery, ID clamps that use a hole for locating are often used. ID clamps are also used when there is no clamping point on the periphery of the workpiece, when the clamping fixture interferes during machining, when the workpiece is thin-walled, or when a special jig is used to clamp numerous pieces.
Some ID clamps can also be clamped from the outside of the workpiece by replacing the (clamping) clamp. This makes it easy to clamp even complex-shaped workpieces and is convenient for use in multi-cavity and dive machining.
Features of ID Clamps
When machining the top or side surface of a workpiece, the machining tool may interfere with the clamping jig when clamping in the vertical or horizontal direction. In this case, the use of ID clamps, which do not clamp the outer surface of the workpiece, eliminates the interference and allows the outside of the workpiece to be machined freely.
When many workpieces need to be clamped at once to increase productivity, the clamping jig takes up a lot of space, limiting the number of clamps that can be installed. With the compact ID clamps, a large number of workpieces can be clamped, allowing continuous machining in a single setup.
For thin-walled workpieces, the use of a standard 3-jaw chuck may cause clamping distortion due to uneven clamping force. In this case, the use of an ID clamps is suitable. ID clamps have a finely divided clamping jaw that presses evenly on the ID of the workpiece, thus minimizing workpiece distortion.
ID clamps have the advantage that the workpiece can be positioned precisely at the same time if clamped. The holes used for clamping are highly accurate, and by tightening the screw, the mortise part of the mouthpiece opens and clamps from the inside, allowing repeated positioning with high accuracy.