Makino, Inc.

Cutting Tooling Magazine

 "An effective way to hold parts in structural machining..."

Jeff W.

Read the complete article 

3V Precision

Modern Machine Shop Magazine

"3. Back bolts or tabs. Setups are opportunities for error, Mr. Boucher says. To minimize the number of setups for any high-value part, he searches for ways to clamp the part from behind so that the machine has access to five faces of the part within a single machining cycle. Back-bolting is best, he says, assuming the part can be clamped by means of a hole threaded into its back face. In the frequent case when this is not possible, the part is designed with a dovetail for clamping, and it is sawed free of this dovetail at the very end of this cycle once the machining is complete...he says."

Read the complete article here

Society of Manufacturing Engineers

Manufacturing Engineering Magazine

"Part holding. One way GKN Aerospace has found to minimize fixture problems is to make tapped holes in sections of the part that will later be cut away. These holes are used to bolt the part to the worktable [using Invert-A-Bolt™ fasteners]. Since the bolt comes from behind the part, there is nothing on the part's surface to block the spindle's path. The cutter can reach five sides of the part, and only a single setup is needed."

Read complete article here

Precision Machine & Manufacturing/ Orizon Aero

"The fixture is working great!! No problems so far... The plate indicated across the bushings as close as you are going to check. The I29 hole is closer than you are going to check on the machine...What I meant to say was that the fixture could not have been built more accurately. Do not change a thing tolerance wise. Everything is just fine. "

"...the invert-a-bolt fixture is working excellent on our Makino A88 machine. We have even added one of our own...We use the inverta-bolt [fasteners] in our work holding scheme as often as possible....We have not done any real time study as far as savings on our IVB plate. However I am sure the numbers would look real good if they were calculated...."

Ron W.

Learjet/Bombardier

"...they are working great..."

".... we cut setup times from hours to minutes...."

Drew H.

"...We are very pleased with the product!"

Luca B.

GKN Aerospace

"... You have a very good product....it's awesome...I wish I had thought of it!"

Paul S.

"... The Invert-A-Bolt™ modular fixtures in the Mazak cell are working great!

Dan O.

Tech Manufacturing, Inc.

"If your customers are looking for good, consistent clamping, or they are high-speed machining, where you have to be careful how to remove the material; if they have fixture management problems, or simply need a unique holding solution where having the ability to machine right over the top of these things or tuck them in close to the part is required, then I heartily recommend the use of Invert-A-Bolt™ fasteners."

Jerry Halley, Executive Vice President and Chief Engineer, recognized high speed machining expert

Read the complete letter

VersaForm/ LMI Aerospace, Inc.

"The quick change invert-a-bolt project is working like a charm. The invert-a-bolts are working as planned and the operator is really happy with the setup. We are just starting the second phase of the project, of adding the roller table function, but I don’t anticipate any issues with the invert-a-bolts based on our testing and design to date. I’ll send some pictures when we get the completed roller table in place. Your product has worked as advertized, is meeting our hold-down and change out requirements and no mechanical or maintenance issues to date (probably why you haven’t heard from us).

Thanks again for all your help to date and keep rolling out the great quick change products!"

Elton R., Director of Lean Manufacturing

LMI Aerospace /Precise Machine

[The fixture is] "working out pretty good, really!...
The bosses like it and are intrigued by it."

Larry B.

"Our setups used to take 2 hours. With your modular fixtures it only takes 20 minutes or so...."

Pete L.

LMI Savannah/ LMI Aerospace, Inc.

"Yes, we received the aluminum T/S [Tombstone] and T-Slot vises last week and they look very good.  We have the T/S up on the second pallet on the MAG1 and will indicate it ASAP and let you know how it comes out. You all do nice work…"

Wink R.

Focus: Hope Manufacturing

"... The first invert a bolts have been used and the personnel on the floor love them. The numbers have already sold the big cheese. Our efficiency [on this job] went from 47 to 89 percent the moment we installed the invert a bolts..." 

"Increases workholding flexibility on the machine."

Bruce O.

"The minute we started using the Invert-A-Bolt™ fasteners we solved our flatness and parallelity problems. We were finally able to make the part to spec." 

Kevin G.

A Makino Case Study

"...And, while these results are impressive, Raytheon Aircraft quickly realized the efficiencies high-speed machining passed on to the rest of the manufacturing process...'we consolidated tooling and eliminated other operations. By using simplified, standardized tooling, maintenance decreases and impacts overall part quality and setup time.' Raytheon Aircraft's approach to workholding also impacts setup, using what it refers to as a universal vacuum fixturing...this standardized approach to vacuum fixtures allows operators to setup smaller parts in one operation. 'The fixturing uses back bolts [Invert-A-Bolt™ fasteners] and a large vacuum to hold the parts...A thin foil web is ultimately cut around the floor of the part -- about .0003 inch of material to keep the part attached to the universal fixture. When machining is complete, the vacuum is released and the part is snapped out of the surrounding material'.... Ultimately Luallen predicts certain applications could employ vacuum-free fixturing, and rely on the material surrounding the part for stability. 'This would drive out more fixturing and we would have one less system to rely on," says Luallen."

practicalmachinist.com 

"...I'm not sure when invertabolt came out with their version but they work very well. I know at least one company that does almost all of their flat plate work on universal grid plates using these alternating with bushed holes. I believe Invertabolt or sombody else now sells plates similar to these. One of the really great advantages to these things is the small footprint. With practice ( & a little guts) you learn to program cutter paths close to them &, since there is no bolt head, over the top of them. ...

Davis Tool, Inc.

"...We are using them now on some large Boeing hogouts. ...They are great for 2 sided machining, (flipping the part over) and you can't beat them for tool clearance issues. As far as holding power, haven't had any problems at all..."

Kevin C.

 E-MasterCam Forum

"+1 on the inverta-bolts. It requires some prep work on the block ahead of time, but they work great for window frame machining. Its a great way to hold parts that have no straight walls for clamping."

Colin G.

HM Dunn Aerosystems/ Nex-Tech Aerospace/ Thayer Aerospace

"We've got (2) bolster plates for our SNK high speed 5 axis profiler. Each bolster plate has 640 1/2-13 invert-a-bolts on 4" centers. We load parts on one bolster p[l]ate off-line while the other one is on the machine. On one job we hold an alluminum plate 6" x 58" x 105" The invert-a-bolts work great for us."

T. Park

Qualtronic/ Euro-Precision

"... I don't know if you can remember but we bought and used some 5/8" invert-a-bolts from yourselves last year. We had great success using them. The part was unbelievably difficult to program but using this work holding allowed me to use one fixture to machine the lot. It took some thinking to work out where to leave the tabs but once done it was easy to machine. The part come out flat to within a 0.0025" which was amazing considering the volume of metal removed ... "

Greg H.

Ellanef Manufacturing/ Magellan Aerospace

"... the shop guys love 'em ... we have even incorporated their use into our Best Practices manual ... "

Joe K.

Spirit Aerosystems

"... We have used the invert-a-bolt for quite a while now and it is a very good product.... "

Kenny K.

Perfekta

"... you can do some pretty wild stuff with them ..."

"I appreciate all the support you have given us. It's been a pleasure working with you."

Nick G.

Beacon Industries

"... these things are awesome, man! We love these things!..."

Mike B.

E.F. Bailey/ Blackhawk Industrial

"Thank you the excellent service! I do appreciate the high level of service and the promptness of my order being processed. I had my tracking number within 10 minutes of placing my Rush order! That is the best service anywhere! We look forward to working with you in the future!"

Chris G.

D & S Manufacturing

"...fantastic..."

Rob B.

Triumph Group /Excel

"...we love them..."

Mike

"...superior to any other tooling method..."

Kevin E.

Accurus Aerospace /Precise Machining & Manufacturing

"...you guys have a great product and we are very happy with the way things turned out..."

David S.

Goss International

Regarding the use of Invert-A-Bolt™fasteners: "They worked great! Hopefully I will have a chance to make use of them more in the future."

Morgan H.

Arnold Engineering/ Noranco/ PCC Aero

"I love your product! ... Thanks for being in business... we love products that help us with Lean...."

 David G.

"We actually use Your product all over our shop, and they work great for us here at Arnold Engineering/Noranco. We use them on 4 out of 8 5-axis machines and 3-axis machines for an array of purposes from holding parts and fixtures to even mounting parts to be checked by our Quality Assurance dept. 100’s of our fixtures use invert-a-bolts for work holding and they do a tremendous job for us. We haven’t had any flaws or problems with your invert-a-bolt system on any machine or fixtures.

Thank you for taking the time to ask us how your product works for us! We still use your products and would be glad to let any company know how great this system is."

Chris P.

Cessna Aircraft/ Textron

"... I built a tool with the invert a bolt system last spring. To date the system has performed admirably. We have had no maintenance on it and no problems!! I am happy with it's performance ..."

Steve D.

"... impressive.."

Chris L.

May Tech & Manufacturing

"I've been using your invert a bolts for a few years now and they work great."

Darrell M.

Manes Machine & Engineering Company

"....very impressed with your product and we hope you guys are rich because there are not many products like yours on the market and we hope you will be around for years to come.  We are very pleased with the way it works and we love the product..."

Tom

Blueswarf - High Speed Machining Optimization Software

"We use Invert-A-Bolt in our demonstration parts. Invert-A-Bolt enables us to machine thin walls and floors without concern of part movement and their low profile allows us to machine most of the workpiece material. The rapid and repeatable changing of parts with Invert-A-Bolt is important to us in trade show and demo environments."

David B.

"We reduced our cycle time on one part from 8 hours to 12 minutes, using Invert-A-Bolt™ fasteners."

Jeff B.

LMI Aerospace /Valent Aerostructures

"We are still using AA02-015-001N & AA02-250-001 bodies – this tooling concept is nothing short of fantastic."

Glen C.

General Atomics

We are investigating more of your products, mainly because of the support you offer and the results of the product we purchased."

Scott O.

University Of Ulster

Works excellent. Industrial students impressed with simplicity of the system 
Finding a metric fine M20x1.5 tap was the only problem.

Made holding plate with matrix of M20 holes and 10mm dowel locations. Snap-off fixturing excellent."

Wesley M.

Ellwood Texas Forge

"The guys love them [IVB fasteners]."
"It [IVB Fasteners] makes it so easy to quick change"

"We are very happy with your tombstones, fixtures and fasteners."

Jesus C.

General Machine-Diecron, Inc.

Manufacturing Page, under "Monolithic Parts"
"Built upon palletized machining centers and the Inverta-bolt® work holding system, GMD is equipped to take on any airframe part at the drop of the hat. The Inverta-bolt® work holding system allows us to go from one part number to the next with very minimal if any set up time. This also eliminates any NRE charges to the customer... with standardized tooling and work practices in our approach we are significantly efficient and productive." 

Rusty G.

LSC Precision, Inc.

"... slicker than snot..."
"We saved at least 50% on our setup time."

Scott C. and anonymous

Precision Machine of Savannah, Inc.

“I just wanted to take a second to let you know how Lucky you are to have someone as  ‘Awesome’  as Dena !!   Even though problems prevented you from receiving our order in time…  It finally went thru …  After Closing Time…Dena noticed that we needed it Next Day and went  Above & Beyond  to call me after hours…To verify the order and went even further Above & Beyond to process the order and get it to UPS so that we could receive it in time. We [sincerely appreciate] that kind of Dedication to [your] company and to the customer! Keep Up The Great Job!!”

John H.

College of Technology Pittsburg State University

“We at Pittsburg State University would like to thank you and Elijah Tooling for your generous gift of tooling materials [UCMF-AA02-3715-500-001 & EZE-U-VISE-.500-1250-005] for our Engineering Technology program. You can rest assured that your donation provided much needed support for our students. This support is especially appreciated in these challenging economic times."

Bruce D., PhD.

“We're still using the tooling plate you guys donated a while back and I thinking I should send you an update and to let you know how much we appreciate it. It works fantastic and we are very fortunate to have it on our machine. Just thought I'd send a quick note to say thanks!" 

“...Yes, we are using the [EZE-VISE™ ULTIMATES] vises. We've only run into a couple parts where the vises didn't have quite enough travel/adjustment [Elijah Tooling has corrected this] requiring some different clamping method, but most everything works perfectly. The tooling we're using in several of our classes now bolts directly to the plate with the invertabolts. As long as the everything is thoroughly cleaned and free of chips, (something that students often neglect to do) it works as intended."

Jacob L.,CMfgE

Buffalo Pumps

“I just purchased two more sets a few weeks ago and have a total of eight (8). I have incorporated these [EZE-VISE™ Ultimates]into our fixturing and they are performing well...Absolutely you can use my words. These vises are a great addition to our machining processes and the operators like their ease of use and reliability."

Mike A.

PCC Aerostructures

“The items arrived yesterday, and looks incredible."

Adrian L. R.

CTR Manufacturing & Distribution

“The Invert-a-Bolt concept is smart and versatile. We have implemented it from our smallest 3,4 and 5 axis machine to our largest. We have been able to virtually eliminate dedicated fixtures and reduce the number of set ups it takes to make parts. There is a considerable reduction in part changeover as well. We have reduced our set up times by a minimum of 60%. Thanks Elijah Tooling. Tim Winkelman CNC Programmer."

Tim W., CNC Programmer

“The hand holding and ‘baby steps’ that we have had to go through, are the result of ‘kurtvisitis’. It is a common disease that afflicts machine shops that only used what the machinists saw in the history books, and they were never sent to the IMTS to see what advancements the civilized world had made since the pyramids (where the original Kurt Vise was discovered by Carter in Tut’s tomb). The large part we started with was 167 pound 19x28 aluminum. We did need the serrated jaws on the fixed tool (rather than the smooth aluminum jaws) because our ‘holding’ test was to hit the rear of the part with a large plastic mallet , away from the tombstone face. It didn’t move to the disappointment of EVERY MACHINIST, who were sure those ‘little suckers’ would let loose. Well, we wailed into the piece with a 1” end mill at full speed and it still didn’t move. They have become a welcome addition to our tool holding equipment and are quite a bit more versatile than a kurt vise. We can put multiple parts on the tombstone face instead of just one. What a leap…. We are grateful to Elijah for their patience in allowing us to ‘test’ all of these advanced holding methods. We only hope that others use this cure for ‘kurtvisitis’ as we have. ….Make sure the machinists have torque wrenches with the Elijah tools allen screws for consistent set-up. There you have it. A century of advancement in only a month or two…..or three.”

Lou

Homeyer Precision Manufacturing

“For what it’s worth, I just have to tell you guys that you are really great at customer service. I’ve only placed 2 orders but both have been flawless and it really shows that you all put an emphasis on personal touch with your customers. Thank you for that!"

Gretchen H.

United State Air Force

"I couldn’t be happier with your equipment.  While we haven’t put the vises to work yet, I think that’s coming up.  The loading cart is working fantastically, especially with the little Teflon helper step mod we ended up doing.  The quick change system is all in hoped it would be.  Very fast & super accurate repeatability.  The universal platter for our rotary is right on the money as well.  Even changing our 5th Axis vise on & off (which we just did yesterday) quickly indexed back in to < 0.0001”.  We have our TR210 making various 3+2 5 axis aircraft parts that are in tight spec & passing all NDI inspection nearly 100% of the time. I am so glad we have been able to team up with you & your staff to get us that much further to the best we can be!"

George Crawley, GS-11

Makino/Raytheon Aircraft/ Textron

"These results are impressive, and Raytheon Aircraft quickly realized the efficiencies high-speed machining passed on to the rest of the manufacturing process...'we consolidated tooling and eliminated other operations. By using simplified, standardized tooling, maintenance decreases and impacts overall part quality and setup time.' Raytheon Aircraft's approach to workholding also impacts setup, using what it refers to as a universal vacuum fixturing...this standardized approach to vacuum fixtures allows operators to setup smaller parts in one operation. 'The fixturing uses Invert-A-Bolt™ fasteners and a large vacuum to hold the parts...A thin foil web is ultimately cut around the floor of the part -- about .0003 inch of material to keep the part attached to the universal fixture. When machining is complete, the vacuum is released and the part is snapped out of the surrounding material'.... 

Jim M., Director of Supply Chain Management

EulessAero

Elijah Tooling still offers the best part holding solution I have ever worked with.

Marcus R.

Pioneer Industries

Having been in the machining industry for 25 years, I have often seen many complicated methods of workholding. When asked my opinion on how to fixture an odd shaped part I recommended the Invert-a-Bolt from Elijah Tooling. Theses little gems gave me access to 5 of the six sides of my block without the need to avoid standard bolts which would run through the material to hold it in place. I have used these in many work holding applications and have found them to be manufactured to very high standards with utmost precision. Thank you for your help.

Derek H. Machinist, Seattle WA