Makistry Workholding Automation — CNC Workholding, Fixtures & Tabbing

Makistry Workholding Automation turns a STEP file into a manufacturing workholding plan. It automates CNC workholding and fixturing — soft jaws for mills and lathes, window framing fixtures, and CNC tabs — so you spend less time designing CNC fixtures by hand.

Four workholding tools in one place

• Soft Jaws — soft jaws for mill vises (mill soft jaws, milling soft jaws): custom soft jaws generated from your part's STEP file.
• Chuck Soft Jaws — lathe soft jaws, turning soft jaws and chuck soft jaws for 3-jaw power chucks (lathe chuck soft jaws).
• Window Framing — window framing, also called picture framing: the part is left suspended in a frame of its own stock, held by tabs.
• Tabbing — tabs and tabbing: CNC tabs and 5 axis tabs planned for single-operation break-out.

Automated CNC workholding and fixturing

• Upload a STEP (.step/.stp) file and get a workholding plan instead of designing fixtures from scratch.
• CNC fixtures for milling, turning, and 5 axis work — soft jaws, frame-style fixturing, and tabs.
• Manufacturing workholding that is repeatable: secure clamping across a production run.
• Interactive 3D review of every plan before you export.

Who it is for

• CNC milling and turning shops automating soft jaw and fixture design.
• Job shops fixturing low-volume and one-off parts fast.
• Manufacturing teams standardizing repeatable workholding.
• Engineers holding finished or irregular parts for second operations.

Frequently asked questions

What is Makistry Workholding Automation?

Makistry Workholding Automation is a set of web tools that automate CNC workholding and fixturing from a STEP file: soft jaws for mill vises, chuck soft jaws for lathes, window framing fixtures, and tabbing (CNC tabs and 5 axis tabs).

Which workholding tools are included?

Soft Jaws (mill soft jaws for vises), Chuck Soft Jaws (lathe soft jaws for 3-jaw power chucks), Window Framing (picture framing — the part is suspended in a frame of its own stock held by tabs), and Tabbing (CNC tabs and 5 axis tabs for single-operation break-out).

Does this automate CNC workholding and fixturing?

Yes. Makistry automates the fixture-design step of machining setup — choosing how to hold the part, modeling the soft jaws, frame, or tabs, and producing the outputs to make them — so you spend less time on manual workholding design.

What file formats are supported?

STEP (.step / .stp) CAD files are supported for soft jaw, fixture, and workholding generation.