Window Framing — Picture Framing CNC Fixtures & Manufacturing Workholding

Window framing, also called picture framing, is a frame-style fixturing method: the part is left suspended in a frame of its own stock, held by tabs, like a picture in a picture frame. Makistry's Window Framing tool plans it from a STEP file.

What window framing is

Instead of clamping the part in a vise or a separate fixture, the machinist cuts the part out of the stock but leaves it attached to a surrounding frame of that same stock by small tabs. The part is held in its own stock for the whole operation and is released from the frame at the end. It is a CNC fixtures approach that needs no custom clamping hardware.

How Window Framing works

  1. Upload your STEP (.step/.stp) file.
  2. Makistry ranks candidate part orientations for framing.
  3. It plans the tab sites that hold the part in the frame of its own stock.
  4. Review the framing plan in an interactive 3D viewer and export the outputs.

Why frame-style fixturing

  • Part held in its own stock — the frame is the fixture, so there is little or nothing to design or buy.
  • Automated CNC workholding: orientation ranking and tab placement done for you.
  • A manufacturing workholding option for parts that are awkward to clamp with soft jaws.
  • Part of the Makistry Workholding Automation suite alongside Soft Jaws, Chuck Soft Jaws and Tabbing.

Frequently asked questions

What is window framing in CNC machining?
Window framing is a frame-style fixturing method: the part is left suspended in a frame of its own stock, held by tabs, so the stock itself acts as the fixture. The tabs are cut through at the end to release the part.
Is window framing the same as picture framing?
They describe the same idea. Picture framing is a common name for it because the part sits inside a surrounding frame the way a picture sits inside a picture frame.
What does the Makistry Window Framing tool do?
You upload a STEP file; Makistry ranks part orientations and plans the tabs that hold the part inside the frame of its own stock, then shows the plan in 3D and lets you export the outputs. It automates CNC fixtures and workholding design for this method.
What file formats are supported?
STEP (.step / .stp) CAD files are supported for soft jaw, fixture, and workholding generation.