What is a tombstone fixture in CNC machining?

A tombstone fixture is a rigid, multi-sided vertical column or tooling block mounted onto the pallet of a Horizontal Machining Center (HMC) or rotary CNC table. Tombstones feature square, rectangular, or multi-faceted geometries configured with precision grid patterns or integrated receiver chucks. This vertical structure allows machinists to mount multiple vises, modular fixtures, or individual workpieces across several faces simultaneously.

The primary benefit of MaxxTooling tombstones is maximizing machining uptime through high-density batch production. As the machine rotary table indexes, the cutting tool moves continuously from part to part across all sides of the column in a single cycle. When integrated with workholding solutions, operators load and preset an entire tombstone outside the machine, eliminating spindle idle time during multi-part production runs.