Skip to navigation

Soft Jaws Basics

What are soft jaws?

Soft jaws are a common solution for holding parts that would be difficult to fixture with standard, flat vise jaws during machining. Often milled out of aluminum or steel, soft jaws can also be 3D printed with the help of continuous fiber reinforcement.

Why 3D print soft jaws?

Fabricating soft jaws takes time and labor. Engineers and machinists have to first CAD the design and then take the design to program for machining on their CNC using CAM software. This is one of the most time-consuming steps in creating soft jaws. They then can finally fabricate the soft jaws, and then may have to make small modifications. All of this adds up, and takes precious time away from creating parts that generate revenue for your business. 3D printing doesn’t require you or anyone to do anything while the part is printing, which is a stark difference to the amount of hands-on work required for traditional manufacturing. By printing soft jaws, your team can focus on more pressing tasks that take up less time, while your other machines will be open for other operations.

Qualified and skilled machining labor is difficult to find. Industries are always looking for ways to utilize their talent. The time it takes to prepare a CNC for workholding could be better used in other areas of the manufacturing process, and 3D printers give companies the capacity to use their time wisely and with purpose.

You can watch our video on creating soft jaws below.

Request a free sample part from Markforged to test the strength of our material.

All of the blogs and the information contained within those blogs are copyright by Markforged, Inc. and may not be copied, modified, or adopted in any way without our written permission. Our blogs may contain our service marks or trademarks, as well as of those our affiliates. Your use of our blogs does not constitute any right or license for you to use our service marks or trademarks without our prior permission. Markforged Information provided in our blogs should not be considered professional advice. We are under no obligation to update or revise blogs based on new information, subsequent events, or otherwise.

Never miss an article

Subscribe to get new Markforged content in your inbox