US Patent 7380321 Machining technique with selective and localized placement of tooling material

A method of holding a billet of material (70) to a machining table (106) includes determining a first set of outer dimensions of a component (72) to be machined. The billet of material (70) is selected in response to the first set of outer dimensions to have a second set of outer dimensions. Dimensions of the second set of outer dimensions are approximately equal to or greater than corresponding dimensions of the first set of outer dimensions. Multiple tabs (76) are attached to the billet of material (70). The tabs (76) are rigidly fixed to the machining table (106). A machining system (50) includes a controller (52) that determines a first set of outer dimensions of a component (72) to be machined. A tab-forming mechanism (54) generates multiple tabs (76) that are configured to be rigidly fixed to a machining table (106). An attachment mechanism (56) couples the tabs (76) to a billet of material (70), which has a second set of outer dimensions having the same relation to the first set of outer dimensions previously stated.