Of course we suggest you buy one of ours, we spend a considerable amount of time ensuring they are exceptional, and if you manage to make something similar in quality you will spend considerably more (think thousands) than buying it here, but if you must, here are some tips: Our plates have .5005″ +/-.0002 bores and 1/2-13 2B threaded holes, the threaded holes have a .562″ diameter counter-bore that is .1875″ deep. The most important features of a well made fixture plate are the material used and the thickness of it. A good fixture plate should be at least .750″ thick and have at least .500″ deep threads and bores that are a minimum of .700″ deep. The fixture plates I have bought years ago are up to 1.5″ thick with threads and bores all the way through. Those plates are of course too heavy for a smaller machine. We use a .750″ thick 4142 for our pro plates and .875 1045 steel for our hobbyist / semi pro plates, be sure to have them professionally ground to thickness.