in fixture 50 dovetail 24 is clamped between locator pins 74 and 76 on one side and push block 112 on the opposite side locator pins 74 and 76 are sized to substantially mate against dovetail 24 such that pins 74 and 76 engage adjacent dovetail serrations 30 push block 112 substantially facilitates centering a respective dovetail peak 36 between locator pins 74 and 76 more specifically locator pins 74 and 76 are received in grooves 72 such that locator block 68 facilitates providing structural support for the clamping load induced to locator pins 74 and 76 when inserting blade 10 into fixture 50 push block 112 is initially retracted to allow insertion of blade dovetail 24 the push block travel length is adjusted such that dovetail 24 is retained in fixture 50 so that an operator does not have to physically hold blade 10 while clamping blade 10 more specifically when inserted blade 10 contacts locator pin bushing plate 78 which acts as a positioning stop when air pressure is supplied to cylinder 58 blade 10 is clamped within fixture 50 after clamping blade 10 into fixture 50 gauge plate 96 and gauge set block 100 are used to establish a zero datum reference such that blade 10 can be measured to determine how much material should be removed during grinding to restore blade 10 to its dimensional specifications after clamping blade 10 into fixture 50 fixture 50 can be coupled to.