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Jig & Fixture Manufacturing

Custom machining, welding, assembly and inspection fixtures built for repeatability across automotive and industrial production.

A fixture earns its cost by removing variation, not by holding the part. We build machining jigs, welding fixtures, assembly fixtures and checking fixtures that locate off the datums your drawing actually calls out.

Most fixture problems we are asked to fix come from the same three places: locating on a surface that is not a datum, clamping into the cut rather than against a locator, and no thought given to how chips or spatter clear. We design those out before the fixture is made.

What we build

Tooling we make

  • Machining jigs — drilling, milling, boring, tapping
  • Welding fixtures, including copper-backed and spatter-shielded
  • Assembly and sub-assembly fixtures
  • Checking and inspection fixtures with go/no-go elements
  • Hydraulic, pneumatic and manual clamping arrangements
  • Multi-part and multi-station fixtures for cell production

Specification

How it is built

Base plateEN8 or MS, stress relieved and ground
Locators and rest padsEN31 or OHNS, hardened and ground
Drill bushesHardened, slip or press fit to standard
Location principle3-2-1 unless the drawing datum requires otherwise
ClampingToggle, screw, cam, pneumatic or hydraulic to suit cycle time
Pitch accuracyJig-bored; wire EDM where profile location is critical

Process

From your drawing to a working tool

  1. Datum studyWe work from the drawing datums. If the datum scheme will not give you a repeatable part, we say so before quoting.
  2. ConceptLocating and clamping scheme, load and unload access, chip and spatter clearance, operator ergonomics.
  3. Design approvalYou see the fixture design before we cut metal.
  4. ManufactureGround base, hardened locators, bored bush positions.
  5. ProvingTrial parts run and measured against your drawing.

Questions

Common questions

What is the 3-2-1 principle in fixture design?

Six points constrain a part fully: three on the primary datum face, two on the secondary, one on the tertiary. Constrain any more than that and the fixture fights the part, which shows up as a part that measures differently depending on how hard it was clamped.

Can you build a fixture without a drawing?

We need at minimum a dimensioned sample or sketch, and we need to know which surfaces are the datums. A fixture built from a sample with no datum information will locate repeatably on the wrong thing.

Do you supply the pneumatics and hydraulics too?

Yes — cylinders, valves and clamp elements are specified and supplied as part of the fixture, so you receive something that is ready to connect to air or power.

More from the tool room

Other capabilities

Send a drawing. Get an engineering view in 24 hours.

A real engineer reads it — not an autoresponder. We will tell you whether the tool can be built as drawn, and what we would change to bring the cost down.