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Know in a minute if your job fits a 30-inch mill and a fifty-piece limit
A small jigs and fixtures shop in Newark says no to a lot of work, and it's better you hear that before you spend an afternoon packaging a STEP file. Type what you have. The verdict changes as you go.
Custom tooling in Newark, DE: does yours fit?
Pick the job first. Size and quantity are the two that decide most verdicts, so put real numbers in, not hopes.
Six rules a toolmaker runs before reading past the title block
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01
The envelope
Machined parts have to fit 30 × 16 × 20 in, because that's the travel on the mill. A drill jig for a 34 in panel is not a problem we can solve by trying harder. Weldments are different: frames and stands run to about 72 in, which is what the weld table and the overhead clearance allow. Over 30 in, the mounting pads on a weldment get machined in more than one setup, and that goes into the price.
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02
The quantity
One to fifty. A welding fixture is usually one. Soft jaws come in pairs or a few sets. Brackets are where people stretch it: 200 brackets is a production run, and a production shop with a turret punch will beat our price by a mile. We'll tell you so, and we're happy to build the fixture they run it on.
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03
What you can send
STEP, DXF or a PDF print is best. A hand sketch works if it has dimensions and shows which faces locate. A worn sample works for repair and replacement parts, and we measure it on the granite plate first. “Nothing yet” gets a polite answer: send a sketch or a photo of where the part sits. We don't quote from a phone description, because the price always turns on a detail nobody mentioned.
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04
Hardened features
There's no furnace here. Gauge surfaces and wear pads in A2 or D2 go out to a heat treater, then come back for grinding or lapping to size. Count about a week. Picking A2 or D2 in the material list switches this on by itself, since nobody buys tool steel to leave it soft. 4140 pre-hard skips the trip entirely, which is why our locating pins are made from it.
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05
Lead time against your date
Each job type carries a usual range. The checker adds outside time, then lays your date across it. Before the short end of the range, it's not a fit, because we won't promise a date we can't hold. Inside the range, it's tight and you should call. Past the long end, it fits. These are guidance figures, not commitments. The date on the written quote is the one that counts. Powder coat, which also goes out, adds about a week the same way heat treat does.
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06
Material sense
A few combinations get a flag. A frame can't be UHMW. A go/no-go gauge in mild steel wears out of tolerance in a month of real use. Thin 304 stainless moves when it's welded and takes longer to hold flat. None of these block the job on their own; they're the questions we'd ask on the phone anyway.
Usual lead times by job
Clock starts when the drawing questions are answered and the written quote is accepted, not when the email arrives. A drill jig fabrication with a clean print and 6061 plate is at the short end. A custom welding fixture with twelve clamps and a weld sequence to agree on sits at the long end, and usually for good reason.
Every job is quoted as a fixed price after we read the drawing. There are no prices online and none are implied here.
| Job | Usual range | Service page |
|---|---|---|
| Drill jig | 2–3 wk | Production tooling |
| Check gauge | 2–3 wk + ~1 | Production tooling |
| Soft jaws | 2–3 wk | Production tooling |
| Weld fixture | 3–5 wk | Fixtures |
| Holding fixture | 3–5 wk | Fixtures |
| Frame or stand | 2–4 wk | Fabrication |
| Guard or cover | 2–4 wk | Fabrication |
| Brackets, 1–50 | 2–4 wk | Fabrication |
| Repair or replacement | 2–3 wk | Repair |
| Powder coat | + ~1 wk | Sent out |
What people ask after the verdict
No. It runs our rules of thumb on what you typed. The only binding figure is the written fixed price we send after we've read the drawing and asked our questions. A fit means we want to see the print, not that we've agreed a date.
Sometimes the bench is quiet and a simple jig goes out in ten days. Sometimes it isn't. Call +1 (302) 366-0113 and ask; don't count on it. What we won't do is accept a date on the quote that we already think we'll miss.
If it's machined as one piece, no. If it's a welded frame with machined pads, yes, up to about 72 in. If the fixture could be two bolted halves doweled together, that's a design question worth a phone call, and it has worked more than once.
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