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Service 02 · Fixtures

Custom welding fixtures that make the distortion the same every time

We build welding fixtures and assembly or inspection holding fixtures for manufacturers in Newark, Delaware and anyone who can ship a print. One fixture or a set of six. Fixed price per fixture, quoted after we've read your drawing.

Typical lead time 3–5 weeks Quantity 1–50 ±0.002 in on locators
Send a drawing What to send
Base plate
A36 or 6061-T6
Locators
4140 pre-hard
Rest pads
Delrin / UHMW
Envelope
30×16×20 in

Welding fixtures

A welding fixture has one job: hold the pieces where the print says, in the order the welder tacks them, so that when the metal pulls it pulls the same way on part one and part forty. You won't stop distortion. You can make it repeatable, and then you can build the correction into the fixture.

Ours start from a steel base plate, usually A36 ground flat or 1018 when it has to be machined heavily. Locators are 4140 pre-hard, pressed into reamed bores. Toggle clamps hold anything the welder has to load fast; swing clamps go where a toggle would sit in the torch path. Copper or brass backing goes under thin stainless so the bead doesn't fuse to the fixture.

We ask for the weld sequence before we design. If nobody has one, we'll suggest one on the questions call and you can tell us where it's wrong. Most first-article trouble we see on customer-built fixtures comes from a clamp pushing the part off its locator as it closes. We set clamp spindles so the pad lands square to the locating face, not at an angle to it.

Price basis Fixed price per fixture, quoted after print review
Welding fixture, what goes into one
BaseA36 or 1018 plate, machined flat, slotted for table bolts
Locators4140 pre-hard blocks and pins, pressed into reamed bores
ClampsToggle for fast load, swing where torch access is tight
Held on locators±0.002 in
Longest weldmentabout 72 in
Typical lead time3–5 weeks, not promised
A welding fixture holding a bracket assembly ready for tack welding
Loaded for tackingToggle and swing clamps engaged

Assembly and inspection holding fixtures

A holding fixture locates a part that is already finished, so it can be assembled to something else or checked against the print. The rule is 3-2-1: three points on the primary datum, two on the secondary, one on the tertiary. Anything more than that over-constrains the part and it rocks.

We locate off machined datums with pressed dowels and a diamond pin, so the part drops on one way and only one way. Where the part touches the fixture on a finished face we use Delrin or UHMW rest pads, screwed and pinned, replaceable when they wear. Finished parts come off unmarked. Aluminum 6061-T6 plates keep the fixture light enough to carry to the CMM or the assembly bench.

Most fixtures fail because the part was located off a cast surface. We locate off machined datums or we ask you why not. Sometimes there's a good reason. Usually there isn't, and a quick call saves a fixture that measures the casting instead of the part.

Price basis Fixed price per fixture, quoted after print review
Holding fixture, what goes into one
Plate6061-T6 aluminum, or A36 steel for heavy parts
Locating scheme3-2-1 off machined datums, round pin and diamond pin
PinsHardened dowels or 4140 pre-hard, pressed
Contact padsDelrin or UHMW, screwed and pinned, replaceable
Held on locators±0.002 in
Typical lead time3–5 weeks, not promised
Hardened dowel pins and white Delrin rest pads on an aluminum fixture plate
Round pin, diamond pin, three padsNothing on the finished face but Delrin

Three decisions we'll ask you about

Datums, clamps and pins

  1. Which face is the datum

    We take datums from your print. If the print has none, or calls out a cast face, we'll propose machined ones and mark them up on a copy for you to approve. The check sheet lists which datums the numbers were measured from.

  2. Toggle or swing clamp

    Toggles load in a second and lock over center. They need room to swing up and they get in the torch's way. Swing clamps take a few turns but sit low. We pick per clamp, not per fixture, and tell you why on the drawing.

  3. What the pins are made of

    Locating pins are 4140 pre-hard or drill rod, pressed, not glued. We've seen the glued kind. For high-wear fixtures loading hundreds of parts a shift, we'll quote hardened A2 pins sent out for heat treat, which adds about a week.

Before we can quote

What to send for a fixture quote

Send the print. If you don't have one, send the part and a photo of where it sits.

  • STEP
  • DXF
  • PDF print
  • Dimensioned sketch
  • Physical sample
  • The part drawing, with the revision letter. A fixture built to rev B is scrap when the part goes to rev C.
  • The weld or assembly drawing, if the fixture holds more than one piece.
  • The weld sequence, or a note saying there isn't one yet.
  • How it mounts: table bolt pattern, robot flange, or loose on a bench.
  • Who loads it and how often. A fixture loaded twice a day and one loaded every ninety seconds are different tools.
  • The date you need it, honestly. We'd rather say no to a date than miss it.

Not sure your fixture fits the shop? The fit check runs the envelope, quantity and lead-time numbers for you in about a minute. For drill jigs, gauges or soft jaws rather than fixtures, read production tooling. If the fixture sits on a welded stand, we build that too: see fabrication. Worn fixture instead of a new one? That's repair.

Print to crate

How a fixture job runs

Times below are typical for one welding fixture of moderate size. We give you a date in the written quote, not on this page. The full breakdown lives on how a job runs.

  1. Drawing review

    Usually a couple of working days after the files land

    Someone at the bench reads the print and lists the locating features, clamp points and anything missing.

  2. Questions call, then quote

    Usually a 15-minute call

    Datums, weld sequence, mounting. Then a fixed written price and a ship date. Nothing is cut before you accept it.

  3. Fixture drawing for approval

    Before steel is ordered

    A PDF layout showing locators, clamps and datums. You mark it up and we revise it before any steel is ordered.

  4. Build and measure

    Bulk of the 3–5 weeks

    Machined, pressed, assembled, then every locator measured on the granite plate. Numbers go on the check sheet.

  5. Crate or pickup

    Date confirmed a week ahead

    Bolted into a plywood crate with the check sheet on the lid, or collected from the shop in Newark.

Straight answers

Questions buyers ask about fixtures

Yes, if the part is representative. Send two good ones if you can, a photo of how it sits in the next operation and the weld or assembly drawing if one exists. We measure, draw the fixture, and send the drawing for approval before cutting steel. One bad sample makes one bad fixture.

We build the fixture plate, locators and clamps to your cell's mounting pattern. We do not program robots or integrate cells, and we won't pretend to. Send the mounting drawing and the torch access you need and we'll keep clamps out of the path.

Every fixture is a fixed price quoted after we review the print. What moves the number: how many locating features, how many clamps, the plate size, and whether anything needs heat treat. A four-locator, three-clamp plate is a very different job from a 60 in frame fixture with twenty clamps. The written quote is the only binding figure.

If you need 200 identical fixtures for a new plant, a production tool builder with a bigger floor is the right call. Same if the fixture plate runs past our 30 × 16 × 20 in machining envelope. We'll say so on the first email rather than after a week of quoting.

Fixed price after print review

Got a print for a fixture?

Send a drawing +1 (302) 366-0113