Hadaway Tool
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Tooling repair · Delaware

Worn tooling back to print, and missing parts copied from the one you have left

Tooling repair for fixtures and jigs that have stopped holding size, and reverse engineering of replacement parts when the drawing is long gone. Bring it to the shop in Newark or ship it. You get the part back, and you get the drawing.

Send a drawing Check if your job fits
A worn fixture locator next to its newly machined replacement
Left: flattened pin, scored faceRight: remade to print

Why a fixture stops making good parts

Almost never all at once. A locating pin wears 0.001 in a month, a clamp pad gets a flat on it, somebody shims a rest button with shim stock and forgets to tell second shift. Then one Tuesday the parts start failing inspection and the fixture gets blamed, which is fair, but it's usually three small things and not one big one.

Tooling repair here starts with an inspection on the granite plate. We check every locator against the original print if you have it, or against each other if you don't, and write down what has moved. Then we quote the fix. Sometimes that's two new pins and a pad. Sometimes the base has taken a knock and needs re-machining, and occasionally the honest answer is that a new fixture costs less than saving the old one. We'll say which.

Tooling repair and rework

Worn locators, bushings and clamp pads replaced; bases re-machined back to print. New locating pins are 4140 pre-hard or drill rod, pressed, not glued. We've seen the glued kind, and we've drilled them out. Worn Delrin or UHMW nest pads get remade from fresh stock. Drill bushings are swapped for new press-fit or slip-renewable ones depending on how fast they wear in your shop.

Where the base plate has been hit or has taken a set, we skim it flat, re-establish the datums, and re-bore the pin holes. That changes the stack-up, so we check the finished fixture against a known-good part before it goes back.

Hardened details in A2 or D2 go out for heat treat. That adds about a week, and the quote says so.

Rework
Typical workPins, bushings, clamp pads, rest buttons, base re-machining
Pin material4140 pre-hard or drill rod, press fit
Held tolerance±0.002 in on locating features
Machining envelope30 × 16 × 20 in
OutputReworked tool plus a check sheet of before and after numbers

Price basisFixed price after the worn tool is inspected at the shop

Most fixtures fail because the part was located off a cast surface. We locate off machined datums or we ask you why not.Said on nearly every repair call

A rework is also the moment to fix the design fault that wore it out. If a pin is taking side load from a clamp that pushes the wrong way, a new pin will wear the same in six months. We'll point it out and quote both options: like-for-like, or the change.

Reverse engineering replacement parts

The machine builder closed in 2009. The part broke. There's one left on the other machine, and nobody wants to pull it. That's the usual story, and it's a fine one to bring us.

The sample is measured on a granite plate with height gauge, micrometers and gauge pins. We figure out what the original designer meant, not just what the worn part measures today: a bore at 0.7497 in on a part that has run for fifteen years was almost certainly drawn at 0.750. Then we draw it as a DXF or STEP, send the drawing for you to check, and make it once you sign off. The file is yours to keep and use anywhere.

Materials we can't identify by eye or spark test we ask you about, or we propose a sensible equivalent and say so on the drawing. We don't send samples out for lab analysis as a matter of course.

Replacement from sample
InputPhysical sample, broken pieces, photos of the mating parts
Measured onGranite plate, height gauge, micrometers, pins
DrawingDXF or STEP, included, yours to keep
Materials1018, 4140 pre-hard, 6061-T6, 304, A2/D2 (heat treat sent out), Delrin, UHMW
Quantity1–50 pieces

Price basisFixed price after the sample is measured, drawing included

Measuring a worn sample part with a height gauge on a granite surface plate
Height gauge on the granite plateSample in, drawing out
A repair, start to finish

From broken sample to working part

  1. Tell us what broke

    Phone or email, day 0

    Photos of the part and where it sits. We say whether it's likely a repair, a copy, or neither.

  2. Part arrives at the shop

    Drop off in Newark or ship it

    Tagged with your name and a job number the day it comes in. We don't lose customer samples, and we keep them off the scrap bench.

  3. Inspection and fixed quote

    Usually within a week of arrival

    Measured, findings written down, one fixed price in writing. You decide before any metal is cut.

  4. Drawing sign-off

    Replacement parts only

    You check the DXF or STEP against your machine. Changes now are cheap; changes after the steel is cut are not.

  5. Make, measure, return

    2–3 weeks typical, +~1 week for heat treat

    Part and original sample back together, with the check sheet. See how a job runs for what the sheet looks like.

Straight answers

Before you pull the part

Can you copy a part from photos alone?

No. Photos tell us whether it's worth sending. They don't tell us a bore size. We need the part, or a print.

Will the copy be better than the original?

It will match the drawing we agree. If you want a harder material or a changed feature, that goes on the drawing and you approve it. We don't quietly improve things you haven't seen.

Do you repair castings or cast iron machine parts?

We measure them and make machined replacements. We don't weld-repair cracked cast iron; the results are too unpredictable to put our name on.

Is this for OEM or warranty parts?

Not a fit. If the machine is under warranty or the maker still sells the part, buy it from them. We're for the part nobody sells anymore, and for fixtures and tooling your own people built years ago.

Worn, broken or missing

Send the print, or send the part

If it's a new fixture you need, see fixtures; frames and brackets are on fabrication; small production tooling is on tooling.

Send a drawing +1 (302) 366-0113