Production Tooling · Assembly Aids · Check Fixtures
3D Printed Jigs, Fixtures and Manufacturing Aids
The fixtures that hold, locate, guide and check parts on your line — designed around your part and printed in days, not the weeks a machined fixture can take.
A person quotes every job, usually within one business day.
Every production line runs on tooling nobody outside the plant ever sees: the nest that holds a housing while it's screwed together, the drill guide that puts holes in the same place every time, the go/no-go gauge at the end of the line, the tray that presents parts to an operator in the right order. Traditionally those are machined from aluminum or acetal, which is accurate and durable — and slow and expensive for a fixture that may change with the next product revision.
3D printing turns that equation around. A printed fixture can be designed directly from your part's CAD model, printed in an engineering material, and in an operator's hands in days. When the product changes, the fixture changes with it for the cost of a reprint. And because printing doesn't care about complexity, fixtures can include features that would be painful to machine: contoured nests that match a part's exact shape, built-in labels and part numbers, lightening pockets, cable channels, and integrated clips.
We design and print fixtures for manufacturers, contract assemblers, electronics builders and maintenance teams across Dallas–Fort Worth, and ship them anywhere in the US.
What we make for production floors
Most fixture work falls into a handful of families. Locating and holding fixtures keep a part in a known position for assembly, gluing, soldering, labeling or inspection. Guides and templates put a drill, a router, a label or a fastener in the right place. Check fixtures and gauges confirm a part is right before it moves on. And handling aids — trays, kitting boxes, pallets, protective covers — move parts around without damaging them.
Automation adds another family: end-of-arm tooling for robots and pick-and-place, where a printed gripper finger or vacuum-cup mount can be shaped to the exact part and weighs a fraction of a machined one.
- Assembly nests and holding fixtures
- Drill guides, layout and marking templates
- Go/no-go and check gauges
- Soldering, gluing and labeling fixtures
- Robot gripper fingers and end-of-arm tooling
- Kitting trays, part presenters and protective covers
- Error-proofing (poka-yoke) features built into fixtures
Designing a fixture that actually works on the line
A good fixture starts from the part's CAD model and a clear answer to three questions: what has to be located precisely, what the operator does with their hands, and what goes wrong today. Send us the part model (STEP is best), a sketch or photo of the operation, and the problem you're solving, and we'll design around it.
We build in the details that make fixtures last. Locating features that matter most can be designed to take press-fit metal dowel pins or bushings rather than relying on printed plastic alone. Threaded connections get heat-set metal inserts instead of printed threads. Contact faces that could mar a finished part get TPU pads. Fixtures can carry the part number, revision and orientation arrows printed right into the surface, so the wrong fixture never ends up on the wrong station.
Accuracy depends on size, material and orientation, so we design critical features with that in mind and check fixtures against your part when you can send one. If a feature needs a tolerance that printing alone can't hold reliably, we'll tell you and design a metal insert or an adjustable feature into it.
Choosing the material
Carbon-fiber nylon is our default for production fixtures: stiff, tough, dimensionally stable, resistant to oils and greases, and able to sit next to warm equipment without creeping. PETG is a cost-effective choice for trays, covers and lightly loaded fixtures. Polycarbonate suits fixtures that take impact or heat. TPU provides soft jaws, bumpers and non-marring contact pads. PLA is fine for check gauges and templates that stay in an air-conditioned space — it's stiff and accurate, but it softens in heat.
Revisions, spares and repeat orders
Fixtures wear, get dropped and change with the product. Because the fixture lives as a CAD file, a replacement or a revised version is a reprint, not a re-machine. Keeping a spare of each critical fixture on the shelf avoids downtime when one is dropped or worn, and a set for each line or shift saves moving one fixture between stations. We keep your files with your job history, so asking for another of the same is straightforward.
What We Offer
Materials
Not sure which one? The materials guide covers heat, UV, strength and chemical resistance for each, and we'll recommend one when we quote.
Common Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Are 3D printed fixtures accurate enough for production?
For most holding, guiding and checking work, yes. Accuracy depends on size, material and orientation, so we design critical features with that in mind. Where a location has to be very precise or very durable, we design in a metal dowel pin or bushing rather than relying on printed plastic.
How long do printed fixtures last?
It depends on the load, the material and how often the fixture is used. Carbon-fiber nylon fixtures stand up well to daily production use; wear points can be protected with metal inserts or replaceable TPU pads. And because the fixture is a CAD file, a worn one is a reprint, not a re-machine.
What do you need from us to design a fixture?
The part's CAD model (STEP is best), a photo or sketch of the operation, and a sentence on what the fixture has to do and what goes wrong today. If you don't have CAD for the part, we can work from a physical sample.
How fast can we get a fixture?
We'll give you a date when we quote. Standard turnaround is 3–7 business days for most jobs; rush jobs are available — ask, and we'll tell you honestly what's possible.
Can you make robot end-of-arm tooling?
Yes — gripper fingers, vacuum-cup mounts and part nests shaped to your part are a good fit for printing. They're light, which matters on a robot arm, and easy to revise. Send the part model and the gripper or flange interface.
Do you sign NDAs?
Yes. Fixture work usually means sharing unreleased part designs. Send your NDA with the request, or ask us for ours, before you share files.
Need a Fixture for Your Line?
Upload your files or describe the part. A person quotes every job, usually within one business day. Standard turnaround is 3–7 business days for most jobs.