Fixture and tooling design that makes operators faster and parts more consistent. DeWys Engineering designs assembly fixtures, inspection fixtures, weld and laser cutting fixtures, and trim tooling for West Michigan manufacturers and the fixture and tool builders who serve them. We design around your part, your print’s GD&T and the people who’ll use the fixture every day, and deliver a print package ready for your toolroom or builder.
What We Design
- Assembly fixtures: nests and clamping that make hand assembly faster, easier and repeatable
- Inspection and check fixtures: part holding for vision systems, gauging and finish checks, built to your print’s GD&T
- Weld and laser cutting fixtures: fixtures that locate parts for welding and 5-axis laser cutting
- Trim and secondary tooling: press-mounted trim dies, degating and cutting tools
- Automation tooling: nests and end-of-arm tooling (see automated machine design)
Trim Die for Clean Gate Vestige
An injection molder’s customer required extremely clean gate cuts. Operators were nipping the gates by hand, and the inconsistent cuts were causing rejections. Rather than buy new equipment, the molder had us design a trim die for its existing four-post air press. Guillotine-style blades nip every gate the same way on each stroke, so the parts now come out with the gate vestige the end customer specifies, every time.
Weld & Laser Cutting Fixtures
We design fixtures that hold parts accurately through fabrication. One is a weld fixture with a precision angle plate that locates components for consistent welds. Others hold small stampings for cutting on a 5-axis fiber laser, where every part has to sit in exactly the same place for the laser cutting path to hit.
3D Printed Fixture Details
3D printing is another tool in the fixture builder’s kit. When a nest has complex contours, needs to be light, or has to be ready fast, our sister company Forerunner 3D Printing can print those details in black HP MJF Nylon 12. They pair with standard components like DeStaco toggle clamps, aluminum or acrylic base plates and bushings. Builders use printed details in their own fixtures, and when a customer needs a fixture yesterday, we can deliver one assembled. Here are a few we’ve done:
Press-In Assembly Fixture for a Firearm Component
A firearm manufacturer’s assembly team had to install two #4 nuts into tight pockets in a component by hand. Lining each nut up and pushing it in was slow and hard on operators’ hands. We designed a printed nest that holds both nuts in position. The operator drops the nuts into the fixture, sets the part on top and closes the DeStaco clamp, which presses both nuts fully into their pockets in one motion. Assembly became faster and more consistent, and much easier on the people doing it.
Rush Hand-Assembly Fixtures for Automotive Door Handles
A supplier’s automated door handle assembly line was running behind, but the automotive OEM still needed 400 left-hand and 400 right-hand handles for pre-production builds at its assembly plant. Assembling them by hand was tedious and hard on operators. With a week and a half to deliver, we designed an ergonomic hand-assembly fixture, Forerunner printed the details, and we sourced the clamps and plates. We delivered two left-hand and two right-hand fixtures, fully assembled. The part markings are printed right into the nests, so operators can’t mix up hands.
Vision Inspection Fixture Built From the Print’s GD&T
For a digital vision inspection system, which works like an optical comparator, a manufacturer needed the part held exactly as its print defines it. We constrained the part to the datums in the drawing’s GD&T, then opened up clearance everywhere the camera needed to see. The printed nest sits on a clear acrylic base so the system’s backlight shines through and silhouettes the part during inspection.
Why printed fixture details work:
- Nests that match the part: printed details follow complex contours that would take hours to machine.
- Safe on finished surfaces: nylon contact points won’t scratch painted, plated or textured parts.
- Light and fast: Nylon 12 weighs about half as much as aluminum, and printed details are often ready in days.
- Built-in labels: part numbers, left- and right-hand markings and instructions are printed right in.
- Easy to update: when the part changes, only the details that changed are reprinted.
Related Services
- Custom automated machine design: robot cells, assembly machines, nests and end-of-arm tooling
- Design for additive manufacturing: parts, tooling and fixtures engineered for 3D printing
- Tooling reverse engineering: recreating worn dies, molds, patterns and fixtures that have no CAD
- Outsourced mechanical engineering: extra design capacity for your engineering team
DeWys Engineering is part of Gambit Works. We’re ISO 9001:2015 certified and ITAR registered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you work with fixture and tool builders?
Yes. Many of our fixture and tooling projects come through builders who need design capacity, and we deliver print packages ready for their shop. Builders also use Forerunner for printed nests and details in fixtures they build themselves.
Can you design fixtures to our print’s GD&T?
Yes. We locate parts on the datums your drawing defines, so the fixture holds the part the way it’s dimensioned and inspected.
How fast can you turn around a fixture design?
It depends on the fixture, but we’re used to tight timelines. Our door handle fixtures went from first conversation to delivered, assembled fixtures in a week and a half.
Are 3D printed fixture details durable enough for production?
For most assembly and inspection fixtures, yes. Nylon 12 is tough and wear-resistant. For high-wear or heavy-duty details, we design in steel or aluminum.
Can you update a fixture when our part changes?
Yes. We revise the model and update only the details that changed.
Start Your Fixture or Tooling Project
Send us your part, print or idea and tell us what it needs to do. Call 616-604-1977, email [email protected], or use our contact form.