Jigs & Trim Fixtures

Waterjet fixturing is a relatively specialist expertise that DPS has developed over time yet it’s critical for cutting parts that cannot be trimmed conventionally.

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Special attention needs to be given to holding the part and scrape area, how to allow water to pass through the fixture and how to baffle that water for any internal cuts that could otherwise cut right through the component.

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We have developed a process for quickly and efficiently manufacturing waterjet fixtures which are CAD-cut – not reliant on GRP – and are therefore both dimensionally spot on and can be up-issued if needed without the need for a new fixture.

Die cut tools can be a very cost effective way of quickly and simply cutting flat parts to size. Importantly, achieving location of the untrimmed parts for die cutting needs to be though through during the mould tool design phase.  

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Working with trusted partners to produce the bent knives themselves we’ve been designing and delivering die cut tools for 20 years. We can supply anything from relatively simple tooling with short knives right up to deep serrated knives with a top and bottom tool to give a shaped, fully supported cut. We often help customers to die cut parts initially thought not to be possible, removing the need for waterjet cutting which is slower and more expensive.

Composite fixtures can be extremely exacting in terms of tolerance due to how rigid the composites themselves are, there is often simply no flex in them. We are well used to working with these tight tolerances even with softer model board material used for fixturing.

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Special consideration also needs to be taken in design as to how the parts will be held where vacuum is concerned. We are happy manufacturing fixturing both for composites coming off tooling we have made and where the tooling for the manufacture of the composites have been done elsewhere. We will simply either work with CAD supplied of the component, or reverse engineer the jig from the finished component.

Checking fixtures can be an extremely broad church – from simple fixtures with a tolerance band to aid a visual quality check through to a POKE OKE fixture that locks in and doesn’t release a part that is out of tolerance until a supervisor releases it.

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Our approach to fixture design is to understand the tolerances needed, the specific areas to check and the level of risk associated with the component when in use. We will always focus on creating a solution that is as simple as possible in order to be fit for purpose.

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We provide verification reports with all fixturing whereby we 3D scan the fixture and use industry-leading software to compare what has been manufactured to the CAD. This gives customers peace of mind but is also often needed for their own quality processes. We’re also happy for our fixturing to be externally verified.  

Assembly fixtures can make an otherwise-complicated process easy through intelligent design. Our first steps are to consider how different components need to fit together and what the real-world conditions that operators work with are. It’s very easy to get tripped up without experience – for example if you design expecting the components to be assembled to all be within a tight tolerance. If you then find the components an operator will work with have a wider tolerance and vary from part to part you can quickly find one a handful of parts fit the fixture.

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All of this is thought about in the design phase by asking the right questions and coming up with a simple solution. Particularly with larger components we will often see if rationalising the design is possible, for example with an “egg box” skeleton construction, holding parts in critical areas but have free space outside those areas. This can really save huge cost with no negative impact on functionality.