3D Printed Jigs & Fixtures | Manufacturing Aids | Chatelet Mfg
3D Printed Jigs, Fixtures & Manufacturing Aids
Assembly fixtures, drill guides, CMM fixtures, soft jaws, and go/no-go gauges — delivered in about a week, revised for the cost of a file change, and stiff enough to hold tolerance shift after shift.
Why Manufacturing Teams Print Their Tooling
A machined fixture answers this week's process perfectly — and becomes scrap the moment the process changes. Printed fixtures flip that economics: a fraction of the cost, delivered in about a week instead of a machine-shop queue, and when the line changes, the fixture changes with it as a file revision. Manufacturing engineers stop rationing tooling and start iterating it.
The materials make it viable for real production floors: glass filled nylon gives injection-molding-grade stiffness and dimensional stability, carbon fiber nylon cuts weight for handheld and robot-mounted tooling, and polycarbonate covers warmer environments. This isn't PLA prototype tooling — it's fixtures that survive clamping loads, shift after shift.
Matching Material to Fixture
| Fixture Type | Recommended Material | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Assembly & weld fixtures | Glass filled nylon | Stiff under clamping, dimensionally stable, electrically insulating |
| Handheld & robot-mounted tooling | Carbon fiber nylon | Maximum stiffness-to-weight for operators and payload budgets |
| Part nests, trays, low-load guides | PETG | Economical, tough, chemical-tolerant |
| Higher-heat process fixtures | Polycarbonate | Holds form where nylons soften |
| Soft jaws & part-contact surfaces | GF nylon / TPU faces | Grips without marring finished parts |
What We Build
Assembly Fixtures
Locating and holding fixtures that put every part in the same place, every cycle — with heat-set inserts for hardware that survives thousands of clamp cycles.
Drill & Trim Guides
Hardened-bushing-ready guides that turn hand operations into repeatable ones.
CMM & Inspection Fixtures
Stable nests that present parts consistently to your metrology — printed undersized and reamed where datums demand it.
End-of-Arm & Machine Tending
Lightweight grippers, nests, and locators for automation — see our robotic end-effector work.
Go / No-Go Gauges
Fast functional gauges for line-side checks — replaced for dollars when specs revise.
Line Change Parts
Star wheels, guide rails, and format tooling for packaging and processing equipment — duplicated across the fleet when you need a set, not a single piece. Proof: a machined Nylon 12 component converted at ~75% savings.
When NOT to Print the Fixture
Some tooling should stay metal, and we'll say so: fixtures reacting heavy machining forces or very high clamping loads; precision datum surfaces beyond reamed-feature capability (though a hybrid — printed body, machined-metal datum pins — often wins on cost); fixtures living in ovens or processes approaching 150°C; and ESD-controlled applications requiring certified dissipative materials. The right answer is sometimes a hybrid, and the review is part of the quote.
Get Your Fixture Quoted
Send the CAD — or even the part the fixture needs to hold — and we'll recommend material, insert strategy, and design adjustments. Turnaround as soon as one week, depending on complexity and volume.
Request a QuoteFrequently Asked Questions
Related Services & Resources
Chatelet Manufacturing is a US-based contract manufacturer in the Orlando, Florida area, operating 85+ FDM production printers. We produce carbon fiber nylon, glass filled nylon, ASA, polycarbonate, PETG, and TPU parts from prototype through low-volume production, with turnaround as soon as one week depending on part complexity and volume.