Assembly jigs, drilling fixtures, go/no-go gauges, and alignment tools used to mean a two-week wait on a machine shop and hundreds of dollars per piece. Printed in the right engineering plastic, the same tool costs a fraction of that and is ready the next morning — and when the product it supports changes, you reprint a $20 fixture instead of re-machining a $600 one. For Rochester manufacturers, that turns shop-floor tooling from a capital decision into a same-week one — a shift the US national additive-manufacturing accelerator America Makes has been tracking across small and mid-sized manufacturers for years.
What we print
- Assembly jigs and fixtures to hold parts in position during gluing, welding, soldering, fastening, potting, or inspection — repeatable placement without a third hand.
- Drilling and routing templates with pressed-in hardened bushings where repeated tool contact needs wear resistance, so the holes land in the same place on part #1 and part #500.
- Go/no-go and profile gauges for fast pass/fail QC checks on the line — cheaper to print a set than to tie up calipers and a trained eye.
- Alignment tools, locating templates, and spacers for consistent placement of fasteners, labels, gaskets, and components.
- Soft jaws, nests, and custom grippers for vises, robotic end-effectors, and manual handling — conformal pockets that cradle an odd-shaped part without marring it.
- Trial and bridge tooling — prove a fixture design in plastic before committing to a machined production version, or run the plastic one until the machined one arrives.
Cost and lead-time comparison
The economics are the whole pitch here. A representative comparison for a mid-size assembly jig:
| Factor | Machined aluminum jig | 3D-printed jig (PETG/ABS) |
|---|---|---|
| Typical cost | $400 – $800+ | $15 – $50 in materials |
| Lead time | 1 – 2 weeks | Often next day; 3 – 7 business days for a batch |
| Design change | Re-machine or scrap | Edit the file and reprint |
| Weight | Heavy — harder to handle on the line | Light — easy to move and store |
| Wear surfaces | Inherently hard | Add pressed-in steel bushings/inserts where needed |
| Best for | High-cycle, high-load, tight-tolerance metalworking fixtures | Assembly, inspection, light-duty, and rapidly-evolving tooling |
For a line changeover that needs a dozen fixtures, the math gets lopsided fast — and the flexibility (reprint on a design change, iterate the ergonomics, hand a copy to a second cell) is worth as much as the cost saving. Rochester's manufacturing base has used printed tooling exactly this way; see our post on how Rochester businesses use 3D printing to save money. When you do need very high cycles or metal-on-metal contact, we'll tell you where printed tooling stops making sense.
Material recommendations
- PETG — tough, dimensionally stable, low-friction, and easy on the parts it holds. The default for most assembly and inspection fixtures.
- ABS / ASA — when heat resistance matters: fixtures near ovens, heat-staking, soldering, or in hot plants. ASA also handles UV if a fixture lives near a window or outdoors.
- Nylon (PA) — for fixtures that take impact, snap-fit cycling, or repeated flex; tough and fatigue-resistant. Available with chopped-fiber reinforcement for higher stiffness.
- Polycarbonate (PC) — when you need maximum stiffness and heat resistance in a printed fixture.
- TPU — for soft jaws, conformal nests, and protective pads that grip without marring.
- Hardened inserts — we press steel drill bushings, threaded inserts, and dowel pins into printed bodies wherever a wear or precision surface needs metal.
FAQ
How accurate are printed fixtures? FDM holds roughly ±0.2 mm (or ±0.2% on larger features); for locating surfaces that need to be tighter than that we design in adjustable elements, dowel-pin references, or pressed-in metal locators. Our guide to 3D printing tolerances covers what to expect and how to design around it.
Will a plastic fixture hold up to production use? For assembly, inspection, and light-duty work — yes, easily, often through tens of thousands of cycles. For high-load clamping or repeated metal-on-metal contact, we add inserts or recommend a machined fixture. We'll give you a straight answer based on the duty cycle.
What do you need from me to quote a fixture? A drawing of the part it has to hold (or the part itself), a description of what the fixture needs to do, and any critical dimensions. If the fixture needs to be designed from scratch, that's part of the quote — see design services.
Can you make several copies? Yes — once a fixture design is dialed in, printing a set for multiple cells or stations is straightforward and cheap (see small-batch production).
Turnaround
Most tooling ships in 3–7 business days; simple single fixtures are frequently next-day. Send us the drawing or a description of what the tool needs to do and we'll handle the rest.
Who we tool for
Jigs and fixtures ship to production floors across Rochester, Gates, and Greece, and to trades throughout Monroe County.