I'm looking into easy fixture solutions and was thinking about 3D printed fixtures. Would that be possible. I'm wondering if I could make some fixture arms, or even some standoffs, or if needed some complex fixtures. That being said, what filament would work well for both precision and accuracy as well as durability. PLA and ABS look like good candidates. Or am I wasting my time?
I can gather printer specs and filament info when I'm back at the company but some general guidelines we use here as far as
fixture design would be:
-'Engrave' applicable part number/job number (More of a wide deep set of pockets in the shape of letters/numbers as opposed to a traditional engrave which would be an additional operation)
-Have clearance for all thru features (very critical on thin features such as sheet metal)
-Incorporate the alignment features into the fixture design: Easiest when aligning against thru hole features: Simple have a c-bore for clearance for your probe, and have a thru hole in the fixture of the minimum size the hole can be and use a gauge pin to load: Other methods could be using removable dowel pins to bump the part against inside of your fixture
-have hole with c-bore features at increments corresponding to your table for bolting the fixture to the table: This can also help keep the fixture square to the table, and makes future setups repeatable to the first. Note that the tighter your thru hole for your hold downs screws is, the more repeatable this would be: however going too tight may not account for deviation in your printing/ deviation in the screws' max thread diameter.
I can gather printer specs and filament info when I'm back at the company but some general guidelines we use here as far as
fixture design would be:
-'Engrave' applicable part number/job number (More of a wide deep set of pockets in the shape of letters/numbers as opposed to a traditional engrave which would be an additional operation)
-Have clearance for all thru features (very critical on thin features such as sheet metal)
-Incorporate the alignment features into the fixture design: Easiest when aligning against thru hole features: Simple have a c-bore for clearance for your probe, and have a thru hole in the fixture of the minimum size the hole can be and use a gauge pin to load: Other methods could be using removable dowel pins to bump the part against inside of your fixture
-have hole with c-bore features at increments corresponding to your table for bolting the fixture to the table: This can also help keep the fixture square to the table, and makes future setups repeatable to the first. Note that the tighter your thru hole for your hold downs screws is, the more repeatable this would be: however going too tight may not account for deviation in your printing/ deviation in the screws' max thread diameter.
