Metal working capabilities include design and manufacturing of jigs, fixtures, dies, molds, machine tools, cutting tools, gauges, and other tools used in the manufacturing processes.
FIXTURING
A fixture is a work-holding or support device used in the manufacturing industry. Fixtures are used to securely locate (position in a specific location or orientation) and support the work during a subsequent process such as machining, sawing, grinding, straightening and inspecting. The fixture ensures that all parts produced using the fixture will maintain conformity and interchangeability. It also serves to reduce working time by allowing quick set-up, and by smoothing the transition from part to part. It frequently reduces the complexity of a process, allowing for unskilled workers to perform it and effectively transferring the skill of the tool maker to the unskilled worker. Fixtures also allow for a higher degree of operator safety by reducing the concentration and effort required to hold a piece steady.
VACUUM FORM TOOLING
Vacuum forming is a simplified version of thermoforming, whereby a sheet of plastic is heated to a forming temperature, stretched onto a single-surface mold, and forced against the mold by a vacuum (suction of air). The vacuum forming process can be used to make a wide variety of products such as product packaging, speaker casings and car dashboards. Vacuum forming is usually, though not always, restricted to forming plastic parts that are rather shallow in depth.
Suitable materials for use in vacuum forming are conventionally thermoplastics. The most common and easiest to use thermoplastic is high impact polystyrene sheeting (HIPS). This is molded around a wood, structural foam or cast or machined aluminum mold, and can form to almost any shape.
Investment casting, also known as the lost wax process is a manufacturing process in which a wax pattern is coated with a refractory ceramic material. Once the ceramic material is hardened its internal geometry takes the shape of the casting. The wax is melted out and molten metal is poured into the cavity where the wax pattern was. The metal solidifies within the ceramic mold and then the metal casting is broken out. Since the pattern is destroyed in the process, one will be needed for each casting to be made. When producing parts in any quantity, a mold from which to manufacture patterns will be desired. Parts manufactured by this process include dental fixtures, gears, cams, ratchets, jewelry, turbine blades, machinery components and other parts of complex geometry.
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