Harley & Son has expanded our manufacturing capabilities with the addition of advanced 3D printing technology. This investment enhances our ability to deliver high-quality machined parts to our customers by enabling us to create custom fixtures and tooling that improve efficiency, ensure consistency, and solve complex manufacturing challenges.
Enhancing Our Machining Capabilities
While 3D printing is often associated with prototyping, we’ve found its greatest value lies in improving how we manufacture precision machined parts for our customers. Our 3D printing capabilities enable us to quickly design and produce specialized fixtures and tooling in-house that would be prohibitively expensive or time-consuming to create through traditional methods. This means we can machine your parts more efficiently, with better repeatability, and at lower cost.
Custom Assembly Aids and Fixtures
Every precision manufacturing project has unique challenges when it comes to assembling, holding, or positioning components. Our 3D printing capabilities allow us to create custom assembly aids and fixtures tailored to your specific parts. When we’re manufacturing your components, we can design and print fixtures that ensure consistent assembly, precise positioning, and efficient production.
These custom fixtures translate into better results for your parts:
- Faster Setup: Custom fixtures reduce setup time and get your parts into production quicker
- Better Consistency: Fixtures designed for your exact geometry ensure repeatable results
- Lower Costs: We avoid expensive custom tooling costs and pass the savings to you
- Process Optimization: Easy to refine our approach based on production results
Supporting Secondary Machining Operations
Complex machined parts often require secondary operations such as drilling, tapping, or additional milling. Securely holding these parts without damaging finished surfaces or causing deflection can be challenging. When your parts need secondary operations, we can design and print custom fixtures that cradle them in their exact geometry, providing secure support while protecting critical features and maintaining dimensional accuracy. This capability allows us to complete complex multi-operation parts more efficiently.
Inspection and Quality Control Support
Consistent, repeatable inspection is essential for quality assurance, especially for complex parts with multiple features to verify. We design and print custom inspection fixtures that orient and support parts in precise positions during our quality control process, making it easier to check critical dimensions and ensuring consistent measurement results. This means more thorough inspection of your parts and greater confidence in the quality of what we deliver.
Advanced Materials for Demanding Applications
We can print in a variety of engineering-grade plastics to match your application requirements:
- Standard Plastics: For general-purpose fixtures and aids
- Nylon: When you need excellent wear resistance and toughness
- Carbon Fiber Reinforced Materials: For maximum strength and rigidity in demanding applications
This material flexibility means we can optimize each fixture for its specific use case, whether that’s a lightweight assembly aid or a robust fixture that needs to withstand repeated use in production environments.
Better Manufacturing Through Better Tooling
Our 3D printing capability isn’t just about the technology—it’s about delivering better results for our customers. When we take on your precision machining projects, we can leverage this capability to create the exact fixtures and tooling needed to manufacture your parts efficiently and accurately.
From concept to finished part, we handle the entire process in-house, including designing and producing any custom fixtures required. This flexibility allows us to optimize our manufacturing approach for your specific parts, ensuring the quality and precision you expect from Harley & Son.
If you have complex machining projects that require precision and repeatability, contact Harley & Son to discuss how our advanced manufacturing capabilities can deliver the results you need.