Building our own welding fixtures

An essential part of the manufacturing process here at William Hughes is the design and build of welding fixtures - or jigs - to ensure the accuracy, repeatability and alignment of our more complicated 3D wire forms.

The fixture acts as a production aid for welded assemblies so that all wires involved in the assembly can be laid in the fixture prior to welding, accurate positioning being critical to the success of the weld. The wires remain in the fixture during welding and the finished assembly is then placed in a final checking fixture to ensure all welds are correct and meet agreed tolerances.

Depending on the welding technology required, we produce our fixtures in house using a mixture of steel, high density polymer and brass. Materials are selected based on design principles such as quality, tool life, ease of maintenance, heat dispersion and cost.