[SD421]

If you were asked to invest in a company that did manufacturing,
should the jigs be spotless, powder coated/painted for you to even consider making that investment??

Please vote yes or no.

Thanks,
Don

[A.J.]

Since I'm working in the aircraft manufacturing business (Saab) I'm a bit damaged.
The jigs should be clean and painted with ok finish. This makes it easier to see any damages that might affect the tolerances.
If I were looking for a vendor I would surely look at the finish of the jigs in which "my" parts was manufactured in.

[arbys]

A.J. said it well. Also if the manufacturing company cut costs there where else had they cut cost/quality? First impressions are lasting.

[SD421]

I should have been more specific. If the jigs are used for holding metal tubes in place for fitment & welding, should they still be presentable? Im going to reword the main question.

[MYGOAT]

They need to be fit for purpose.
I used to work for a very large Japanese tier 1 supplier to the auto business and they were anal about everything looking pretty. Pity they were functionally crap.

[b-man]

If the jigs are accurate and well-designed they don't need any kind of cosmetic finish on them. Something to prevent corrosion is a plus if that will become an issue.

I see absolutely no need to add any unnecessary expense to manufacturing tooling.

Welding jigs don't need to be pretty, just functional.

[shaker455]

Originally Posted by SD421

I should have been more specific. If the jigs are used for holding metal tubes in place for fitment & welding, should they still be presentable? Im going to reword the main question.

I'm a toolmaker and although it would look nice for a short time the jig will see heat from welding and will get chipped and blister even if it's powdercoated.

[PLAY400]

My welding Buddy makes it sound like he is always making jigs on the table for this or that and cutting them off later. IMO a jig should make it easier for you to do your work properly and not a piece of shiny ?? in the corner. If I seen a metal shop with shiny jigs I think I would be looking at a shop with a very high overhead or no work

[02Hawk]

For a welding shop ....no....should the finished work be pretty....yes

What I look for

1) Is the shop clean?
2) Are the bathrooms clean?..plenty of TP, soap and hand towels?
3) is the lunchroom/coffee area clean and cheerful
4) do the guys have music going?
5) is all the safety apparatus and signage located in designated areas and free of dirt and debris?
6) Do the people in the shop acknowledge people coming into the shop on a friendly and business like way?

I would need yes to to the above in order for me to work and or be an investor there.

[the-rookie]

Welding Jigs? No absolutely not.
As said above LOL in some nice comments As long as they are well designed, fit the product well and are functional is the main thing. ease of use and functionable.

[regamble]

The first jig I built was done so with painstaking care, lots of very pretty welds instead of tacked together, painted, etched marks for product weld points and drill points. After 3 weeks of use it looked like someone had beaten it with a hamme and I was rebuilding it all over again anyway. My jigs are now 100% functional so as not to increase overhead. Labor is expensive when someone spends a lot of time adding visual to functional. If investing in a business I would not allow this to become a factor unless it was the only factor, agreeing essentially with 02hawk.

[stimpy]

I look at form and function not smoke show . I used to go to alot of major shops when I hauled steel and the jigs well... they looked ratty , but the product they made looked real good , and I am talking about a major engine producer that made there engines from weldments . as long as th shop is clean , and produce a good product thats all what counts , if they are on making it look pretty image , thats a money waster .as they have to devote labor and time to keep up this image which can better off be used to make product .

[69goatboy]

What B-man said.

If it's a welding jig, one thing I would look at the quality of the welds. Nice, clean beads that are only as large as they need to be with splatter cleaned up would tell me much about a company making a welding jig.
Fillet welds that look like a first grader globbed them in there with a tube of toothpaste would tell me much as well.

Since it's a welding jig, paint of any kind will only burn and affect how your tubing will sit in the jig. Powdercoating can be .010-.015" thick.

Also, did they cheap out on the quantity and quality of the clamps?

Golden rule of anything mechanical: fit, form, and function. Everything else is window dressing.

[SD421]

Great responses. The reason for my post was from an argument I had had with a header shop's business partner.
He had said that the owner needed to make the jigs look more presentable ie.. painted or powder coated for another investor to even think about coming into the shop to invest.

My argument was not to coat or paint them because it was a waste of time and money.

Don

[iceman411]

Pretty or presentable..Not really. At Magna in Clinton TN they got pretty trashed even with only a month of use. With the everlasting amounts of adjustments on a strict time frame, we get pretty mid-evil on them with hammers and such for the mildest shim adjusments and the operaters get down right nasty with them with abuse from bigger hammers than we used..LOL... We fixed alot of broken dowels and screws along replacing "missing" gauging blocks..Cycle time of the cell process to bring costs down would be more impressive

[Sidponcho]

I work in Metalstamping. And I've seen stamping dies that are polished and can hold tolerances of .0005 and are beautiful to look at. I've also seen dies that are literally stored outside. And everything in-between

It just depends on the application

[klunker]

As the former Owner of a Tool and Die shop that made fixtures for welding if someone wanted weld fixtures painted I'd do it if he was willing to pay for it. I NEVER would do it other wise. It is a waste of time and money and has no functional value!! If I was looking to invest in a company that did that I'd see the company as inefficient. If someone wanted to invest and to impress them I found out they like things looking pretty I'd make sure they had no say in the operation of the place as they obviously know nothing about manufacturing.

This function over form argument is absolute in manufacturing. Any time/money spent on making tools/dies/fixtures look nice for appearance sake is WASTED PROFIT.

[Coach]

Spend the time and money washing / painting the walls and the light fixtures. I am way more interested in a clean, organized, and well lit environment then painted jigs.

I worked for several manufacturing shops over the years and the successful ones were the ones that were kept up. At Rexnord Bearings we always stopped 15 minutes before the end of the shift to wipe down the machines for the next shift. That was back in the 70s. I believe that plant is still in Downers Grove to this day. One of the few that are.

-H