Christopher Tool is a family owned and operated business founded in 1951 and is committed to delivering quality machined parts to its customers on time. The company operates in aerospace, oil and gas, robotics, fluid power and diesel engine components, with operations ranging from prototyping to medium volume production. The company's core objective is to continually enhance its manufacturing expertise to meet the diverse needs of its customers.

Christopher Tool uses a laser process to mark the parts it manufactures. Although the process takes only a few seconds, each part must be held in place so it doesn't shift during marking.

However, the company produces a wide variety of parts that require different devices to hold the various shapes in place. Often a vise, square or magnet is required to complete the device, a time-consuming process. Without a repeatable process, the markings could become misaligned, distorted or even undisplayable, compromising the quality of the parts.

Using ABS-M30 material, Christopher Tool engineers printed fixturing fixtures that can hold multiple parts and provide clamping functionality.The 3D printed customized fixtures reduced fixture adjustment time by at least 97%, and in some cases even cut 10-15 minutes down to 30 seconds.

For fixed fixture applications that previously required machining to complete, 3D printing offers a better solution that can reduce the time to manufacture fixed fixtures from days to hours. Specialized fixed fixtures also ensure consistency in the way parts are marked to ensure Christopher Tool achieves its goal of zero-defect machined parts.