Apparatus and method for preventing accumulation and adhesion of weld spatter

A tooling fixture having the advantage of repeatably manufacturing dimensionally accurate parts comprising:

• a plurality of component locators having a body with at least one surface for accurately positioning and constraining at least one component part within the tooling fixture and the at least one surface to be exposed to weld spatter while the at least one component part is welded;
• and
• a spatter resistant coating on the at least one surface for preventing weld spatter from accumulating and adhering to the at least one surface to thereby preserve the dimensional repeatability of the tooling fixture and decrease rework or scrap quantities resulting from the at least one component part being out of specification.

A method for preventing weld spattering from collecting on and adhering to critical dimensional locating components having the advantage of preserving the dimensional accuracy of a tooling fixture and the economic advantage associated with maximizing through-put of parts in the tooling fixture while reducing rework or scrap quantities resulting from out of specification parts, the method comprising:

• providing a plurality of component locators having a body with at least one surface for accurately constraining at least one component part within the tooling fixture and the at least one surface being exposed to weld spatter from an arc welder while the at least one component part is being welded;
• and
• coating the at least one surface with a spatter resistant coating for preventing weld spatter from accumulating on and adhering to the at least one surface of the plurality of component locators thereby maintaining the dimensional repeatability of the tooling fixture.