# Custom Test Stand & Fixture Frames

https://kdisplay.com/products/frames-weldments/test-stand-fixture-frames

K-Display, a Chicago sheet metal fabricator, welds test stand and check fixture frames to your frame and locator drawings, with mounting surfaces for locators, clamps, and sensors, leveling feet, and cable and air rails. Frames ship bare, powder coated with marking, or fitted with feet, plates, and hardware.

## Overview
We weld the frame under a check fixture or test stand from tube and plate in aluminum, carbon steel, or stainless steel, with a top plate or rails that take your locator blocks and clamps. Frames ship bare, powder coated and marked, or with feet, plates, and hardware fitted. A base that carries a machine to the floor and the forklift is Machine Bases & Skid Frames, and a support frame for a drive or a module is Welded Frames & Weldments.

## Process
- Cut the plates, fit the frame: We laser cut the plates from your frame and locator drawings, then fit the frame up.
- Weld the frame: We MIG or TIG weld with the sequence set for distortion at the mounting surfaces.
- Mask, coat, mark, and fit: We mask the mounting faces and locator holes, powder coat, and remove the masking, then apply the label, decal, or silk-screened ID and revision and fit feet, plates, and hardware.

## Typical parts
- Frames for check fixtures and gauges: Tube and plate frames that carry locator blocks, nests, and pins for a gauge or check fixture.
- Test stand frames: Benchtop and floor-standing frames, with shelves for instruments and mounts for clamps, sensors, and actuators.
- Plate and riser mounting surfaces: Pads, plates, and risers that take your locators and clamps, on the hole pattern from your locator drawing.
- Leveling and routing provisions: Leveling feet or pads, cable and air rails, and removable panels.

## Design considerations
- Datum scheme and locator surfaces: Locator plates and blocks are fastened to the frame, so the frame has to present their mounting surfaces and hole patterns where the datum scheme puts them. A weld close to one of those surfaces moves it.
- Loading and clamp reaction: Clamp force reacts through the frame into the members under the locator plate. A frame that gives there moves the surfaces.
- Support and leveling: A frame on four fixed feet rocks on a floor or bench that is not flat, and forcing it level twists the frame. Adjustable feet or pads let it seat.
- Fasteners and finished faces: Locators, pins, and pads that wear or adjust need reachable fasteners. Coating on a mounting face or a locator hole changes how a plate seats.

## Related pages
- [Laser Cutting](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/cutting-forming/laser-cutting)
- [MIG & TIG Welding](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/welding/mig-tig-welding)
- [Part Marking & Product Graphics](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/finishing/part-marking-product-graphics)
- [Powder Coating](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/finishing/powder-coating)
- [Panels & Covers](https://kdisplay.com/products/panels-covers)