Work/Fiber Optic Connector Tooling
One fixture across a whole shell size, and $20k back.
One machined tooling plate holds the contact pins for every insert layout of the same shell size while the epoxy cures. Jake redesigned Glenair's cross-compatible toolings to be machined, saving the company over $20,000 and 300 hours.
Overview
Fiber optic connectors are assembled and then cured with their contact pins held exactly in place. Each model needed its own tooling to hold those pins.
Tools
- CAD
- resin printing
- GD&T
- machining
- When
- Summer 2025
- Where
- Glenair
- Role
- Intern
design.
One tool for every connector of a shell size.
Designed tooling that holds the contact pins while the connector is assembled and cured.
Iterated the design until one tool worked across every same-shell-diameter model.
prototypes.
Clear resin first, to learn the tolerances.
3D printed prototypes in clear resin to learn the critical tolerances and what was feasible to machine.
result.
Machined, and $20,000 back.
Redesigned the cross-compatible toolings to be machined, saving the company over $20,000 and 300 hours.
