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Video of laser cutting zintec with a fibre laser cutter

Tuesday, September 27th, 2016

Looking to have your sheet metal work laser cut, please take a look below.

Fast Tube by Casper

Here’s another great video showing how versatile our Trumpf 3030 3KW fibre laser can be when used to manufacture sub-contract sheet metal work. We are laser cutting 0.7mm thick zinc coated mild steel, called zintec, to produce gear trays for LED light fittings for one of our customers in the UK. Laser cutting zintec is easy with our laser cutter and the finished parts are clean and grease free. With a laser cutter there is no specific tooling needed so all sorts of complex cut-outs can be created easily and CNC programmed using our Radan sheet metal software without extra cost to our customers.

These zintec gear trays are being laser cut using compressed air as the assist gas for a clean cut competitively prices part.

If you have a sheet metal work project that needs laser cutting from zintec or other sheet metal materials please contact us and we will be happy to take a look at your design and produce prices for you. We will also see if your design can be altered to suit the best manufacturing techniques to save us time and save you money.

Looking for sheet metal workers in Eastleigh area

Thursday, September 22nd, 2016

laser cutting sheet metal, sheet metal supplier

Laser cutting in Hampshire by V and F Sheet Metal

If you are a company based in the Eastleigh area of Hampshire or further afield you should be contacting V and F Sheet Metal as your sheet metal supplier.
For your welding, CNC punching, CNC bending and laser cutting needs give us a try. With our Trumpf fibre laser cutting machine we can laser cut your ferrous and non-ferrous sheet metal work as well as copper and brass sheet up to 6mm thick. As well as providing laser cut components and assemblies we can CNC punch sheet metal work using a wide range of standard CNC punch tooling before it’s folded up and welded where needed. Through our extensive network of sub-contract suppliers we can have your parts painted, powder coated, zinc plated, silk screened etc to your specification reducing the need for secondary purchase orders.

Looking to change your sheet metal supplier for your next sheet metal project?

We are happy to review your existing designs and provide you with pricing options and design advice to help reduce your purchasing costs. To talk to our engineering team please call 01489 577786 or simple send us your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will get started for you.

Welded sheet metal projects for the Andover area of Hampshire

Thursday, August 25th, 2016

Welded sheet metal projects for the Andover area of Hampshire

Welded fabrications for the Andover area of Hampshire

MiG welded mild steel housings

From our 13,000 sq.ft. manufacturing factory in Fareham, Hampshire we are in easy reach of Andover for daily deliveries of welded sheet metal projects if needed. We have been manufacturing sheet metal projects for over 30 years and have a wealth of experience when it comes to manufacturing using the latest sheet metal working equipment. So if it’s mild steel, stainless steel of aluminium welding fabrications you are looking for we have the equipment and techniques to help realise your sheet metal projects. These mild steel oil tanks shown here have been fully seam welded up all the corners and then leak tested before being powder coated. They are used as oil pump reservoir tanks in hydraulic systems.

Welded sheet metal projects for the Andover area of Hampshire

Welding stainless steel enclosures

If you are looking for a sub-contract sheet metal working company who can laser cut or CNC punch stainless steel components, CNC bend then up to 3M long to tight tolerances and then weld to make fabrications please contact V and F Sheet Metal. Whether it is simple stainless steel brackets with Tig welded joints, stainless steel housings with seam welded corners or stainless steel assemblies with a series of fabricated joints and sections we can help you out.

These stainless steel housings are completely welded up so that they are water tight when used outside to control pumping systems. Laser cut for close cut accuracy, the parts all fit together as a set before welding to make production quick and easy, helping to keep your costs down and at the same time improving the finished part quality.

For more information on sheet metal work production please give us a call on 01489 577786 and we will be happy to chat through your sheet metal work project ideas.

Sheet metal projects in August 2016, take a look and see what we get up to

Wednesday, August 24th, 2016

Sheet metal projects in August 2016

Laser cut 5mm thick aluminium sheet metal project

Here’s a great example of a sheet metal laser cutting project we have produced for a customer of ours using 5mm thick 5251 aluminium alloy. These components were used to create an end cap for sections of aluminium extrusion on a building project. The Trumpf 3030 fibre laser cutting machine we use made quick work of these parts cutting all features with nitrogen for a clean edge with minimal de-burring needed on the reverse edges. You can see for yourself just how effectively the parts can be laid out on the sheet to get the best possible material use and cheapest price.

Spot welded sheet metal assemblies manufactured in August 2016

Another sheet metal project that was manufactured in August 2016 was to make a series of zintec coated mild steel components and then spot weld them all together. These spot welded assemblies are used in an air conditioning unit and we often make in batches of 50-100 at a time. All the parts have been CNC punched, CNC bent and then spot welded to make up the fabricated assemblies and they are typical of the sheet metal projects we have manufactured during August 2016.

Zinc plated sheet metal working project August 2016

These zinc plated components have been laser cut from 3mm thick mild steel and formed to shape using standard CNC press brake tooling. We used oxygen as the cutting assist gas on these parts as any sign of edge oxidisation will have been removed in the zinc plating treatment process during the first acid dip stage.

All these sheet metal projects were manufactured during August 2016 in our factory in Fareham, Hampshire, UK. If you have a sheet metal project that you want to review or perhaps a new sheet metal project that you wish to have an estimate for costing then please give us a call on 01489 587776 or send our sheet metal engineering team your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk. We can accept DXF, DWG, PDF, STEP and SAT files direct from your design department.

Sheet metal workers in Alton Hampshire

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016

Serving companies in the Alton area of Hampshire with sheet metal work

Folded sheet metal work

From our base in Fareham, Hampshire we supply sheet metal work right across Hampshire and the UK. We manufacture a wide range of sub-contract sheet metal products for our customers using laser cutting, CNC punching, CNC bending and welding fabrication techniques. If you are looking for mild steel housings such as these, stainless steel brackets, aluminium front panels and heat sinks, zintec boxes, galvanised steel mounting plates etc. we can provide you with the perfect service. We will take your designs and produce you a range of prices options and advise you on your designs where necessary to help you reduce costs in manufacturing.

Mild steel housings

With the latest CNC driven manufacturing equipment and sheet metal CAD/CAM software we can manufacture small batches of parts very efficiently enabling you to enjoy low prices and at the same time maintain low stock levels. These mild steel boxes have been CNC punched and CNC bent up using Trumpf sheet metal manufacturing equipment for a great quality job. If you are looking for a sheet metal working company in the Alton area of Hampshire or further afield please give us a call.

If you are looking to gain an advantage with your sheet metal purchasing please give V and F Sheet Metal a call on 01489 577786 or send us your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to help you.

CNC punched sheet metal Basingstoke

Monday, August 22nd, 2016

CNC punched sheet metal work in the Basingstoke area of Hampshire

CNC punched zintec coated mild steel

If you are looking for a sheet metal working company to manufacture components for you and you need to have work CNC punched then V and F Sheet Metal are just the people to talk to. With 2 Trumpf CNC punch presses they can handle small batch work and design prototypes, special projects, repeat batches and higher volume CNC punching. Working with a huge range of ferrous and non-ferrous materials, many from stock,they can provide you with the advice you need to improve your designs to tailor them to CNC punching and save you money. These zintec coated mild steel sheet metal brackets are typical of the work V and F Sheet Metal CNC punch out everyday of the week,

CNC punched plastic coated aluminium sheet metal

Here is a typical sheet metal project being CNC punched in aluminium with a plastic peelable protective film. The plastic film can be left on the components right through the sheet metal manufacturing and even into your own assembly processes. Working alongside the 2 Trumpf CNC punch presses is a Trumpf 3030 3KW fibre laser cutting machine which is the perfect partner when it comes to producing sheet metal work projects. Offering the facility to cut thicker materials and shapes without special tooling the 2 processes offer the perfect combination of production for sheet metal projects.

If you are looking for a responsive sheet metal worker in Hampshire please give V and F Sheet Metal a call or send your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk

Sheet metal work in Bournemouth

Friday, August 19th, 2016

Looking for a sheet metal working company that can delivery in the Bournemouth area.

3D modelling of sheet metal enclosures

Using 3D solid modelling with Radan sheet metal software is a great way to ensure that components align correctly before having to cut any sheet metal. Any problems with the customer’s design can be highlighted and corrected before committing to production. The correct developed blank sizes can be generated from the 3D model allowing for material thickness, material type and the production machine being used to manufacture the parts. V and F Sheet Metal have been using Radan 3D solid modelling software since 2001 and have lots of experience in handling complex models, assemblies and fabrications for their customers.

Folded sheet metal work assembly

Here we have an image of developed blanks within a CNC punch nest for our Trumpf 3000 machine. Using Radan sheet metal CAD/CAM software we can layout the individual parts, tool them for CNC punching and produce the most efficient CNC punching nest to get the best fit of parts from a sheet of metal. All CNC programs are held on our system server so they are ready instantly for any repeat batch work or design issue changes.

CNC punching nest of sheet metal parts

The final sheet metal chassis and cover have now been CNC punched, edge de-burred, folded and had their inserts pressed in. All holes align perfectly and the job is ready to be shipped to the customer. These parts have been produced in batches of 100 parts and are typical of the sheet metal work that we produce every week for companies right across the UK. If you are looking for a sheet metal working company to help you with your designs and make the parts simpler to reduce production costs please give us a call on 01489 577786 or e-mail your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to help you.

Folding sheet metal boxes with special RollBend tooling

Monday, July 25th, 2016

Bending aluminium boxes

Here at V and F Sheet Metal we are folding up a wide range of sheet metal components on a daily basis. They can be small electronics screening cans in 0.3mm tin plated mild steel, 0.4mm special pre-anodised reflector aluminium alloys, 0.9mm zintec coated mild steel channels, 1.5mm pre-galvanised mild steel lighting gear trays, 2mm brushed stainless steel housings, 3mm copper bus bars, 4mm mild steel support angles, 19” rack aluminium components and so much more. The sheet metal work that we fold up may have just a single simple angle bend right through to multiple bent complex parts with easy bends, safe edges and multi bent curved sections.

Today we are going to look at a component that has electrical cut-outs cut in a 3mm thick aluminium part which will cause a problem is they are folded up with normal air bending V tooling. The problem with using standard V bend tooling with cut-outs that are too near the bend line is the unsupported material that will be in the die bend zone will not fully bend up. This problem is increased with the increase in the sheet metal component thickness. Once way around this would be to bend up the components first and then machine in the cut-outs after which is acceptable but slow and would lead to an expensive part. The tooling technique we use to solve this problem is to use a range of RollBend tooling from Trumpf. This tooling can be used in both our Trumpf 7036 and Safan e-Brake CNC press brakes enabling us to cover a wide range of tricky bending work.

The RollBend tooling rotates around 2 fixed points enabling the bottom tool to fully support the material as its being folded with no air gap. The machine can be set up with the standard top V tooling and can be run at the same speed as normal so importantly the part price is not affected by using this type of tooling. The set time is just as quick as using the normal bottom bend tooling and just drops straight into place in the bed of the machine.

Folded aluminium boxes

Here is the 3mm thick aluminium gear box folded up and ready to have a number of bushes and studs inserted before powder coating. You can see that the 2 circles and the 2 rectangular cut-outs have all the material between the cut-outs and the bend line bent up properly and require no other operations to straighten out the material. For more general information on CNC bending and CNC press brakes please follow the link.

Welcome to our new V and F Sheet Metal website

Friday, July 22nd, 2016

We are really pleased to be able to launch our new look website. Designed to be more flexible when viewed on the go now you can access tooling data, machine videos, the latest news etc. in the office, at home or where ever you need it. We will be adding more examples of sheet metal projects to our gallery pages soon and expanding on the design data pages.

So if you are looking for more information on the full range of sheet metal services we can offer you here in Hampshire, UK or are interested in looking back at our past sheet metal projects for design ideas to help you with your latest sheet metal project, please take a look at our new website.

Sheet metal workers in Romsey

Monday, May 30th, 2016

A range of sheet metal brackets manufactured for the Romsey area in Hampshire, UK.

If you are based in the Romsey, Southampton or Eastleigh areas of Hampshire, UK then V and F Sheet Metal are just 30 minutes away from you. Having manufactured sheet metal work for over 30 years including, sheet metal brackets, boxes, housings, enclosures and rack mount enclosures, lighting reflectors, front panels, fixing plates, support angle brackets, channels, angles, welded fabrications and press work, there isn’t much that we cannot manufacture for you. If you want to pop in and discuss your sheet metal project we will be happy to see you and show you around our 13,000 Sq. Ft. busy sheet metal production factory based on the Segensworth industrial estate near Fareham and explain the sheet metal services we can offer you.

So if you have a range of drawings you want to send us from PDFs or DXF, DWG files right up to 3D STEP and SAT files please just send them to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to advise you on your design and offer some very competitive price options.

CNC punching sheet metal work in Hampshire, UK

Monday, May 23rd, 2016

CNC punching sheet metal work in Hampshire, UK

If you are looking for a sheet metal working company to CNC punch out your sheet metal components then V and F Sheet Metal based in Fareham, Hampshire, UK are just what you need. As well as a Trumpf 3030 3KW fibre laser machine we have Trumpf 200 and Trumpf 3000 CNC punch presses. These punch presses are very flexible machines being able to punch out components from 0.3mm to 5mm thick material in a wide range of metal materials. From 0.3mm tin plated steel and 0.4mm thick specialised aluminium lighting reflector materials, standard aluminium, mild steel, stainless steel alloys through to 5 bar tread plate, pre-painted steel and pre-anodised aluminium. All stainless steel and aluminium alloys can be supplied with plastic coatings on their top and bottom faces to prevent damage in production and during your assembly stages.

The machine shown here is our Trumpf 3000 CNC punch press punching out pre-painted mild steel sheet metal. The circular discs are gear trays for industrial light fittings and are very competitively priced compared to manufacturing from mild steel and powder coating white. The final punch on this part would be to sever the component from the parent material and collect it in a tray underneath the machine from a programmable chute in the machine bed.

The Trumpf machines having a single head which can rotate through 360 degrees make them very flexible when it comes to complex sheet metal designs and small batch work. This flexibility can be advantageous when it comes to your designs with the ability to punch slots at any angle, cut-outs in complex shapes with our standard FREE CNC punch tooling.

These CNC punch presses are fully supported in all manufacturing features by our Radan sheet metal CAD/CAM software as well as offering 3D modelling for accurate bank size calculations it allows us to swap jobs from our laser to our CNC punch presses when production work loads necessitate.

Looking for a sheet metal worker with the flexibility and expertise to handle your production projects in a range of sheet metal materials, please give V and F Sheet Metal a call on 01489 577786 or e-mail your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk and our engineering team will be happy to review them for you.

Folding sheet metal housings

Friday, May 20th, 2016

Safan CNC press brake in action

Our Safan e-Brake CNC press brake is such a versatile sheet metal folding machine. We can fold up sheet metal components from just a few mm across to 3M long sections all with the same bend tooling. Programming is so easy that a new project can be programmed in a matter of minutes and saved away to our system server to be called back whenever the part is needed for repeat orders.

Mild steel housings folded

Simplicity is the key to a quick setup of a sheet metal component. When you are moving from one job to another throughout the day it’s not just about the speed of bending that saves time and money but the machine setup and programming time. The Safan e-Brake scores well on this account with a clear, simple touch screen control system and a full library of CNC tools shared with our 2 Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes.

Mild steel housing CNC punched blank

The initial product blanks were produced on our Trumpf 3000R CNC punch press from 0.9mm mild steel. Products like this are typical of the sub-contract sheet metal work service we offer our customers, taking a design and programming it to be CNC punched or laser cut and folded up ready for welding, bush and stud insertion and powder coating.

If you need to purchase some sheet metal housings or brackets please give us a call on 01489 577786 or e-mails us your drawings or photos to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to help you.

Looking for sheet metal workers in the Chandlers Ford area?

Monday, May 16th, 2016

Looking for sheet metal workers in the Chandlers Ford area?

Sheet metal components

Here at V and F Sheet Metal we support companies right across Hampshire UK with a comprehensive sheet metal fabrication service. With customers regularly delivered to in Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh, Southampton and Winchester as well as next day overnight small packet and pallet deliveries right across the UK. If you have a one off sheet metal work project you need assistance with or a more regular production requirement we will be happy to help you. Contact our engineering team for advice of designing for efficient manufacturing of sheet metal components. Want to pop in and discuss your needs or see in more detail the services we can offer you, just give us a call.

Sheet metal parts

The 2 parts shown here are just typical of the many thousands of items we manufacture every month from our 13,000 sq. ft. factory in Fareham, right on the M27. Using the very latest CNC punching and fibre laser cutting production processes to produce sheet metal blanks quickly and accurately to a price that you need. Along with 6 CNC bending machines, up to 3M long and 100 tons force, we have great flexibility when it comes to that rush job you just have to get out.

Have a sheet metal project you need help with? Call us on 01489 577786 or e-mail you drawings to sales@vand.co.uk

Pressing in studs with fly-presses

Saturday, May 14th, 2016

Flush head studs inserted into sheet metal products

Fly presses in action

We use flush head studs to provide a permanent stud (male thread) into a range of sheet metal materials and thicknesses. They might be aluminium, stainless steel but by far the most popular are mild steel and zinc plated studs. They come in a range of lengths from 6mm up to 50mm and from M2.5 to M8, other sizes can be achieved by special order. They act as a permanent screw thread in place of a screw for assembling components and are often used for an earth point in electrical cabinets and electronics chassis and gear trays. The example show here is of a light fitting gear tray and the studs are used a fixing positions for a lighting ballast.

Lighting gear trays with flush head studs

The studs are often pressed in with our Haeger bush and stud inserter machine. It can cope with all studs, bushes, stand-offs and tank bushes. In this case we are showing one of our fly-presses being used to insert M3 x 18mm mild steel zinc plated flush head studs.

If you have a sheet metal component design and you are not quite sure what you need please just give us a call and we will be more than happy to help you with finding the right insert to suit you. Call us on 01489 577786 or send us your designs to sales@vandf.co.uk

Looking for sheet metal workers in the Winchester area?

Friday, May 13th, 2016

Manufacturing sheet metal work for companies in and around Winchester

Folding long sheet metal profiles

V and F Sheet Metal have been manufacturing sheet metal work and welded fabrications for over 30 years now. We supply a wide range of sheet metal products from our base here in Fareham, Hampshire to companies in Hampshire and right across the UK to the lighting, heating, electronics and professional audio industries as well as a wide range of specialist companies across the UK. We often deliver products to Winchester, Eastleigh, Southampton, Portsmouth and Basingstoke as well as using overnight services to Scotland, Wales and the rest of the England.

When you are making long channel sections like these you need a bending machine that can provide the bending power and accuracy on bend size and angle right up to 3M long. Our Safan e-Brake 100 ton CNC press brake is just such a machine. Installed new in 2015 this machine is perfectly suited to the range of sheet work we tend to bend and provides a bending force that matches the longest work we can laser cut.

Sheet metal bending

You can see here the guillotined blanks on the right hand of the bending machine and the finished folded U channels on the left hand side of the machine. You need a fair bit of space when it comes to producing parts like these and our 13,000 sq. ft. factory provides the flexibility to take on this type of work as well as higher volumes of smaller parts. You only have to look through some of our past blog posts and the gallery pages on the website to see the wide range of sheet metal work that we get involved with for our customers. From these 3M long sections to CNC punched and folded aluminium lighting gear trays, stainless steel support brackets, mild steel electrical cabinets, copper bus bars, brass display units, aluminium LED display PCB plates etc.

Bent galvanised steel sections

The final 3M long galvanised mild steel sections stacked on a pallet ready to be wrapped up and delivered to the customer. This batch was for 2 different channel cross sections and approximately 350 of each type.

If you are based in Winchester or the surrounding areas of Hampshire and you want to visit us to discuss your sheet metal projects in more depth or you simply want to send us your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk please don’t hesitate and we will be happy to help you.

Looking for sheet metal workers in the Southampton area?

Thursday, May 12th, 2016

Sheet metal workers in the Southampton area

CNC punching sheet metal in Southampton

Based in Fareham right on the M27 we are perfectly positioned to supply sheet metal work and welded sheet metal fabrications to companies in the Southampton area. Working with a vast range of ferrous and non-ferrous materials we are happy to CNC punch thicknesses from 0.3mm right up to 5mm thick with our two Trumpf CNC punch presses, over 5mm we can easily handle with out Trumpf fibre laser. These particular aluminium CNC punched panels were made for an electronics company who used them to house control gear on pumping systems. Whether it’s small electronics housings and front panel, lighting modules or gear trays, support brackets or welded fabrications we are here to help you.

Sheet metal work in Southampton

Here we have a typical small stainless steel bracket that we have just manufactured for one of our customers in Southampton. These components have been laser cut and have stainless steel PEM studs pressed in the ends, once they had been folded up they were used in conjunction with a small battery power portable LED lighting system. Whether it’s a few prototypes for a new design you are working on, repeat batches of sheet metal work or higher volumes we can cope with your needs.

So if you are looking for sheet metal work and you are based in the Southampton area please give us a call or pop in for a look around and see the range of services we can offer you.

Looking for sheet metal work in the Gosport area?

Wednesday, May 11th, 2016

Trumpf 7036 CNC bending

We are based in Fareham, Hampshire with a 13,000 Sq. Ft. factory and we are well placed to manufacture sheet metal work for companies based in the Gosport area. Whether it’s laser cutting, CNC punching or CNC bending sheet metal work, as illustrated here we are happy to help you with your designs refining them for efficient manufacturing and produce a range of price options for you.

These sheet metal covers are relatively simple to produce (laser cut and CNC bent) and are typical of many products we manufacture for an array of customers large and small in Hampshire and further afield. We also produce more complex sheet metal fabrications using laser cutting, CNC punching, bending and welding techniques.

Folded sheet metal covers

The machine shown here is a Trumpf 7036 CNC press brake. It’s one of 2 that we have which are 1M long and very quick. There are perfect for small batch production and prototype work but also equally at home folding up thousands of complex components.

So if you are based in the Gosport area and you have a product that you manufacture and it needs some sheet metal work please give us a call. We also produce sheet metal work for companies right across the UK and are happy to have you call in and see us in action producing sheet metal products.

Simple sheet metal projects

Wednesday, May 11th, 2016

Simple sheet metal work

A simple sheet metal plate made from mild steel sheet. The parts have been CNC punched out on our Trumpf 3000 CNC punch press and they will be barrel de-burred to remove any sharpness from the CNC punching process before shipping to the customer. A simple sheet metal part, easily made in seconds on a CNC punch press and there’s not much else to say about this part except its typical of many simple parts we manufacture every day of the week here at V and F Sheet Metal.

Have a simple sheet metal component that you need for your project, please give us a call on 01489 577786 or e-mail your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to help you.

Sheet metal manufacturing

Monday, May 9th, 2016

A range of sheet metal parts demonstrating CNC punching, CNC laser cutting and CNC bending in a sub-contract manufacturing environment. Virtually all the sheet metal projects that we manufacture for our customers use one or more of these production processes to produce the parts to our customer’s design. This is where most investment goes and the technology is supported by sophisticated software and control processes. Some of these parts can be laser cut or CNC punched out from standard sheets of metal in seconds and with quick setting CNC press brakes can be bent in minutes. These techniques lead to competitive prices for small batches of parts when our customers cannot commit to higher volumes.

To see the advantages of these production techniques in a modern manufacturing factory please contact us with your project. You can speak to our engineering team on 01489 577786 or send us your drawings in DXF, DWG, SAT, STEP or PDF format and we will be happy to help advise you on your designs and produce prices for you.

Laser cutting sheet metal light fittings

Thursday, May 5th, 2016

Laser cutting sheet metal light fitting gear trays

I always like it when a laser cutting or CNC punching nest completely fills a sheet of metal. This laser cutting nest of 0.7mm zintec lighting gear trays was just such a job. Being able to get the most from a sheet of metal helps to keep the costs down for our customers and speeds up production with less handling time. The middle image above shows this really well and the other two detail some of the features that were so easily laser cut. After several small batches of samples and development work this was the first production batch of 100 parts. If the volumes increase to many hundreds per batch then I may well look to move this job to one of our Trumpf CNC punch presses to increase the speed that the holes are processed but at the moment the Trumpf fibre laser is perfect for this job. Being able to move jobs between different production methods is a useful way of saving our customers money and time when a particular machine is busy.

If you have a sheet metal project that needs to be laser cut or CNC punched please give us a call on 01489 577786 or send us an e-mail with your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk

Welding mild steel plates and bars

Wednesday, May 4th, 2016

Welded fabrications

Here’s an unusual project for us here at V and F Sheet Metal, a welded plate and bar fabricated assembly. The bars have been machined from mild steel and free issued to us. We laser cut the circular plates and then welded them in plate as you can see in the image here. Finally we had the welded assembly zinc plated and colour passivated. The final welded fabrication was used to support light fittings in the ground.

Although we predominately produce our work from sheet metal in ferrous and non-ferrous alloys we do also make up fabrication like this when needed for our customers. When you are a sub-contract engineering company you have to be able to turn your hand to any project that comes along from your customers.

Perhaps you are looking to have a welded fabrication project manufactured in the near future, please give us a call and we will be happy to help you.

Sheet metal components in April 2016

Sunday, May 1st, 2016

Sheet metal components

Here we are at the end of April and here’s another couple of sheet metal components that we have made this month. They are typical of the sheet metal components we make on a daily basis for our UK and European customers and they were each made in batches of several hundred. The components have been CNC punched and bent up from zintec coated mild steel sheet metal. If you click on the image you can see 3 holes in the middle of the component that have a plunged form and are used with self tapping screws. We have the tooling for M3, M4 and M5 as standard in our Trumpf CNC punch presses. Once we had finished them they were used to hold control gear for industrial light fittings and were just left self colour zintec as this was good enough for the warm dry environment into which they were going.

Sheet metal brackets

These brackets were laser cut and then CNC folded on one of our CNC press brakes. They were also made from zintec sheet metal and are used by a pump control company to hold a pumping system in place where beer is pumped from the kegs to the bar in public house cellars.

For more information on sheet metal components and how we go about making them take a look at our web page “What is sheet metal and how is it made”

Folded sheet metal work

Wednesday, April 27th, 2016

Folded stainless steel brackets

Stainless steel folded brackets

Here are two recent folded sheet metal work projects I have chosen at random to demonstrate the versatility of sheet metal. These stainless steel brackets have been laser cut with the fibre plastic protective film in place and then folded again on our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes. These brackets were made in a batch of 30 parts and are made perhaps twice a year. Both CNC bend programs along with the CNC punching and laser cutting programs are stored on our company server and are available to the machine setters as all the CNC machines are on our company network. This leads to quick retrieval of past programs and storage of updates for any person who needs to access them.

Folded aluminium brackets

Aluminium folded brackets

These 1.2mm thick aluminium brackets have been CNC punched and folded up on one of our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes. The batch size was 250 parts and they were a repeat order which we make several times a year. We can manufacture virtually any type of sheet metal brackets in mild steel, galvanised steel, zintec, aluminium, stainless steel, aluminium alloys, copper, brass or pre-painted materials. For more examples of sheet metal brackets please take a look at our gallery.

Please give us a try and we will be happy to quote for your folded sheet metal work needs.

Laser cutting copper sheet metal work

Monday, April 25th, 2016

Laser cutting copper sheet metal

Having a fibre laser cutter has been a great advantage to us when it’s come to cutting out blank shapes from copper sheet. These simple triangle shapes could have been CNC punched but we would have wasted more material, we would have had to edge de-burr all the shaped to remove the CNC punch marks and the process would have been a lot slower. The Trumpf 3030 fibre laser cutter cut the parts straight out without any edge de-burring and used all the sheet here possible to get the best fit of components.

Laser cut copper sheet metal parts

The pattern of copper triangles was arranged by using our Radan CAD/CAM software with it’s schedule module. It enabled us to mix several different shapes and sizes of copper parts together all laser cut from the same thickness sheet to save material and money across the whole project. Whenever we are working with expensive materials like copper sheet we try all possible solutions to get the best material yield when quoting for the work and then actually laser cutting it.

If you have a sheet metal project in copper or brass and you have been told it can’t be laser cut, look again, up to 6mm thick and we can laser cut it for you.

Bending large sheet metal trays

Friday, April 22nd, 2016

Large folded stainless steel trays

Our new Safan e-Brake 3M CNC press brake is more than capable of bending these large stainless steel roofing trays with it’s 100 Ton bend press force. These 1.5mm stainless steel trays were laser cut from 3M x 1.5M sheets with only one coming from each sheet. They were then bent up on the press brake before finally having each corner joint seam welded to produce a water tight roofing tray for living roof systems. As well as folding large stainless trays such as these show here you can find us on most days folding zintec profiles, aluminium boxes, stainless steel brackets, pre-painted gear trays or mild steel enclosures. The Safan e-Brake is such a versatile machine for bending sub-contract sheet metal work that it was definitely the right machine for us.

CNC press brake bend tooling

The tooling system with the Safan is very flexible, it’s show here with swan neck tooling ready to fold the deep stainless trays shown above. It allows us to share tooling with our 2 Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes across it’s 3M long bed. By using extension adaptors we can fold very deep sections, trays, boxes etc. as well as safe edge, standard V bends and tight sections using swan neck tooling.

If you have a sheet metal project that needs bending, the chances are we will have standard tooling at no cost to yourself that we can use to produce your parts. Why not send us your drawings and we will be happy to take a look and produce some prices for manufacturing.

Small sheet metal brackets

Wednesday, April 20th, 2016

Small sheet metal brackets

Small sheet metal brackets are a typical component for V and F Sheet Metal to manufacture. We regularly make just a few small brackets for a special project or repeating batches of many hundreds. Some of our sheet metal projects can be for many thousands of small bracket either CNC punched, laser cut of with dedicated tooling. These particular small brackets were CNC punched and CNC bent using our Trumpf sheet metal manufacturing equipment.

If you are looking to have small sheet metal brackets manufactured to your own designs then please give us a call on 01489 577786 or send us an e-mail with your drawings and we will be happy to help you with price options, design ideas and production. If you are looking for a KanBan call off that can be organised as well to suit your volume needs.

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Friday, April 15th, 2016

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CNC punched earth bars

Monday, April 11th, 2016

Sheet metal earthing bars

When you want images, numbers, letters or symbols stamped into sheet metal that are permanent there’s no better way than using a CNC punch press. We have 2 CNC punch presses and both can take the same tooling enabling us to be flexible when it comes to production. These earth symbols have been CNC punched using a customer made punch tool and are clear even after zinc plating.

If numbers or letters are needed there are several tooling options which can be used such as alphanumeric holders for part numbers and stock codes. Larger images can be stamped in one hit but the clarity depends on the material and needs careful design and advise from the tool makers.

I would always say it’s worth asking us if you have an idea that needs stamping into a sheet metal product and you are not sure because we are always happy to check the feasibility with the tool makers for you before you need to commit to any tooling costs.

Rolled mild steel sheet metal rings

Thursday, April 7th, 2016

Rolling mild steel rings

A simple rolled mild steel ring for a light fitting manufactured from 0.9mm thick material. This simple component has been CNC punched from sheet metal, rolled into a ring and then stitch welded at the joints to produce a circular band. Once the bands were all welded together they were then welded to a perforated disc to produce a vented top panel for a high bay light fitting. If you look carefully at the picture you can see small tabs on the edges of the rings which have been designed to engage in slots on the perforated rings to speed up welding alignment. You will see this technique again and again in our blog posts as it’s such a powerful way of ensuring accuracy in welding and speeding up production rates without costing a lot of money.

Perhaps you have a sheet metal projects that is welded together from several parts and this technique could save time and money. We are always keen to help you and would be happy to take a look at your design and see if we can save you money. Please call us on 01489 577786 or send your designs to sales@vandf.co.uk

Laser cut stainless steel grids

Tuesday, March 29th, 2016

Laser cut stainless steel grid

We had a project to produce stainless steel drainage trays for a customer of ours who makes living roofs. The type of roofs that have grass and plants growing across them on schools, bus shelters, nature hides etc. The roofing systems have a series of stainless steel trays laid over the roof with the plants growing and a drainage system to take the water away. The trays have welded corners and a simple gutter / down pipe system to take the rain water away. Inside each roof tray there is a filter system consisting of this stainless steel grid which is welded in place around a drainage hole allowing a filter media to be positioned to hold back the growing media.

The stainless steel grid was laser cut from the same parent sheet as the drainage trays and designed to fit perfectly with small tabs that located into slots in the tray to aid positioning when being welded. We even left more material when we had to bend the grids so there was enough stainless to bend cleanly, this is the advantage of using a laser cutting machine even on small volume projects.

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