2018 -

Laser cut small components in Hampshire, Great Britain 2018

Monday, April 2nd, 2018

Laser cut small components

Looking for a company to produce your small components in large batches? Here at V and F Sheet Metal we’re ideally placed to do this for you using our Trumpf laser cutting machine. Small flat components, such as the examples shown here, are ideally suited to production on this machine and we love to use it!

Small components ready for powder coating

The laser cutter is extremely versatile, being able to cut any shape into mild steel sheet without the need for dedicated tooling. This is a real advantage for many of our customers with smaller batch size projects. In addition we’ve found that most laser cutting nests that we have converted have shown a better yield of components from a given sheet size. Always an attractive feature. For mild steel there is the need for cutting head assist gases which can be compressed air, oxygen or nitrogen, all of which we have available here at V and F Sheet Metal. The extra cost of the gases can usually be offset by the reduced material usage and the reduction in de-burring time offering a better quality part that is cost neutral for our customers.

Laser cut components

The Trumpf laser can easily handle a range of metal gauges and its versatility lies in the array of complex shapes it’s able to produce. As you can see from the photos, this machine has the advantage of being able to generate a smooth consistent arc as compared to a standard punching technique.

Selection of small components

The small components here are made of mild steel, 2-3 mm thick and will either be powder coated or zinc plated further down the line. If you take a closer look, all of these components demonstrate “safe designs” with rads on corners making them safe and easy to handle. Always a feature worth considering. These are typical examples of the repeating batch work we are involved in and usually, although not exclusively, for UK customers.

Perhaps you have some small sheet metal components that need to be manufactured? If so then please feel free to give us a call. We are always happy to take a look at new projects, we may be able to save you time and money with only a small design change. We can offer you free advice to improve material usage, reduce production time and select the most appropriate material type and finish.

Please e-mail us on sales@vandf.co.uk with your drawings attached.

Alternatively give us call on 01489 577786 and we will be more than happy to talk.

Let’s talk about grades of commercial stainless steel in Hampshire 2018!

Tuesday, March 13th, 2018

Grades of commercial stainless steel and sheet metal brackets

It’s time to look at some recently cut stainless steel brackets as this gives me the ideal opportunity to talk about the different grades of commercial stainless steel available. We often find our customers are unsure about the grade of stainless they require and turn to us for advice. Sometimes we find the grade is stated but it may be incorrectly specified which could have an impact on the durability of the final product. Moreover it could effect the final cost of each component through “over specification” when a lower grade stainless would have “done the job” adequately.

Laser cut brackets

Here at V and F Sheet Metal we mainly use three different grades of stainless steel. Grade 430 is the cheapest, lowest grade with good formability and ductility. It displays magnet properties but is not very corrosion resistance. With these properties in mind, its easy to see why its uses lie in decorative trim and domestic situations.

Setting up the press brake

Grade 304 is a mid range versatile and widely used stainless. It contains more chrome and nickel and displays good corrosion resistance. It’s found in outdoor settings, such as sign production where the exposure to water is not a problem.

Grade 316 is a high quality stainless with an addition of molybdenum giving rise to improved resistance to corrosion. This renders it particularly useful in chloride environments and makes it the stainless of choice in marine environments where metal work is constantly under attack from salty water. It is also used in the catering industry and in the production of high quality surgical components.

Trumpf 7036 CNC press brake

The batch of 250 laser cut brackets shown here were made for an outdoor setting using grade 304 stainless. They were folded on one of our Trumpf 7036 CNC controlled press brakes. Obviously the laser cut components are flat to begin with but they need to be curved and this is achieved using a multiple bending technique, all carried out on the press brake. There is no end to the flexibility of these machines when it comes to bending!

Curved stainless steel brackets

If you are unsure about which grade of stainless you need for your next project then please contact us at V and F Sheet Metal on 01489 577786 or email sales@vandf.co.uk. We look forward to giving you the advice you need and producing your components.

Spot welding is the order of the day at V and F Sheet Metal, Hampshire

Wednesday, March 7th, 2018

Spot welding

Often I’m asked by a customer to produce a part made of two dissimilar materials. This is no problem for our skilled staff at V and F Sheet Metal, it just calls for the technique of spot welding. The process whereby two pieces of sheet metal are joined together using spot welds made at regular intervals on overlapping sheets of metal.

We have four spot welding machines in our factory in Fareham, Hampshire set up as individual spot welding bays. We feel it is important to have more than one machine as this gives us the ability to offer our customers a high degree of flexibility and ensures that your “job” is not held up waiting in a queue. Many customers require a quick turn around time and in some cases the moment from order confirmation to delivery is surprisingly short. As the saying goes time is money!

Spot welding bay

One of the photos shows a close up of the welding electrodes showing copper tips in brass holders. During the welding process the top electrode moves up and down and the bottom one remains stationary. Using these electrodes, the welding current is concentrated into a small “spot”, thus forcing a large current through the spot and melting the metal to form the weld.

Spot welding electrodes

In this case the completed part was a mild steel bracket with a zinc plated and colour passivated steel clip attached. The clip was free issued to us by the customer. If you are interested in this particular technique and would like to learn more about the process in detail, then please take a look at the information on Spot Welding sheet metal under our plant list. There’s even a short clip of spot welding in action in our factory!

Spot welded bracket

Give us a call today at V and F Sheet Metal in Fareham, Hampshire to discuss all your metalwork needs. Contact us on 01489 577786 or email us at sales@vandf.co.uk.

We are bananas about our CNC punch press tooling at V and F Sheet Metal!

Monday, March 5th, 2018

CNC punch press tooling

The latest component I’ve been asked to make has given me the opportunity to talk about CNC punch press tooling, and more specifically the banana tool. Although the part is simply circular in shape, it still needs some thought on how this shape is created. We could have used the Trumpf fibre laser but in this case we chose to run the job on the Trumpf 3000. If this machine had been busy then we could have swapped to the Trumpf 200. Obviously, we like to offer this flexibility in our work shop and our regular customers appreciate this, as they know their job will not be held up in a queue.

Banana tooling used to CNC punch a circular component

Radan view of component

The first photo is a Radan view of the part. Below the circular part is the CNC punch press tool used to produce it, a banana tool. This tool has a choice of external and internal radii. These could be same or different to each other. In this case the internal radius of the tool was used to produce the external circumference of the component. We have many tools available at V and F Sheet Metal so if one doesn’t suit, we’ll probably find one that will! The tool could be used to create the external radius of the part or the internal radius of a hole in a piece of metal.

Radan nest of parts

The second image shows the Radan nest of parts arranged on a 2m x 1m sheet of 3mm thick aluminium.
Obviously as components are cut out of the sheet they will fall out so there is a chute underneath the machine for collection. All holes in the component are punched out first and the cutting out of each individual component is the last step. The left over “skeleton” sheet and punched slugs are recycled. For the final stage of production the components are sent off for powder coating.

Close up of component produced using a CNC punch press banana tool

Please feel free to contact us at V and F Sheet Metal if you would like to talk about CNC punch press tooling. We’re always happy to help. Call us on 01489 577786 or email salea@vandf.co.uk.

Laser cutting an intricate decorative handrail in Hampshire 2018

Tuesday, February 13th, 2018

Laser cut handrail

Radan image

Cut out handrail

Close up of pattern

Laser cutting sheet metal work is a process we’re proud to offer at V and F Sheet Metal. So I jumped at the chance to talk about a recent interesting job that came our way. My customer required a rather intricate decorative handrail made in stainless steel for installation in a lady’s home. The complex and artistic pattern makes it an ideal job for our Trumpf 3030 3KW fiber laser.

We received a DXF file from our customer. A file with the .DXF file extension is a Drawing Exchange Format file developed as a type of universal format for storing CAD models. DXF files can easily be opened in CAD packages enabling an accurate and competitively priced quote to be created. The red photo is the image created in Radan software.

The remaining photos show the cut out rail covered in a plastic coating. This coating is removed after laser cutting.

Do you have a complex project you’re looking at right now? If you think laser cutting may be the way forward then we may be able to assist you! Please give our friendly team a call on 01489 577786. Alternatively email us on sales@vandf.co.uk.

Cluster tool and CNC punching sheet metal components

Tuesday, February 13th, 2018

In this post I thought I would concentrate on a recent project which makes use of a cluster tool. A customer from overseas required a 1U chassis made from 1.2mm mild steel to slot in to a 19 inch rack. If you are not familiar with the U, it is a unit of distance used to measure height of standard racks in which computer, video or audio components are mounted.

Over a thousand sets of components were required and as you can see from the photos, each part contains many ventilation slots. Due to the high volume of parts needed, I suggested to the customer that we use a punch press cluster tool to produce the slots, thus cutting down on production time and saving money. In fact the tool paid for itself within the first batch!

The blue images are produced using Radan software. The NEST image shows each set of components laid out on a sheet of 2m x 1m mild steel ready to be punched out on the Trumpf 3000R. If the Trumpf 3000R had been in use it would a have been equally possible to use our Trumpf 200R for production. We are a flexible bunch here at V and F Sheet Metal!

If this has given you an idea about the possible uses of tooling on a product you are looking to have made yourself then please contact us. We may be able to save on your production time and cut down on the final cost. We are a friendly team at V and F Sheet Metal and one of our experienced engineers is always happy to discuss all your requirements with you.
Call us today on 01489 577786 or email at sales@vandf.co.uk.

Radan image of ventilation slots

NEST image

Close up of NEST image

Punched component

Chassis in production

Roll up, roll up! Step this way for Sheet Metal production January, 2018

Thursday, February 1st, 2018

Formed circular component

Now this product caught my eye whilst walking around the factory this week. I thought it was worth a mention as it combines two separate processes of sheet metal engineering, namely bending and rolling. On both images, on the inside of the rolled end it’s possible to see a series of lines. This gives a clue to the process used, as a series of bends were made using the Trumpf 7036 to begin to produce a preform curve.

As the lines disappear and the inner surface appears smooth, this indicates that the metal has been rolled on a set of rollers. At V and F Sheet Metal we have both hand rollers and powered rollers. We have the capability to roll up to 1m wide and 3mm thick mild steel. However, we are able to roll up thicker metal in smaller strips. Please take a look at our plant list on rolling sheet metal work for more detailed information.

If you have a product that requires rolling as part of production then please give us a call on 01489 577786 or email if you prefer at sales@vandf.co.uk.

Formed circular metal component

Metal circular component

Manufacturing Metal Enclosures using Radan software, Great Britain 2018

Sunday, January 21st, 2018

Sheet metal Enclosures

Today we’re looking at the production of metal enclosures. I think this process displays nicely the flexibility and time saving features of Radan software. So how do we begin the process? Well in this case the customer required production of a sheet metal enclosure using 1.2mm aluminium alloy. We always start with a 3D model on Radan, this allows us to make sure all the fixing holes line up before starting production. This model may come directly from our customer as a STEP or SAT file. If that is not available to us we will create the 3D model using our customers dimensioned drawings. Either way we have control of the basic design information needed to produce the correct developed blank shape and size.

3 D Radan model

Developed blank in flat

The developed blank shows the shape of the final enclosure in the flat (grey). The dark blue surrounding the blank is the shape produced by all the CNC punch press tooling. The tooling can be added to the blank shape automatically by the software. We still have the ability to alter this tooling to suit our own requirements where needed. Following on from this the blanks are set out on a full sheet of metal. In this case the sheet size is 2M x 1M. When CNC punching our Trumpf CNC punch presses can work with sheet up to 2.5M x 1.25M. Smaller panels can be programmed where needed for small components or smaller batches of work. This is definitely where the versatility of the Trumpf machine comes in to it’s own.

You might have noticed that the back 2 components have been turned at 90 degrees to the rest. Why so ? This is the region where the clamps hold the metal in place. Therefore the turning of these components is necessary but still allows for the maximum number of parts to be punched from one sheet. In addition, we have the capacity to to produce these parts on either the Trumpf 200 or 3000 as the same tooling fits both machines. A useful feature in a busy workshop, allowing production to be swapped from one machine to another.

Nest of parts

Metal Enclosures

Finally, once all of the sheet metal enclosure components have been CNC punched, we deburr the edges before moving on to the last stage which is folding. The image here shows a skilled employee folding up the components on one of our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes. By using the Radan software at the design stage, the final components should perfectly match the model. This allows us to save time and effort when making the first batch of samples or production. Any alterations can be fed back to the 3D model and subsequent 2D tooled CNC punching nests. This process can also be applied when a customer requires a design change to take place.

Folding up of components

Finished component

Please feel free to look at our website pages which gives up to date information on our plant list, tooling and design data. You have the ability to search all our blog posts so if this post doesn’t quite fit your needs then something else will! There is also an extensive gallery of photos.

If after reading this you think we could help you then please contact our engineering team at V and F Sheet Metal on 01489 577786 or drop us an email at sale@vandf.co.uk. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Manufacturing a Sheet Metal Stainless Steel Guide Plate with tapped holes

Tuesday, January 9th, 2018

Stainless Steel Guide Plate

Recently at V and F Sheet Metal we were asked to make a guide plate with tapped holes and I thought this would make an interesting topic for discussion. As with any project the initial phase of manufacturing starts with a clear and concise drawing. This should provide exact dimensions and if required precise position of holes and slots. With this particular design I was able to program the part within 10 minutes using Radan software. This batch of 50 guide plates were then manufactured from 2.5mm thick 304 stainless on the Trumpf 3000 machine.

A couple of the photos here show the sheet on the punching machine and illustrate a number of useful points which may not always be obvious to the customer. Firstly if you look carefully at the image of the CNC punching the guide plate, it is possible to see that at the back of the machine I turned the last two rows of plates to achieve the maximum number of components from the sheet. The nest diagram reveals this clearly and shows the small amount of waste material that will be left at the end of production. Secondly, although not obvious from the photos, this job actually made use of an off cut of material from a previous job, again allowing me to reduce the cost to the customer. In addition there was no need for special tooling as we have an extensive tool library at V and F Sheet Metal. Another money saving feature.

Finally I thought it was worth drawing your attention to the tapped holes on these guide plates. The Trumpf 3000 is equipped with a number of tapping tools and an M4 tap was used on these guide plates to produce a strong, clean thread within the material. It is an efficient process and cheaper than the traditional tapped cutting of threads which produces swarf, which must then be removed from the underneath the machine.

Hopefully you have found this useful and if you think V and F Sheet Metal can help you then please give us a call on 01489 577786 or email today at sales@vandf.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you!

Stainless steel Guide plate

Stainless steel Guide plate program

TAPPING EXPLODED TOOL

TAPPING CROSS SECTION

CNC punching the guide plate

CNC punched nest of guide plates

We love making folded Sheet metal boxes!

Sunday, January 7th, 2018

Folded sheet metal boxes

Folded Sheet Metal Boxes

Are you looking to produce a folded sheet metal box? Then look no further as we are here to help you! Over the years we have produced a huge number of boxes ranging from the small and simple to large and complex. We use high tech equipment which allows us to CNC punch sheet metal from 0.4mm up to 5.0mm gauge in a range of steel, aluminium and stainless steel alloys. Furthermore if you require thicker gauges this is no problem as we employ the services of our Trumpf 3030 3KW fiber laser cutting machine.

I’ve include this image as it’s a typical example of the type of folded sheet metal box we are asked to make on a daily basis. First of all nearly all of our sheet metal projects start their life as a 3D model using Radan sheet metal development software. Once checked and approved, the model is used to produce a flat pattern ready for use on one of our CNC punching machines. After punching, the edges are deburred and the panel folded up in to the final shape using one of our many CNC press brake bending machines.

This may be the final product especially if the box is going to be placed “out of sight”. However, more often than not our customers require their boxes to be treated or finished. For example we can powder coat, zinc plate or anodise components to produce a perfect cosmetic finish.

If you would like to learn more about the various stages of metal box design and production then please go to our web page on Box Fabrication. Finally if you need any more help with your project then we’re always happy to hear from you at V and F Sheet Metal. Please just call on 01489 577786 or drop us an email at sales@vandf.co.uk.

Please feel free to look on our website for more general information on CNC bending and CNC press brakes.

Z angle aluminium brackets laser cut and folded in Great Britain 2018

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018

Laser cut aluminium strips

Z Angle Brackets

If you require aluminium brackets but you’re not sure who to contact then look no further! Here at V and F Sheet Metal, Hampshire we have the facility to help you. We have many years of experience to ease your journey from the initial idea or drawing through to final production.

Folding aluminium Z brackets

First of all we begin the process using Radan 3D modelling design software before moving on to laser cutting and finally folding up to produce brackets.

The photos here follow the production of a simple aluminium bracket. Initially we cut out flat metal strip ready to be bent in to a z shape. Cutting out is quick using the latest technology Trumpf 3030 3 KW fibre laser. The second photo shows an individual strip in the process of bending using one of our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes. Finally once completed and inspected, the strips are packed up ready for delivery to the customer. If you would like to know more about bending then please read the CNC bending information on our website.

Folded aluminium Z angles brackets

So please do not hesitate to contact us here at V and F Sheet Metal by calling 01489 577786 or emailing us at sales@vandf.co.uk. We have the ability to make many types of brackets and the expertise to assist you with your product from the initial idea through to design and final production. We look forward to hearing from you.

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