2020 -

Sheet metal manufacturing near me

Tuesday, December 8th, 2020

If you are looking for sheet metal manufacturing near you perhaps you should be talking to V and F Sheet Metal. Based in the south of England and with well over 30 years experience in manufacturing sheet metal work for people right across the UK. We ship product locally and far afield. Please take a look at our website pages to see the wide range of parts we manufacture and all to our customers own designs.

CNC punched galvanised brackets

The images shown here illustrate the stages of CNC punching and CNC bending a sheet metal bracket. You can see that once a single component has been tooled it can easily be copied over a whole sheet. This enables us to achieve a high yield from any given sheet size.

Sheet metal component manufacturing

This is a good example of CNC punching a part with a range of simple off the shelf tooling. A small range of circles, rectangles and a single D were used to create the component profile and holes. If you want to view the wide range of CNC punch press tooling that we have for you to use for free, take a look at our tooling library. For more examples of CNC punching it’s well worth a look at our Pinterest Boards. There is also a collection of past manufacturing projects illustrated in our gallery pages with hundreds of ideas for your nest sheet metal design. Feel free to take a look and call us if there is something that catches your eye. We can often adapt tooling and ideas to suit different products.

Sheet metal CNC punched nests

The scrap sheets known as “skeletons” are collected up and recycled along with all the metal that comes from the holes. Metal is grouped together by grade e.g. stainless steel, aluminium, mild steel and kept separate. This metal is then sent for melting down to remake fresh metal sheet. This process is very green with very little waste. Even components that are used to help set up manufacturing processes and then scrapped can be included and recycled.

CNC bent sheet metal brackets

And finally the folded bracket is ready to be shipped to the customer. This small galvanised steel bracket is typical of the sheet metal work that we produce every day of the week. If you have a sheet metal project that needs manufacturing please give us a call or e-mail us your drawings and we will be happy to take a look for you.

So for sheet metal manufacturing near you please ask for details.

Sheet metal production companies in the UK 2020

Tuesday, November 17th, 2020

Sheet metal production – small brackets

Sheet metal production of small brackets and plates.

I thought it would be good to take a random selection of sheet metal production components as they perfectly illustrate the wide range of production techniques used today in the UK. These parts are typical, but be no means exhaustive of the different materials, thicknesses and finishes that we are requested to produce on a daily basis by our customers. Often using simple standard CNC punching and CNC bending tooling no additional costs are applied to these production projects. If the parts needs to be laser cut that production can also be catered for in house on our Trumpf 3KW fibre laser.

I have given a little more detail for each of the components in the photo, their material type, part finish and production stages to produce the complete part.

If you click on the photo you can clearly see each component identified with a number which corresponds with the details listed below.

Component 1

Material is 2mm thick mild steel. The part has been laser cut. It will be finished by zinc plating and clear passivating.

Component 2

Material is 3mm thick CZ108 brass. The part has been laser cut using pure nitrogen. No other finishing or treatment was required on this small brass washer.

Component 3

Material is 1.0mm thick 5251 aluminium alloy. The part has been CNC punched using standard tools of the shelf. All outer edges have been de-burred to remove the CNC punch nibble marks. It was finally anodised and dyed black.

Component 4
Material is 3mm aluminium. The parts has been CNC punched and then barrel de-burred to remove all sharp edges.

Component 5
Material for this small welded assembly is 0.7mm 316 stainless steel. The parts were laser cut together from the same sheet, CNC folded and then TiG welded together.

Component 6
Material for this copper bracket is C101. The bracket was laser cut on our Trumpf 3030 fibre laser cutter. A simple edge de-burring was used to remove any sharp edges and then folded up on our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes.

Component 7
Material is galvanised weld mesh material used as a filter plate. This part was simply cut to size on our Safan guillotine.

Component 8
Material is 1.2mm aluminium. An interesting shape which has been CNC laser cut, CNC folded up and then powder coated matt black.

Component 9
Material is 2.5mm 304 stainless steel. These parts were laser cut, barrel de-burred, CNC folded and then had threads tapped in the holes.

Component 10
Material is 0.9mm thick galvanised mild steel. Simply CNC punched and edge de-burred.

For additional examples of sheet metal production pleas take a look at our Pinterest boards.

If you have some sheet metal production that needs looking at please don’t hesitate to send us your drawings. We will be happy to produce price options and review designs where needed.

What is sheet metal fabrication – sub-contract sheet metal work?

Tuesday, October 20th, 2020

What is sub-contract sheet metal work fabrication?

Basically manufacturing anything from sheet metal for another company is sub-contract sheet metal work. Nearly always made to their designs. Sometimes we are asked to offer advice on designs and their suitability for manufacture. This is fine by us and we are always happy to help.

Sheet metal fabrications

With over 30 years experience in sub-contract manufacturing there isn’t much we haven’t seen before. From laser cutting stainless steel plates for decking systems, CNC punching aluminium 19″ rack mount front panels to folding mild steel electronic chassis. Test us out and send us your drawings and our engineering will be happy to help you. Whether you only have a few simples hand sketches, 2D CAD data or 3D models we are happy to lend a hand.

These aluminium housings have been manufactured to hold fibre optic light fitting gear. They were CNC punched, CNC folded, welded up and then powder coated.

Sheet metal fabrications

Want to see more examples? Take a look at this page. You can also see lots of examples of sheet metal fabrications at https://www.pinterest.co.uk/rayfrith1/sheet-metal-work/

Contact us direct on sales@vandf.co.uk, through our enquiry form or call us on 01489 577786 to discuss your sub-contract sheet metal needs in more detail.

CNC punching and CNC bending sheet metal work

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

CNC punching and CNC bending

Combining CNC punching and CNC bending together enables some great products to be manufactured very quickly. Employing the very latest sheet metal CAD/CAM software enables our customers to adapt their designs from batch to batch. Fine tuning designs and producing special projects are no problem for us. We can work with your 2D and 3D files to help you with your designs. It also enables us to produce fast accurate quotations with costed options where necessary.

Producing accurate blanks is the key to folding accurate parts. We are lucky in having 2 Trumpf CNC punch presses and a Trumpf CNC laser cutting machine. We can swap jobs around to find the best manufacturing method and also reduce bottlenecks in production. Some sheet metal parts can even be CNC laser cut and then CNC punched to add extra formed features. Then onto CNC bending. With the ability to access all these processes within one factory enables us to offer a very flexible service to our customers.

CNC punched and CNC formed mild steel sheet

All our principle CNC bending machines share the same tooling. Have a rush job and we can move production around to suit your needs. Repeatable parts from batch to batch with centrally stored CNC programs for punching and bending.

CNC punching and CNC bending are the backbone of our manufacturing service. Couple this with CNC laser cutting and you have a great combination of tools to get any sheet metal job made.

CNC punched and CNC bent sheet metal work

Looking for a flexible partner to help you with your sheet metal needs?

Contact V and F Sheet Metal and we will be happy to help you out with your next order. Take a look at our Pinterest boards for lots of great examples of CNC punching and CNC bending.

Have a drawing then simple e-mail sales@vandf.co.uk or give us a call for a chat if you wish

Sheet metal and Woodwork furniture projects manufactured in the UK

Friday, August 14th, 2020

Bespoke Furniture Projects

Sheet Metal and Wood Work furniture projects

We are always pleased to combine sheet metal work with other materials. This time we have the chance to show you the perfect combination of sheet metal and wood. With vibrant colours and clean simple lines this furniture project shows how easy it is to turn an idea into reality with sheet metal.

No special tooling was needed. Simply CNC programs laser cutting and bending.

Sheet Metal and Wood Work furniture projects

We always enjoy working with customers who need some input at the design stage. These furniture projects are no different. Discussion over the exact metal gauge needed and handle shapes helped to reduce weight and manufacturing costs. With all the cutting and folding programs saved away it’s easy to run this project again. It’s also just as easy to adapt the programs for alternative shelving shapes and sizes.

If you have a bespoke furniture project that needs manufacturing please contact us and we will put you in touch with our customer. With their expertise and our engineering support you will soon have a solution.

Sheet Metal and Wood Work furniture projects

What next?

If you already have a set of drawings or 3D CAD data don’t hesitate in sending them over to us. Our engineering team will be happy to take a look and produce some prices for you. Small batches of components, assemblies and higher volumes are all catered for. Take a look at our website pages and blog posts. You will see a wide range of ideas and past projects. Alternatively you can always view our Pinterest Boards.

It should give you a good idea of just what we are capable of here at V and F Sheet Metal.

CNC punching sheet metal in the UK produced in 2020

Tuesday, August 4th, 2020

Sheet metal manufacturing of ventilation grilles

CNC punching sheet metal in the UK produced in 2020

CNC punching can be used to produce such a wide range of sheet metal products. From the smallest aluminium tag, stainless steel mounting plates, mild steel chassis and copper heat sinks. From 0.4mm thick reflector aluminium right up to 6mnm thick aluminium for shelving. From 0.7mm stainless steel housings to 3mm stainless steel pump brackets. From 0.7mm zintec 19” chassis to 5mm light fitting flood light brackets.

We have been using CNC punch presses for over 25 years to produce metal work. There are occasions when materials maybe too thick to CNC. That’s not a problem as we can simply transfer those jobs to our Trumpf laser cutter.

CNC punched sheet metal work

With many hundreds of CNC punching tools in our extensive tool library we can tackle most work without the needs for any new tooling. This helps to keep the costs down on prototypes and speeds up the lead time.

We produce hundreds of different parts each week for a wide range of companies within the UK. Using our long experience and powerful CNC punching sheet metal software we can get the best from our Trump CNC punch presses and save you money where possible. For a wide range of CNC punched sheet metal work please take a look at our Pinterest Boards.

Give us a call or contact us at sales@vandf.co.uk with your drawings and we will be happy to work some quotes for you.

CNC bending sheet metal work in the UK during 2020

Tuesday, July 28th, 2020

Brackets manufactured in the UK

It’s time to have another quick look at recent sheet metal projects. This time it’s sheet metal brackets. Using various CNC bending techniques some very complex parts can be manufactured. I love that fact that nearly every bracket we produce is different to the next but all using standard tooling. Whether it’s on one of our smaller Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes or our larger 3M Safan e-brake the tooling’s the same. The process is the same and so is the end result, accurately folded sheet metal work.

The repeatability from part to part and from batch to batch is what makes these machines so useful in the workshop. We can produce a sample today and come back in a year’s time with the same CNC program and tooling and run production without any changes. Before CNC bending machines (press brakes) every set up was a long winded process and nowhere near as accurate as todays processes.

sub-contract sheet metal work

We take full advantage of the ability to treat a small batch like a big batch when it comes to costing. With very short set up times along with easy setting of a laser machine it has enabled us to try out samples and fine tune sizes before running a production batch. It’s a great help when materials come in say in their bottom or top tolerance for gauge. Simply run a couple of parts from the corner of a sheet and bend them up to check all is well before pressing ahead with the full production batch.

2020 has been a strange year for everyone. We hope now to push ahead again with supporting our customers, dealing with panic orders if they help our customers to gain new business and as ever the standard production runs when people need them.

If you have a sheet metal bracket that needs CNC bending simply send us a drawing and we will be happy to quote for production. Have an idea and stuck on the detail, give us a call and our team will help you out.

Brackets manufactured in the UK direct to your own designs

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2020

Brackets manufactured in the UK

If you are looking for brackets manufactured in the UK then we are definitely here to help you. With over 30 years’ experience in manufacturing we can help you with your new projects. Hundreds of CNC punching and CNC bending tools enables us to produce the vast majority of products without the need for new tooling. Having seen and manufactured so many projects in the past help us to see any pitfalls in a complex design, point them out early on and save you money.

Whether you are thinking of having brackets manufactured in stainless steel, mild steel or aluminium we are here to help. We also manufacture brackets from brass, copper, galv., Zintec and spring stainless steel. You name it and we make it.

Brackets manufactured in the UK

With a wide range of CNC punching, laser cutting and CNC bending facilities all in house samples and development can be quickly supported. 3D images from our Radan CAD/CAM system can be used to help discussions when it comes to reviewing design options.

All you have to do now is send us a drawing in either 2D or 3D format. Need to have a chat, that’s OK with us we are passionate about sheet metal and would love to hear from you and discuss your ideas.

Folded stainless steel sheet metal housings manufactured in the UK

Thursday, July 16th, 2020

CNC bending stainless steel housings

Folded stainless steel sheet metal housings, some of the options available to you.

When you are designing sheet metal housings it’s always worth thinking about the manufacturing processes in advance. Whether the housing is made from a single piece of metal or many sub-parts joined together time spent early on will save money in the long run.

We may be looking at laser cutting v CNC punching to produce the housing blanks. Depending on the thickness of the material required and the complexity of the design one way or the other will seem the best route to take. Some feature may also immediately suggest a certain blank production method, for example if the housing has formed dimples or plunged and tapped threads then CNC punching will be the best manufacturing method. If however the housing has a company logo cut into it or a series of curved profiles laser cutting may be the more efficient method of production. We will always look at your design and select the most appropriate method and keep you in the loop at the quoting stage.

Stainless steel housings

There are similar considerations to be made when it comes to folding sheet metal housings. Not only the physical size and tonnage required to fold the angles but the complexity of the design and the ease with which the folds can be produced. This certainly needs experience, we have had many a good design sent to us to find that’s it’s impossible to fold from 1 piece of metal. A quick call or e-mail at an early stage of development will save time in the long run especially if we are using off the shelf tooling.

These folded stainless steel sheet metal housings have been developed in conjunction with the customer to enable the most efficient method of production. The more parts that have to be assembled together more thought has to be given to alignment and tolerance build up. This is where a useful piece of software such as our 3D Radan CAD/CAM software comes in handy.

Stainless steel housings

Like so much in sheet metal work it can look easy until you come to translating your designs to physical components. We are always here to help you with your ideas and point you in the right direction when it comes to tooling and material selection.

For more examples of recent sheet metal projects why not take a look at our Pinterest boards.

We are always happy to receive your drawings to review.

Bending and Forming sheet metal work

Tuesday, June 9th, 2020

Laser cut mild steel bracket blanks

When we are bending and forming sheet metal there are so many ways to go about it. From the simplest single folded angle bracket right up to complex folded enclosure assemblies we have the techniques to support you.

Starting with either CNC punched or laser cut blanks gives us the best chance of producing perfect sheet metal components. Using high quality programming software and years of experience enables us to fine tune cutting and bending CNC programs to get the best from all out machines. Being sub-contract sheet metal workers we have to be very flexible. Each customer and new order will have different demands. It maybe the tolerances of sizes that will be the utmost of importance to one customer. Surface finish could be key with another. Lead time with another or perhaps price. We have to juggle all these concerns on a daily basis when manufacturing sheet metal work for our customers. Bending and forming components is no different.

Forming sheet metal brackets

Looking specifically at the small brackets shown here we can see some of these factors in play. Accurately cut blanks produced by laser cutting enables us to maintain a clean outer profile. Simple fly-press tooling was created at a low cost to produce the deformation in the middle of the component. Finally the folds were bent up on one of our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes. With a wide range of standard tooling and 3 identical machine to select from production was carried out very quickly.

Bending sheet metal brackets

With the experience of literally thousands of past bending and forming projects to call upon there isn’t much we cannot produce. You may like to view some of our past projects on our Pinterest Boards. Having folding machines with forces up to 100 tons and 3M long enables to tackle most of the enquiries that come our way.

Perhaps you have a sheet metal component that needs bending and forming. We would love to take a look for you and produce a range of price options and comment where we can to save money. Send us your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will do the rest.

Sheet metal engineering facilities in Great Britain

Tuesday, May 26th, 2020

Sheet metal engineering of ventilation grilles

Sheet metal manufacturing of ventilation grilles

We are happy to offer our sheet metal engineering facilities for manufacturing in Great Britain. We have a wide range of skills and manufacturing plant with over 30 years of experience in this sector.

From helping newly formed companies with their designs, explaining the best manufacturing process to achieve the quality they want with an affordable price. Working with companies who need to reduce costs on existing products with perhaps a fresh set of eyes. Right up to larger volumes and KANBAN ideas to help plan projects over longer periods of time.

With an eye to new ideas and machines V and F Sheet Metal have constantly invested over the years. We have CNC punching, laser cutting and a wide range of CNC bending machines all supported with the latest CAD/CAM software. Feel free to follow the links to plant pages and also take a look at our gallery pages to see some of our recent sheet metal engineering projects.

Laser cut zintec rings for ceiling light fittings

We have a lot of free advice on our website with regards to tooling to help you save money when designing. Design data and guidance for material selections can also be useful when you first start out working on a new design. If you cannot find what you want on our website simply call us on 01489 577786 and we will be happy to help you.

Brackets manufactured in the UK

Another good place to see hundreds of examples of sheet metal engineering projects is on our Pinterest pages.

If you have a sheet metal engineering project that needs pricing and free advice please send us your drawings. You can either use our enquiry form or e-mail us at sales@vandf.co.uk. We will do the rest.

A quick look back at sheet metal manufacturing projects in 2020

Monday, May 18th, 2020

Sheet metal angle brackets

Although these have been difficult times in 2020 we are still looking forward to doing what we do best, manufacturing projects. I thought it was nice to look back at some recent sheet metal projects completed even during these difficult times.

We have been laser cutting, CNC punching, CNC bending and welding with a small team to keep our customers satisfied with their urgent needs. Along with a great network of painters and platers we have managed to finish off many projects.

Welded sheet metal work

As we bring in more staff our delivery times will reduce and the range of sheet metal work we can complete will increase. We are still producing new quotations for customers needing metal work and CNC programming where needed.

There is always the chance to rush something through when needed in a hurry. Please just ask and we will be happy to look for you at what we can do. Send us your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk

There’s always a great range of images to help with your designs on our Pinterest Boards

So what to do know?

If you have a drawing or two, please send them to us. We will be happy to review them for you. Comment on design ideas and offer price options.

COVID-19 and sheet metal work, lets get going again

Tuesday, May 5th, 2020

We are now into our third week of production after shutting due to coronavirus. Thankfully we have had no cases here and we now have 50% of our workforce in place. With careful planning we have a system in the office to maintain a safe distance from each other. Regular cleaning of equipment in the office and workshop and separation at tea break and lunch times have become the norm. These are strange times but we are getting through it. With more and more customers coming back the work levels are slowly picking up again.

There’s life at V&F

Starting up production

I thought it would be good to show that we are still here and manufacturing sheet metal work for our customers in the UK.

This experience has shown us here more than ever that we are all dependant on each other. We are in a chain and you remove any link and it chain fails. We all need to get going again so that we can get back to some form of normality.

Here’s hoping that won’t be too far away.

As ever if you need anything pricing up simply drop us a line at sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to help you.

Back to work ….

Thursday, April 23rd, 2020

Sheet metal working in Hampshire UK

Just a quick update on our work situation here at V and F Sheet Metal.

We now have a small team back in the factory producing metal work again.

We plan to increase the number of staff we have in over the next few weeks to meet customer demands.

If you have sheet metal work that you still want quoting we are able to accommodate that, please send your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to sort that for you.

Extraordinary times with CoronaVirus Covid-19

Saturday, March 28th, 2020

Here at V and F Sheet Metal we have taken the welfare and safety of our staff very seriously. We have decided to close our factory from the 27th March and will open as soon as we can safely do so. We are monitoring the situation and following UK government advice as it changes. We hope to be open after Easter.

We would like to thank our staff for their tremendous support as well as our suppliers in this difficult time in enabling us to support our customers. We are still able to work on new quotations, so if you have designs you wish to progress before for our return please don’t hesitate to e-mail us at sales@vandf.co.uk

We hope you all stay safe.

Thanks again from the management of V and F Sheet Metal

Latest sheet metal projects manufactured in the UK

Wednesday, March 4th, 2020

Latest sheet metal projects manufactured in the UK direct to your designs

Mild steel support brackets

Whether you want just a few simple flat sheet metal plates or a very complex welded fabrication we will be able to help you. Special one off sheet metal projects or monthly repeating batches of work we don’t mind. With over 30 years of manufacturing experience in the UK, contact us with your ideas. Laser cutting, CNC punching, CNC bending and a host of other sheet metal manufacturing processes.

If you have a full set of dimensioned drawings and CAD files that’s great. If you only have a sketchy idea of what you want we can still work with you to get your desired outcome. We are always happy to help you and advise the best design options to suit the right manufacturing techniques, materials types, gauge thickness and cosmetic or protective finishes.

Aluminium angle brackets

These sheet metal projects show a range of manufacturing techniques. From laser cutting, CNC punching, CNC bending and formed press work. The Zintec angle brackets have also had zinc plated bushes inserted. Batches of 50, 250 and 1000 for these parts.

Sheet metal angle brackets

There are plenty of other examples of sheet metal projects manufactured in the UK over the last few years. Take a look at our Pinterest boards.

The sheet metal projects shown here are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the range of production we get involved with. You really need to explore our website to see all the weird and wonderful projects we get involved with for our UK customers.

Send us your details and drawings in 2D or 3D formats. and leave the rest to us. We are happy to comment on any design issues you may be having, provide you with quote options and lead times.

Manufacturing small sheet metal brackets in the UK

Friday, January 3rd, 2020

Manufacturing small sheet metal brackets in the UK

Manufacturing small sheet metal brackets in the UK using the latest CNC manufacturing techniques.

We have been manufacturing sheet metal components for well over 30 years. Servicing the needs of our customers, manufacturing brackets to their designs and in the volumes they need when they need them. These tiny stainless steel brackets for a electronics cable connector are typical of the small end of the work we make every day of the week. Using our 3 Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes we can handle the trickiest of bending jobs with no fuss. Whether they are laser cut or CNC punched we have the team and plant in house to deal with your designs. With the ability to take your 3D files and adjust them to suit correct manufacturing tolerances we are always looking to save production time and money.

Click on the image to get an idea on just how small these sheet metal brackets really are.

For more images of past sheet metal bracket projects take a look at our gallery page.

Do you have small sheet metal brackets that are smaller than this? We like a challenge, give us a try. Send us your CAD data and our engineering team will be happy to take a look and produce some quotations for you.

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