Bespoke furniture brackets
Stools and chairs
I thought this would be an interesting project to share with you especially as it took us in a slightly different direction which is always an exciting prospect. The customer approached me and asked if we would be able to produce bespoke metal furniture brackets, specifically for use in the assembly of stools, chairs and tables. They had a good idea of what they wanted to achieve but needed some production engineering support which we were happy to supply.
Brackets in production
Initially brackets were made from 1.5mm mild steel and used in a selection of prototype stools, chairs and tables. This was obviously a useful research and development exercise, as after a range of adults tried out the products in our customer’s factory it was felt that a heavier gauge would be preferable so in the final product we moved up a gauge to 2mm. For all products we produced small and large brackets, but the tables required 90 degree angle brackets whereas in the stools and chairs, this was set at a 97 degree angle.
Mild steel brackets folded up using the Trumpf 7036
In the first instance data was given to us in a drawing format which we used to create 3D models in Radan software. We need to develop the flat blank and nest the components together to produce the best yield from the standard sheet material. In this case the brackets were made in batch sizes from 100-400 from CR4 mild steel, from sheets of 2M x 1M in dimension. Here at V and F Sheet Metal we have an extensive library of forming tools and the holes you are able to see on each bracket were produced using one of these tools. For those of you with good eyesight it’s possible to see that all of the holes are conical in shape allowing for a countersunk screw to sit flush in the final product. In fact, the customer helpfully sent us the correct screws to use which allowed us to experiment and finally obtain the correct form in the sheet. As always we are happy to work with our customer to accommodate their specific needs at the time of manufacturing.
Bespoke furniture brackets
Punching took place on our Trumpf 200 machine. If you’ve never seen one of these in action before, I’ve included a clip in this post of the actual brackets being punched out. Bending of the brackets in to their final form takes place on our Trumpf 7036. Again there is a clip of these brackets being folded up.
The very observant among you will notice in both the photos and folding up clip that each component has a set of “ears” built in to the flat blank to allow the machine operator to accurately position the blank in the bending machine, due to the unusual complexity of the shape. These 2 “ears” are notched off using a hydraulic corner notching machine so in the final product you would never know they were there! After a quick deburr the brackets are finally sent off for powder coating.
Close up view of table bracket
And finally…….
The powder coated brackets were used by the customer in the production of very sleek and contemporary looking stools, chairs and tables. Some have already been installed in Berlin and London.
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 sales@vandf.co.uk. We are always keen to help improve our customer’s designs to aid manufacturing and save them money.
We can’t wait to hear from you!
Contemporary table
Fast Tube by Casper
This video shows our Trumpf 200 during the process of CNC punching part of the furniture bracket outer profile. The final nest of brackets can be seen at the top of the post including the formed countersink holes.
Fast Tube by Casper
This video above clearly shows the process we go through to fold each bend on the brackets. Each bend position, depth and angle is programmed into the Trumpf 7036 CNC press brake. The operator can then following the bend sequence and produce the final bracket. You will see that due to the complex nature of the bracket shape we use a tag to help position the bracket against the back stops on the press brake.