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Sheet metal brackets made to your own bespoke designs

Monday, October 3rd, 2016

Sheet metal brackets made to your own bespoke designs using ferrous and non-ferrous materials

Mild steel sheet metal work

Mild steel brackets with formed sections

If you are looking to have brackets made from sheet metal then we have a wide range of manufacturing techniques that can help you achieve your goals. It might be that you need just a few sheet metal brackets to enable you to complete a special project. Perhaps a range of sheet metal brackets for a regular enclosure assembly that you fabricate or a large batch of small sheet metal brackets to support an electronics assembly. Whatever your requirements might be we are here to help you achieve your production goals. The mild steel brackets that you can see here have been CNC punched out, had their edges de-burred and then formed up with customer made fly-press tooling to produce the curved clamping section in the middle of the bracket.

clamping brackets

Sheet metal fixing brackets folded using CNC press brakes

These sheet metal brackets have been manufactured from mild steel sheet by CNC punching. They could just as well have been laser cut and the bracket blanks would have been exactly the same size. Having both CNC punching and CNC laser cutting machines right next to each other within our sheet metal work facility enables us to pick the right manufacturing process for your bespoke sheet metal brackets. Sheet metal brackets made to your own bespoke designs are just what we specialise in and can produce your bracket with the right manufacturing method regardless of the material, thickness or complexity.

sheet metal work

Sheet metal angle brackets

These angle brackets differ from the other two angle brackets already discussed in that they have been manufactured from angle extrusion. Rather than CNC punching or CNC laser cutting flat sheets of metal and then folding the brackets these have been sawn off from a standard angle section. Once the bespoke bracket was sawn to length it had its holes pierced in position using punch and dies on one of our fly presses. The final manufacturing operation was to barrel the metal brackets to take off any sharp edges left from the sawing and piercing operations.

So you can see that if you want sheet metal brackets made to your own bespoke designs we are the people who can help you. All you have to do is give us a call on 01489 577786 and we will be happy to discuss your ideas for your own bespoke bracket. If you already have drawings then that’s great, you can send them to sales@vandf.co.uk as DXF, DWG, SAT, STEP or PDF format and we will be happy to take a look and sort out some prices for you. Either way we are here ready to help you.

Laser cutting aluminium sheet metal work with a Trumpf 3030 fibre laser

Thursday, September 29th, 2016

Laser cutting aluminium sheet metal work in Fareham, Hampshire.


Fast Tube by Casper

Here’s a nice little video of us laser cutting aluminium sheet metal work with our Trumpf 3030 fibre laser cutter. You can get a real feel for the speed of the laser cutting machine when cutting a thin sheet of metal and the ease with which it can process straight and curved profiles. Laser cutting aluminium sheet metal work can be carried out using either nitrogen or compressed air as the cutting assist gas. In this case we are using compressed air as the components were not too thick and the edge finish achieved was more than acceptable.

Stood alongside our laser cutting machine are 2 Trumpf CNC punch presses which can process a wide range of sheet metal materials and thicknesses. Often when we are laser cutting aluminium sheet metal work we may then use one of our CNC punch presses to finish off a component. Perhaps it will need ventilation louvres, formed dimples or self tapping screw forms all of which can easily be pressed in after laser cutting. Having both types of blank processing machines enables V and F Sheet Metal to provide the right manufacturing process to suit your sheet metal work design and volumes.

Laser cutting aluminium sheet metal work is just one of the metals that we often cut alongside mild steel and stainless alloys. Being a fibre laser we can also cut brass and copper without any fuss right up to 6mm thick. So if you are looking for a new supplier of laser cut sheet metal work please give us a call on 01489 577786 or send us your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to provide you with some price options.

Laser cutting zintec video with a fibre laser cutter

Tuesday, September 27th, 2016


Fast Tube by Casper

Laser cutting zintec 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.

For more example of sheet metal working for laser cutter have a look at our Pinterest Boards, we have hundreds of past projects to view.

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.

Sheet metal supplier and sheet metal workers in Eastleigh Hampshire

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?

For more examples of sheet metal work manufactured by V and F Sheet Metal is well worth a visit to our Pinterest Boards.

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.

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.

Sheet metal light fittings – Laser cutting

Thursday, May 5th, 2016

Laser cutting sheet metal light fittings – gear trays

Laser cutting sheet metal work CNC program nest

Laser cutting sheet metal work CNC program nest

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 sheet metal light fittings 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.

laser cutting sheet metal light fittings

Laser cutting 2mm mild steel – sparks generated from piercing holes

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

Sheet metal components in April 2016

Sunday, May 1st, 2016

Sheet metal components

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

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”

Laser cutting copper sheet metal work

Monday, April 25th, 2016

Laser cutting copper sheet metal

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

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.

Laser cut stainless steel grids manufactured in the UK

Tuesday, March 29th, 2016

Laser cut stainless steel grids

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 grids were 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.

For more examples of sheet metal projects manufactured by V and F Sheet Metal it’s well worth taking a look at our Pinterest Boards.

Bespoke sheet metal work from V and F Sheet Metal in Fareham Hampshire

Monday, March 21st, 2016

Bespoke sheet metal work, here we have 3 quite varied examples of sheet metal work manufactured in our modern factory. They show perfectly the flexibility of production equipment we have when producing batch sheet metal work for our customers.

Laser cut brass clamping strips - bespoke sheet metal work

Laser cut brass clamping strips

One of the more unusual materials that we work with from time to time is CZ108 brass sheet. We could have CNC punched these parts but with the complex arrangement of curves, several special shaped punch tools would have been needed which the 250 off batch didn’t really support. Luckily having a Trumpf fibre laser machine cutting brass up to 6mm thick isn’t a problem for us. These parts were laser cut straight from the sheet with the holes and external profiles programmed with our Radan sheet metal software. A quick barrel de-burr and the parts were ready for our customer.

Aluminium CNC punched discs

Aluminium CNC punched disks

Here we have a batch of circular discs that have been CNC punched out from 3mm thick 5251 aluminium alloy. All the holes and internal cut-outs were produced with standard CNC punch tooling on our Trumpf 3000R CNC punch press. The outer circular profile was produced on the same machine as the last punching operation with a curved “banana” punch and die allowing the finished part to fall from the parent sheet of metal and into a collecting bin under the machine. A quick edge de-burring operation and they were ready for powder coating.

Galvanised steel sheet metal brackets

Galvanised steel sheet metal brackets

A more standard production job for us here at V&F is producing sheet metal work whether laser cut or CNC punched from galvanised steel sheet metal. These light fitting parts have been CNC punched, edge de-burred, CNC bent up and have a hank bush inserted.

For more free advice and prices on your specific sheet metal projects please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01489 577786 or send us your drawings or 3D CAD data to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to help you more you sheet metal projects forward.

Sheet metal software case study featuring Radan and V and F Sheet Metal

Thursday, March 3rd, 2016

sheet metal software

We are really pleased to have been chosen by Radan to be featured in a case study on the use of their sheet metal CAD/CAM software. We have been using Radan CAD/CAM software since the year 2000 to help us produce sheet metal work from a range of machines. We use Radan software to produce 3D models from scratch and to read 3D models sent to us by our customers. These 3D models can be read into our system as either STEP or SAT files. We also use Radan sheet metal software to develop our 2D flat blanks which can be either CNC punched or laser cut with our Trumpf manufacturing equipment ready to be bent using a range of CNC press brakes.

For past examples of CNC programs why not explore our Pinterest Boards. We also have gallery pages or 2D and 3D work.

We have always valued the support we get from the Radan team and the continual development in the sheet metal software to support a range of new features in sheet metal manufacturing machines.

Please follow the link to our Radan case study for more detail.

Laser cutting brass sheet metal components in the UK

Thursday, February 25th, 2016

Brass sheet metal manufacturing

Removing brass scrap pieces

Removing brass scrap pieces

It’s not often that we get a laser cutting job that can really show off the ability of our Trumpf 3030 fibre laser cutting machine here at V and F Sheet Metal but here is one such sheet metal project. We were asked to cut 2 decorative brass fretwork panels and our laser cutting machine was perfect for the task. The brass panels were to be manufactured from 2.5mm thick brass sheet and laser cutting was no problem for us having a fibre rather than CO2 laser cutting machine. The Trumpf fibre laser cutter is able to cut up to 6mm thick brass sheet so this order was no problem.

Complete brass laser cut panels - brass sheet metal

Complete brass laser cut panels

I took the DXF files supplied by the customer and cleaned them up. They had various errors in them including lines upon lines, corners not joining in places and more importantly points where if we had followed the drawing the brass panel would have fallen into several parts. All the drawing was cleaned up using our Radan CAD/CAM sheet metal software and small changes were made to suit laser cutting. The “clean” file was then programmed for laser cutting and the 2 panels needed laid out on a single 2500mm x 1250mm sheet.

Laser cut brass sheet fine detail

Laser cut brass sheet fine detail

With both parts laser cut and the sheet automatically cleared from the machine it was only left for us to remove the internal waste parts to reveal the finished brass fretwork panels.

Perhaps you have a brass sheet metal part that you didn’t realise could be laser cut with modern fibre laser technology, please give us a call on 01489 577786 or send us your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to help you and advise where you designs can be improved to save you money.

Folding sheet metal brackets to your design in the UK

Thursday, February 11th, 2016

Mild steel blanks

Laser cut blanks ready for folding

Before we can fold any sheet metal work we need to produce a developed blank shape. This blank has to be the correct size so that when it’s folded up it becomes the size and shape required for the customer’s drawn design. Using our Radan CAD/CAM sheet metal software we are able to simulate the component as a 3D model and then unfold the part to create the correct blank ready for folding on one of our CNC press brakes. The blanks can be CNC punched or CNC laser cut, these brackets have been laser cut using our Trumpf 3030 3KW fibre laser, a brand new machine installed in 2013 to boost the blank production capacity along side our 2 CNC punch presses. The accuracy of the blank is essential in achieving an accurately folded sheet metal bracket and the laser certainly gives us this accuracy and control over the profile finish.

CNC press brake tooling with mild steel brackets

Folding sheet metal brackets on a Trumpf 7036

Here are the components before they have been folded up and after. The brackets are relatively simple with just 4 x 90 degree bends which have all been created with the same V block and blade tooling. The CNC program to fold up the brackets has been written at the machine and then saved away onto our company computer network for recall at a later stage if the components are manufactured again. The folding process is relatively simple using the same tooling and simply folding one bend and turning the component over and then bending again to create the Z shapes seen in the photograph.

Lighting control gear tray brackets - Folding sheet metal brackets

Folded mild steel brackets

And the final folded brackets stacked ready to be packed up and sent off to the zinc platers for treatment. These folded sheet metal brackets are typical of the smaller parts we often manufacture here at V and F Sheet Metal on our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes.

Folding sheet metal brackets, if you have a sheet metal design that needs folding up be it 0.7mm mild steel brackets, 2mm stainless steel angle brackets, 3mm aluminium chassis components etc. please give us a call on 01489 577786 and we will be happy to chat through your idea with you. Or perhaps you have a drawing you want to send to sales@vandf.co.uk and our engineering team will be happy to review it and produce a range of price options for you.

Laser cutting curved profiles in aluminium sheet metal

Tuesday, February 9th, 2016

Laser cut aluminium sections - Laser cutting curved profiles

Laser cut aluminium sections

Looking for aluminium profiles with curved shapes? Laser cutting curved profiles with a fibre laser cutting machine can be easily created, such as these light fitting accessories where curves can blend perfectly back into straight lines. Not only is the profile clean but at this gauge there is no cutting burr on either side of the of the sheet metal. Each of these parts were approximately 200mm long and were cut in seconds with many being nested together from a standard 2500mm x 1250mm sheet of metal.

These are just simple parts, some laser cut components that we cut here in Fareham Hampshire can be very complex. All the parts that we laser cut are programmed with our Radan 2016 sheet metal CAD/CAM software.

For more examples of laser cutting you can always take a look at our growing Pinterest Boards.

Where you are looking for laser cut aluminium, stainless steel or mild steel components our Trumpf 3030 3KW laser produce your parts. And being a fibre laser cutting machine it can cope with copper and brass sheet right up to 6mm thick. If you have a drawing you want us to look at then please send it to sales@vandf.co.uk or give our engineering team a call on 01489 577786.

Laser cutting copper sheet metal components ask for a quote today

Saturday, January 30th, 2016

Laser cutting copper sheet with a fibre laser machine

Laser cut copper sheet metal

Laser cutting copper sheet metal has always been a problem for conventional CO2 laser cutting machines. With a fibre laser cutter this isn’t a problem and we have just the machine to deal with copper and brass up to 6mm thick. Our Trumpf 3030 3KW fibre laser is more than able to cut straight through thin copper sheet such as this flower. For this sheet metal project our customer needed a quick turn around. We quoted for the work, programmed it, laser cut it and sent it out in 2 days, more than meeting our customer’s expectations. The “flower” was a blank for some jewellery project and we defined the shape in Radan sheet metal software and fed a drawing back to our customer to match her simple hand sketch and verbal instructions. Now we have the design on our system server we can produce the copper “flower” again and again without any variance from batch to batch.

Perhaps you have a sheet metal manufacturing project which needs making from copper or brass sheet and haven’t been able to get it laser cut up to now, please give us a call on 01489 577786 and we will be happy to talk through your options and how we can save you money with our fibre laser cutting system.

Precision CNC Laser Cutting Company

Thursday, January 21st, 2016

Precision CNC Laser Cutting Company


Fast Tube by Casper

V and F Sheet Metal’s precision laser cutting machine provides our customers a fast, accurate and economical option for ferrous and non-ferrous sheet metal cutting. When combined with our CNC punching facilities here in Fareham, Hampshire we offer a great all round sheet metal blank production service.

The benefits of using our Trumpf 3KW fibre laser cutter is its flexibility when it comes to material choice. From 0.3mm tin plated mild steel, to 20mm thick mild steel, 15mm stainless steel a range of aluminium alloys and being a fibre laser brass and copper up to 6mm thick are no problem. Fibre laser cutters are very accurate and incredible fast for thin gauges but even 4mm stainless steel as shown in this video is not slow. With the ability to laser cut any shape without the need for special tooling and a great edge finish the Trumpf 3030 fibre really is the machine to use for sub-contract sheet metal work. With a 3M x 1.5M bed and auto-change pallets we can process large sheets for economic material yield or small parts of sheets where needed.

From small batches of the simplest parts to large volumes of complex shapes we can handle your laser cutting requirements.

Laser cutting sheet metal with a Trumpf fibre laser cutter in the UK

Tuesday, January 19th, 2016

Laser cutting 1.2mm Zintec with a Trumpf 3030 fibre laser cutter


Fast Tube by Casper

Classic example of a thin sheet metal component being laser cut on our Trumpf 3030 fibre laser cutter from a 2M x 1M full sheet. The fibre laser cutter is using compressed air from a dedicated compressor supply as the assist gas to blow away the molten metal melted by the 3KW laser beam. With this material and gauge you can see just how fast the laser machine can cut and yet still produce a really clean edge that requires no edge de-burring as a secondary operation.

Laser cutting metal sheet with a fibre laser cutter

Laser cut metal sheet

Here’s the finished sheet of laser cut parts (the nest) with one removed to check how clean the cut is. The laser beam width being less that 0.5mm wide enables the components to be cut close together and features cutting with virtually no material waste. The best nest design is determined by our CAD/CAM software. It automatically nests the parts together but they can be moved around by the programmer when needed. More than one type of component can be nested on the same sheet to find better material usage when needed.

For hundreds of examples of sheet metal work laser cut with a fibre laser cutter have a look at our Pinterest Boards.

Looking to have some sheet metal work laser cut then please give us a call on 01489 577786 or send over your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk We can read STEP, SAT, DXF and DWG file types straight into out programming system.

Aluminium sheet metal work manufactured in Fareham Hampshire

Tuesday, January 12th, 2016

Prototype batch of aluminium sheet metal work

Metal work manufactured using CNC press brakes

Aluminium components

Sheet metal work manufactured in Fareham Hampshire

A nice collection of similar parts all for one prototype sheet metal project showing the range of parts that have been laser cut and folded up from the same sheet of aluminium. The parts are all sat of the work bed of one of our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes with some of the V bend top and bottom tooling in the back ground. If the batch sizes were to become larger we would look to move the parts with many holes onto one of our CNC punch presses as they are much quicker at punching round holes than the laser cutter but the odd shaped parts would be better on the laser cutter with no special tooling required. At V and F Sheet Metal we can move jobs around to get the best possible price to match the correct manufacturing methods when it comes to sheet metal work.

These parts are typical of the small batch metal work manufactured for many companies in the UK. Single parts, welded fabrications, pop riveted assemblies. If you would like to know more or have an aluminium sheet metal project that you need manufacturing please just call us on 01489 577786 or e-mail sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to help you.

Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing 2016

Monday, January 11th, 2016

Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing 2016

I thought I would start 2016 with a quick round up of the sheet metal work projects that are going through the manufacturing workshop. We have components be manufactured in galvanised mild steel, zintec coated mild steel and plain uncoated mild steel in these images. With a range of sizes, thicknesses, batch volumes and manufacturing methods. The purpose of this blog post is to help highlight the wide range of sheet metal work manufacturing that we can take on for our customers here in the UK and across Europe.

Light fitting galvanised mild steel gear plates

Light fitting galvanised mild steel gear plates

Light fitting galvanised mild steel gear plates

These light fitting electronic equipment gear trays have been manufactured from 0.7mm thick galvanised mild steel sheet. The initial flat blank was produced on our Trumpf CNC punch presses to a CNC program laid out in our Radan software. All the holes and outer profile was CNC punched using standard CNC tooling we already had so there was no tooling cost to the customer. The edges were simply de-burred using a vertical de-burring belt machine within the punching cycle time and then the bends were added on one of our CNC press brakes. This was a large batch of work with several thousand gear trays manufactured on this occasion.

Sheet metal plates made from pre-cut zintec blanks

Sheet metal plates made from pre-cut zintec blanks

Sheet metal plates made from pre-cut zintec blanks

Sometimes when the volumes are quite high and the format of the sheet metal component that we are manufacturing is simply a square or a rectangle we can remove the need to either laser cut or CNC punch the parts by buying in a pre-cut blank. These blanks are supplied by the material stockist direct from the master material coil as with these 0.7mm thick zintec coated mild steel sections. Again there were several thousand needed on this order and we have a range of tooling die sets that simply pierce out the end profiles and holes. Not only does this speed up the manufacturing of these parts but it frees up laser cutting and CNC punching capacity for more complex parts to be manufactured in our factory. The final operation on these components is to have a curved form pressed into each part along their length on one of our CNC press brakes using a special form tool and then pop riveted to a pre-formed end cap to make up an assembly. It’s just another way of manufacturing sheet metal work and shows the flexibility of manufacturing in the UK.

Mild steel wall mounting brackets

Mild steel wall mounting brackets

Mild steel wall mounting brackets

Theses wall mounting brackets for fan heaters have been manufactured from 2mm thick CR4 mild steel and will be completed by powder coating RAL9010 white. They have been manufactured by laser cutting from 2M x 1M sheets on our Trumpf 3030 3KW fibre laser using nitrogen form a clean cut which will take a powder coated finish without any difficultly from oxidised edges. The mounting brackets have been pressed up into the shape you can see here with a custom press tool that forms all 6 bends in one go. You can see the classic draw marks along the sides of the mounting brackets where the mild steel has scuffed against the die as it was pressed into the tool on our HMS 55 ton power press. When the are reasonable volumes in each batch and a customer can be confident that they will not be changing their design press tooling can be a useful sheet metal work manufacturing method. If a component will be redesigned regularly or the volumes are smaller then the use of CNC press brakes come into their own with only a quick program change being needed to produce a longer bend of a different angle. As with all these manufacturing process methods you “pays your money and takes your choice”.

CNC punched motor support discs

CNC punched motor support discs

CNC punched motor support discs

These simple motor support discs have been manufactured from 2mm zintec coated mild steel sheet metal. The 3 holes and the outer profile were all CNC punched with existing standard tooling we had on the shelf so again there was no tooling cost for our customer. Each part was CNC punched in under 2 seconds with the last punching operation being the blanking of the outer diameter straight through the die and into a collecting bin. The whole batch of 300 motor support discs were then simply dry barrel de-burred to remove any sharpness on the edges from punching and the components were finished ready for shipping. These parts are a great example of some of the simpler things we manufacture here at V and F Sheet Metal.

Sheet metal fixing plates

Sheet metal fixing plates

Sheet metal fixing plates

In much the same way that the motor mounting discs above were manufactured by CNC punching and dry barrel de-burring these fixing plates were manufactured by CNC punching with standard tooling. Again, using our Radan sheet metal programming software to create the blank design and select the correct tooling to suit the customer’s design we minimise the number of CNC punch hits and add tags where needed to enable us to hold each part in the sheet of zintec so the operator can remove them carefully ready for de-burring. The batch was several hundred and is a repeat part that we manufacture several times a year.

Sheet metal formed sections

Sheet metal formed sections

Sheet metal formed sections

These sheet metal formed sections have been manufactured for a customer of ours who assemble fan units for air conditioning systems. These fan support sections have been CNC punched from 0.9mm Zintec coated mild steel, edge de-burred and had the 4 bends formed in one operation with some simple form tooling we made in house to keep the manufactured part cost to a minimum.

So in conclusion were are only a few days into 2016 and already a wide range of manufacturing projects have been finished. Perhaps you have a sheet metal component or assembly you want manufacturing in the UK, please give us a call on 01489 577786 or send us your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk and we will be happy to take a look and see how we can help you.

Sheet metal electronic equipment housing

Friday, January 8th, 2016

Electronics equipment housing

Mild steel equipment chassis

Electronic equipment housing sheet metal work

Here our customer needed a really strong chassis housing to act as an enclosure for equipment and as a base tray for all the components above. The equipment they are building has a large motor fixed into this chassis with high torque rates needing this tray to be 4mm thick mild steel. This tray along with its upper housing also acts as a barrier against explosion should the motor fail at high speed.

As ever we started this project by taking our customers DXF files and turning them into a 3D model within our Radan sheet metal software. This enables us to create the correct flat blank pattern needed for laser cutting. The mild steel blanks were laser cut from 2500 x 1250 x 4mm CR4 sheet using a nitrogen assist gas to produce a clean oxide free edge to all the cut-outs, slots and outer profile. This was particularly important as the final finished equipment housings were to be powder coated and a good adhesion was required. The folding was carried out on our Safan e-Brake CNC press brake and with 100 tons electric motive force there was no problem in bending up the 4mm steel into 90 degree bends. At the stage this photograph was taken the hank bushes had been inserted and it still needed to be welded up, cleaned off and then powder coated.

Sheet metal enclosure

Sheet metal housing

This is simply another view of the same electronic equipment housing showing the corner details. It’s a good example of using the Radan 3D model to enable us to model the type of joint we want to enable us to create an easy weld that has penetration and a V gap built into the design ready for the welders to use without any pre-weld grinding. With the accuracy of the laser cutter we can fine tune this joint to the welders needs and once the weld is cleaned up the housing will look like a continual solid part without any joints under the powder coating. Another feature worth mentioning is the ventilation slots on the left had side of the photograph which have been laser cut to the drawing dimensions. Using a laser cutter we had the freedom to give the customer exactly what they wanted without having to compromise on using the nearest CNC tool or nibbling the slots out. The laser also gives us the ability to easily change the size if the customer wants more air flow with longer or wider ventilation slots without any cost implications.

This electronic equipment housing tray was just one of a series of parts all modelled together to create an assembly so that in production all the holes lined up, tolerances worked to enable us to be sure the outer covers fitted on the base and all welded brackets had tabs that fitted into slots to aid production. If you have a sheet metal work project that requires housings and covers in mild steel, stainless steel or aluminium please give us a call on 01489 577786 or feel free to send us your design ideas to sales@vandf.co.uk and our engineering team will be happy to help you explore your options and the best route for manufacturing.

Folding small sheet metal brackets with CNC punch presses

Sunday, December 27th, 2015

Bending small sheet metal brackets on a CNC press brake

Bending small brackets on a CNC press brake

Here’s a great view at V and F Sheet Metal showing our two Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes continuing to work when the emergency lighting was being changed. Having their own light supply is important when the operator is looking a very small parts with small bends. The machines also have a support table and can be sat at for the most comfortable operating position which is important when working on large batches of parts.

Laser cut stainless steel blanks

Laser cut stainless steel blanks

The small stainless steel brackets start off with being laser cut to a fine tolerance. This ensures that the bent parts will be consistent in production.

V bend tooling and ready to bend brackets

V bend tooling and ready to bend brackets

Using top and bottom standard V tooling we can produce a vast range of bent sheet metal components. From simple 90 degree bends, forms, safe edges, joggles and multi-bent curves these Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes are very versatile and productive.

Folded stainless steel brackets

Folded stainless steel brackets

The final stainless steel brackets have two 90 degree bends on the ends. Another sheet metal part manufactured at V and F Sheet Metal. For more information on sheet metal work and how it’s made take a look at this link.

For more examples of small sheet metal brackets folded on our CNC press brakes take a look at our Pinterest Boards.

If you have a small sheet metal bracket that you want manufacturing we will be happy to help. Either give us a call to start with or e-mail us your drawings.

Laser cutting circles in sheet metal components

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2015

Laser cutting circles in sheet metal

Laser cutting circles in sheet metal

Laser cutting circles in sheet metal panels

Cutting circles greater than the diameter of a single hit tool have always been problematic in sheet metal. Smaller holes can easily be stamped with a simple round punch and die in a CNC punch press, fly press or power press. We use this type of tooling all the time in the sheet metal work that we produce. Holes above 76mm diameter can be produced with a CNC punch press by either nibbling with a smaller tool and then cleaning up or by using a “banana” tool ground to a given radius. Both of these methods are good and we often use them to produce internal and external curves. The best solution to producing a perfect continuous circle is to use a laser cutting machine. Our Trumpf 3030 fibre laser is perfect for this type of work whether it’s a circular cut-out such as this shown here or a curved outer profile it makes no difference to us. The laser is also able to cut out ellipse shapes, irregular complex curves and irregular polygons. Using Radan software the start and stop points are automatically programmed to show no witness on the finished part reducing or often eliminating the need for any edge de-burring.

So if you have a sheet metal working project that has a large circular hole give us a call and we will be happy to produce a quote for cutting the parts for you.

Laser cut sheet metal brackets, contact us for a quote today

Thursday, December 17th, 2015

Laser cut sheet metal brackets

Laser cut sheet metal brackets

Laser cut sheet metal brackets

We have just manufactured a batch of mild steel clamping brackets for one of our customers made to their own design. You can see that the brackets are not a complex part but it’s surprising how many features there are that we have to take into account when deciding which machines to use to manufacture them. When we first look at a new component such as these sheet metal brackets we have to decide whether we will laser cut or CNC punch out the blanks. The factors that can play a part in this decision are the material type, thickness, number of holes, complexity of cut-out shape, and complexity of the bracket outer profile. These brackets could have been CNC punched or laser cut with a result that the customer would have be happy with. We selected laser cutting with our Trumpf 3030 fibre laser to eliminate the edge de-burring so that a clean outer profile was achieved as the bracket was a cosmetically important part.
Let’s take a look at the stages we went through to produce these brackets, not only correctly to our customer’s requirements but in an efficient manner.

CNC Program

We created a 3D model of the bracket and used this to generate an accurate 2D blank for the bracket. We then tooled this part and filled up a standard sheet of metal, a 2M x 1M sheet with the brackets. All the necessary coding was generated to drive the laser cutting machine to produce the sheet metal bracket blank.

Radiused Corners

As well as laser cutting a clean outer edge profile the ability to cut any corner radius size and blend it to the bracket outer profile. This is great for small batches of work where a customer would not want to pay for special corner radius tooling. Laser cut sheet metal tends to have a cleaner square form.

Laser Cut Clean Edges

Not only does the outer edge of the bracket blank look clean and a continual profile it needs no de-burring in mild steel at this gauge. This is a big advantage for laser cutting in helping to reduce the secondary cleaning operations.

Tapped Holes

If we have punched this bracket blank out on our Trumpf 3000 CNC punch press we could have tapped the M3 threads in the machine. We chose not to do this on this occasion so that we could have a really clean outer edge from laser cutting. This meant we would have to tap the thread as a secondary operation which was done with a tapping head in one of our pillar drills.

Bending

The final operation was to bend up the 2 sides to transfer the flat blank into a U shaped bracket. These brackets were bent on one of our 2 Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes. Using standard CNC bend tooling and a quick program the brackets were bent up

Perhaps you have a sheet metal bracket that needs laser cutting? We would be more that happy to take a look at your ideas and produce some prices for you. Please e-mail your designs to sales@vandf.co.uk or call us on 01489 577786

Folding brass sheet metal work

Thursday, December 10th, 2015

Part bent sections - Folding brass

Part bent sections – first stage of bending

Brass is such a nice sheet metal material to work with in a modern sheet metal working factory. We can CNC punch it in just the same way as we would punch out mild steel, aluminium or stainless steel. No special tooling or processing is needed to produce the flat blanks straight from standard sheets of metal. We are also really lucky in having a Trumpf 3030 fibre laser which enables us to laser cut both copper and brass sheet up to 6mm thick where CO2 lasers would not be able to process these materials we can laser cut them in just the same way that we would cut stainless steel, mild steel or aluminium. It’s just the same with bending brass sheet metal components. The same tooling that is used on all our CNC press brakes can be used with brass. These surround parts for a box housing have had the first 2 bends already folded up on the Safan e-Brake at this stage with basic V bend tooling.

Sheet metal bending in progress

Sheet metal bending in progress

In this photo you can clearly see the back stops on the Safan e-Brake CNC press brake setting the depth of the bend to be formed. You can also see the top and bottom V tooling and a gap set between them so the final bend of the box surround can form between the tooling. There is also some thin plastic V block protection material clamped to the tooling to help prevent the outer surface of the brass being marked when the bend is being formed. The brass sheet also have a thin protective peelable film of plastic on it which helps to keep it scratch free and the customer can peel this off when they are ready without any residue being left on the component.

Finished sheet metal work housings

Finished sheet metal work housings

The final box surround components have been folded up and just need to have a couple of tack welds to hold them together into a rectangular shape. An engraved face plate completes the assembly and creates a housing for door entry equipment for flats. Although brass is not a common sheet metal to work with today it still has a part to play and we make a series of components from items like these boxes to brass menu display boards, decorative light fittings, decorative strip shopping fittings and electrical contact clips. Perhaps you have a brass sheet metal component? We would happy to take a look and produce some prices for you.

Video of the CNC press brake being used to form up the brass box surrounds to a program.


Fast Tube by Casper

Laser cut sheet metal brackets produced in Hampshire, UK

Monday, November 30th, 2015

Laser cut sheet metal brackets

Mild steel bracket

Laser cut sheet metal brackets no matter how simple or complex start with a 3D model on our Radan sheet metal software system here at V and F Sheet Metal. We can be lucky sometimes and have a 3D model given to us by our customers which can save us time in producing the final developed blanks for cutting. If not, we then have to create one ourselves to act as the master file for all material information, thickness, hole sizes, outer profile and bend information. Once that has been completed the flat blank can be created and used to program either a CNC punch press or a CNC laser cutter to enable the parts to be cut from flat sheet metal.

Laser cutting sheet metal brackets

Laser cutting sheet metal brackets

Here’s the Trumpf fibre laser in action cutting out the 1.5mm thick mild steel bracket blanks using nitrogen as the cutting gas. The first 3 are missing as they were used to check that the laser edge was clean and the component size was correct to the drawing / 3D model tolerances. Once that was approved the rest of the batch could be laser cut repeating the same part again and again. You can see what a dynamic cutting process it is from this photographic still image capturing the moment the laser is piercing a hole straight through the 1.5mm thick mild steel sheet.

Laser cutting progress

Laser cutting progress

The operator can monitor the progress of the laser cutting while it’s in process. They can stop the machine at any point and make adjustments or remove components that are in the way of the laser cutting head. You can see that the batch of components turns green on the screen as they are cut so we are approximately a third of the way through the batch at this point. The layout of the components on the sheet is controlled by the CNC programming department along with the design of each part.

Laser cutting sheet metal brackets video


Fast Tube by Casper

The laser is cutting the sheet metal with nitrogen as the assist cutting gas so that a clean oxide free edge cut is achieved.

If you have a sheet metal bracket that needs laser cut sheet metal brackets please give us a call or send an e-mail with your drawings to sales@vandf.co.uk as we will be happy to quote for your sheet metal work.

Sheet Metal Work

Monday, November 23rd, 2015

Sheet Metal Work

Sheet Metal Work

Sheet Metal Work, November 2015

Another sheet metal work project completed in November 2015. A complicated looking shape but simple really, just laser cut mild steel, CNC folded bends using swan neck tooling to achieve the deep bends and then powder coated black. These parts were created as 3D models, unfolded, nested, production route cards created, manufactured and powder coated in under 10 working days. Many repeat purchase orders are produced quicker than this when they are just simple sheet metal brackets, plates or boxes.

For more information on sheet metal work and how it’s made please have a look at this page.

Sheet metal work is our business and we would love to quote for any sheet metal work that you need to have manufactured.

Laser cut and folded brackets manufactured in the UK

Saturday, November 21st, 2015

Laser cut and folded brackets

Laser cut and folded brackets

Laser cut and folded brackets made to your own custom designs

We manufacture a whole range of sheet metal work here at V and F sheet Metal in Fareham, Hampshire but if I had to pick one sheet metal item that we are really good at it would be sheet metal brackets. Whether they are CNC punched out on one of our 2 Trumpf CNC punch presses or laser cut on our Trumpf 3030 fibre laser we just love sheet metal brackets. These mild steel brackets have been laser cut and then folded up on one of our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes. The brackets could just as well have been made from Zintec, galvanised steel, aluminium alloy, stainless steel, brass, copper, pre-painted steel, spring stainless or tin plate and we would still have been happy to make them. We have a large range of punching and bending tooling that suits all sorts of sheet metal brackets from 0.3mm thick tin plate electronic screening can brackets to 8mm thick steel building support brackets.

For more examples of laser cut and folded brackets please take a look at our Pinterest Board.

Please send your enquiries to sales@vandf.co.uk if you have a new sheet metal bracket that needs manufacturing. Whether it’s a STEP / SAT 3D model, DXF / DWG 2D drawings or a PDF we will be happy to take a look and help you out.

Sheet metal boxes

Wednesday, November 18th, 2015

Sheet metal boxes

Sheet metal boxes

Sheet metal boxes

V and F Sheet Metal specialise in manufacturing sheet metal work in thin gauges. We can CNC punch sheet metal from 0.4mm up to 3.0mm thick in a range of steel, aluminium and stainless steel alloys. Thicker gauges can be worked on with our Trumpf 3030 3KW fibre laser cutting machine.

These aluminium boxes are typical of the sheet metal work projects that we get asked to manufacture for our customers. These boxes have been CNC punched, edge deburred and CNC folded on one of our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes. Shown here at this stage they are in the process of having sheet metal bushes and studs inserted on a Haeger bush inserter machine to act as fixing points for various electronics components that will be assembled into the boxes after they had been welded on the corners and powder coated.

For more examples of sheet metal boxes please follow the link to our Pinterest pages.

Have a project that needs sheet metal boxes and lids then give us a call. We are sure we will have a CNC tool to punch out the correct cut-outs and if not we can always laser cut them for you.

Sheet metal components manufacturers

Tuesday, November 17th, 2015

Laser cut brackets

Laser cut brackets

Sheet metal components manufacturers

Sheet metal components manufacturers are important for companies who do not have the capability to manufacture sheet metal components for themselves. This might be due to the lack of overall requirement not justifying enough production to have an in house manufacturing department, lack of the right skills to retain sheet metal manufacturing in house or sometimes the opposite in too much work for the sheet metal work capacity that they have. For whatever reason when sheet metal manufacturing is needed on a sub-contract basis either for a one off project or on going repeat batches of sheet metal work, V and F Sheet Metal can help you. They have been manufacturing sheet metal work components, assemblies and welded fabrications for over 30 years now to a wide range of companies in the UK and into mainland Europe. From lighting companies, heating and air-conditioning work, professional audio equipment and electronics enclosures are just a few of the areas V and F Sheet Metal have been involved with for decades.

Sheet metal components manufacturers

Sheet metal manufacturers – mild steel brackets

Offering laser cutting, CNC punching, CNC bending and a whole range of secondary welding and fabrication services from laser cutting and bending small brackets, CNC punching and folding enclosures, to welding stainless steel fabrications and press work. If your parts need to be painted, zinc pated or anodised then they have a network of suppliers to offer the right service and price. From thin gauge mild steel brackets that have been laser cut, as shown here, thick stainless steel channels or folded aluminium profiles we will have your sheet metal manufacturing needs covered here within our factory at Fareham, Hampshire, UK.

If you have any sheet metal manufacturing needs and have drawings that you wish us to review for you then please e-mail us at sales@vandf.co.uk or call for a chat on 01489 577786.

Laser Cutting Sets of Sheet Metal Work

Monday, November 16th, 2015

Laser cutting sets of sheet metal work

Laser cutting sets of sheet metal parts

Laser cutting sets of sheet metal parts

Laser cutting sets of sheet metal work

Laser cutting sheet metal sets

When we use our Trumpf 3030 fibre laser cutter to laser cut sheet metal blanks for production we normally fill each sheet with the same component. This enables us to get the best fit per sheet and the least amount of time on the laser machine for each type of part. Sometimes however we can fit a “family” of parts together onto the same sheet. This might be a simple as boxes and lids together or front panels and rear panels together or left hand and right hand brackets together. This technique is useful with smaller batch sizes so that all the parts needed for a particular job that come from the same material and gauge can be laser cut in one go reducing the number of CNC programs generated and it makes it easier for the machine setter to produce all the parts in one set up.

Using Radan sheet metal software we can organise all the parts needed to be laser cut onto one program in the office before the jobs go to the shop floor and produce print outs of the CNC laser nests if needed to aid production and help identify work after laser cutting.

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