Folding sheet metal work is a big part of what we do here at V and F Sheet Metal
From the smallest angle bracket to components up to 3M long we are here to support you. But what does that mean?
small sheet metal folding
Well for us it means not only having the right machines and tooling, you would hope all sheet metal workers would have that. No, it means having the experience to help you with your designs. Selecting the correct materials and thicknesses for a given part with an eye to the cost of the final part. For example why would you use 5251 aluminium if 1050A will do the job and is cheaper. Many of our customers will not know what material to select and we will help them to get it right and at the right price.
Defining a suitable manufacturing tolerance is another area where people can be unsure what can be achieved in practice. Say you want a small stainless steel channel folding up similar to the part shown on the right. It may be fitting into another rightly controlled machined item. Asking for +0/-0.25 across the bends may be required and achievable. Asking for the same tolerance on a much larger support bracket in 4mm mild steel would be adding extra time and scrap where it’s just not needed. Sometimes simply talking through these points with us is enough to get it right and save time and money in production.
We have all experienced the standard drawing border that is applied to every job without any thought.
For more information on bending please check out this link
large sheet metal folding
So you can already see that there are plenty of actions you can take when considering designing for folding sheet metal work. The specific machine we chose and the tooling needed is not your problem. Of course you will want us to have modern accurate machines. We won’t disappoint there with a program of constant investment in plant and tooling. Getting your design right for that tooling is your problem and we are always happy to help you with it. If you want to discuss a current sheet metal project that will need folding please give us a call on 01489 577786. Alternatively you can e-mail us your drawings and we will be pleased to review them for you.