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Sheet metal electronics chassis plate production

Sunday, April 29th, 2012

Sheet metal electronics chassis 3D CAD model

Most of the sheet metal work projects that we get involved with here in Fareham, Hampshire start off with a 3D model or 3D assembly created in Radan CAD/CAM software. These models may come directly from our customer via a SAT or STEP file or we may generate them ourselves from their drawings, the model shown here was generated by V&F Sheet Metal from PDF files. It gives us a really good start in fully understanding the sheet metal work design and how we can best go about manufacturing it before we commit to CNC punching any materials in production. The 3D model also enables us to feedback design ideas directly to our customers as we put the virtual parts together and identify any problems or opportunities to save money in manufacturing.

Sheet metal chassis plate unfolded from 3D model

Once the 3D model is complete it can be used to produce a flat developed sheet metal blank. This is the correctly calculated shape and size of sheet metal needed to produce the final bent up part taking into account the material type, thickness (gauge) and bend radii. Any problems with sheet metal faces clashing can be spotted at this stage and referred back to the original design for amendment before proceeding further with any production.

CNC punched tooled sheet metal chassis plate

Once the developed blank has been cleaned up and any amendments made the CNC part can be tooled. This is an automatic operation with CNC tooling being applied to the component’s outer profile and any internal cut outs and holes. There is often the need to improve the automatic selection of CNC tools within the software to ensure the optimum CNC punching path to help reduce production time and tool wear. All these small improvements help to maintain a competitive sheet metal component price.

Layout of CNC punched chassis plates on a 2m x 1m sheet of aluminium

Once the single sheet metal component has been sucessfully CNC tooled it can be applied to a full sheet of metal. The sheet maybe a standard industry size for volumes or parts of sheets for small quantities. The best fit can be achieved using software tools to automatically try different orientations of the components with grain direction taken into account where necessary. As we use Trumpf CNC punch presses we are not contrained to the orientation of the parts on the sheet as we can rotate all the tools in the punch head enabling us to get the best use of material per part.

Sheet metal chassis plate with engraving produced on a Trumpf 3000 CNC punch press

This chassis plate needed to have the customer’s part number engraved into it for traceability, something that was easy to achieve with our Trumpf 3000R CNC punch press. The engraving is carried out with a hardened stylus which can be used to produce a continualy line if needed but in this case a simple number pattern was acceptable and more cost effective.

Finished black anodised sheet metal chassis with inserts

The final completed chassis plate with all the features CNC punched and CNC bent. The aluminium has been black anodised and has zinc plated bushes and captive thumb screws inserted ready for use by the customer.
This is just one of hundreds of different components we are manufacturing every month, if you have something you need manufacturing in sheet metal please give us a call or e-mail your drawings and we will be happy to help you.

Connector panels with captive thumb screws

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Connector panels with captive thumb screws

Sheet metal connector panels with captive thumb screws.
Simple solution saves plenty of time in service. Have you ever unscrewed a rear panel from some equipment to drop the screws inside, not any more with this simple engineering solution. We can manufacture your sheet metal panels and then insert captive spring loaded thumb screws ready for you to use. They can be done up tight with a screw driver or simply tightened with finger pressure if needed. The example shown here has been pressed into mild steel sheet metal and will be powder coated black. The captive thumb screws can be inserted after painting or plating / anodising if required making it a very versatile solution.

For more details please contact us and we can look at your sheet metal design and see where we can help.

Professional audio equipment chassis

Monday, April 16th, 2012

Audio chassis assembly

Professional audio equipment chassis

We are really excited to be able to help our customer develop a new range of high end hifi and studio audio equipment. The entire range has been developed over the last 2 years and is growing thanks in a small part to the flexibility of manufacturing with sheet metal. We have been able to offer advice on the most efficient design for manufacturing with sheet metal and swap data in 2D and 3D. All the chassis parts, front panels and covers have been produced in relatively small numbers so far but when the quantities grow we will easily be able to expand our production with the same CNC driven manufacturing equipment. This flexibility has proven invaluable to several of our customers when prototyping new product ranges and then running in larger volumes.

Audio front panels

If you have a new project that needs sheet metal components and you want some advice on the best manufacturing option or a design that needs refining to cut costs, please give us a call or e-mail a drawing for review.

Stainless steel sheet metal brackets after CNC bending

Monday, April 9th, 2012

Stainless steel sheet metal brackets after CNC bending

Here’s an interesting collection of 304 stainless steel brackets stacked in a tin in our factory. The spiral pattern looks similar to that found in a sea shell. Each stainless steel bracket has been CNC punched, de-burred and then CNC bent to complete the sheet metal parts to drawing. Sheet metal brackets such as these are produced every day of the week here at V and F Sheet Metal in our factories in Fareham, Hampshire. These particular brackets are used to support cable runs around marina board walks where boats plug in their batteries to re-charge.

If you have a design requirement for stainless steel brackets or any other sheet metal material please give us a call and we will be happy to quote you for production.

Wall mounted uplighters for cathedral ceilings

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

Modern illumination of medieval ceiling

This lighting project was truly a mixture of the old and the new. The aluminium sheet metal wall mounted uplighters shown here were used to illuminate the vaulted ceiling of part of Chichester Cathedral. The sheet metal housings were quite simple with tack welded end plates but the performance comes from the reflector helping to boost the light output and throw it up over the vaulted ceiling.
The lighting effect really lifts the ceiling and makes it seem to float on the stone pillars. As well as aluminium lighting products we are happy to manufacture in mild steel and stainless steel to suit more environmentally challenging applications.

Stainless steel sheet metal press work

Monday, March 26th, 2012

Stainless steel sheet metal press work

If you want to see production in action, take a look at our fly press plant page where we have a video of these stainless steel housings being formed on a press tool die set. These stainless steel housings have been CNC punched to produce an accurate blank and then had the end bends bent up in a Trumpf 7036 CNC press brake. The video shows the circular plunges being formed in the base and the sides being formed up. The final operation is to weld the tubes in place before being sent to the customer for assembly into their product.

CNC punching of sheet metal mild steel brackets for pump housings

Monday, March 19th, 2012

CNC punching of sheet metal mild steel brackets for pump housings

These mild steel plates will be bent up and have a formed hook on them before being zinc plated and clear passivated to protect them from rusting. They have been manufactured by CNC punching on our Trumpf 3000R CNC punch press with a special shaped single hit tool. The window in the middle of the plate is a special shape designed to fit around the front of a pump and allow the drive shaft to fit through. For small batches the window profile was produce with a series of overlapping standard CNC punch tools which worked fine. When the batch quantities increased a time study was undertaken for the customer and it was cost effective to invest in a single hit tool to produce the window much quicker and with the added benefit of a cleaner hole at the same time.

If you have a sheet metal component that you are looking to reduce the cost of we are always happy to look at simple tooling options to help you, please give us a call on 01489 577786.

LED display boards for car parking

Monday, March 12th, 2012

LED display boards with mild steel sheet metal housings

Sheet metal fabricated LED display boards for car parking signage

Sheet metal work can be so versatile with today’s powerful CNC manufacturing equipment. We have produced a series of sheet metal mild steel housings, covers and LED chassis plates in various sizes for LED signs. These particular signs have been used to indicate empty spaces in multi-storey car parks in a range of countries in Europe and further afield. Once a basic design format has been established and proven different lengths and widths of housing and associated parts can easily be manufactured from existing developed blank data within our Radan software. This offers the advantage of mixing some standard units and special sizes together in manufacturing without stopping the flow of work and maintaining the lowest cost price per part.

With any bespoke manufacturing project work the emphasis has to be on flexibility and for us this means the ability to change from one sheet metal part to another with little machine setting up time in between. With the design of the Trumpf CNC punch press single head design system we can change from job to job in minutes enabling us to punch out sheet metal prototypes within the mix of standard production work without any appreciable delay.

Zinc plated and colour passivated sheet metal brackets

Monday, March 5th, 2012

Zinc plated and colour passivated sheet metal brackets

Sheet metal work manufactured from aluminium and stainless steel alloys can be treated and finished with a range of processes but are often left just material self colour due to their corrosion resistance. If they need to have different colours then obviously they can be powder coated or stove enamelled RAL colours with texture or smooth finished in a range of gloss levels. Mild steel however will need some sort of protection if it is to be used in any environment where there is any risk of moisture. For external use zinc galvanised treatments are often specified if no further finishing is to be carried out. If the mild steel components are for interior use or they are external components and are to have a powder coated finish then zinc plating with a passivated finish can be specified.
The brackets illustrated here have been zinc plated and colour passivated to produce a golden colour. This is quite acceptable for mild steel sheet metal brackets that will not have any further protection and be used in interior designs e.g. housing brackets, alarm box fixing points, light fitting stirrups, motor pumps etc.

If you have sheet metal components and you are not sure which treatment or finish to specify please give us a call and we will be happy to guide you.

Sheet metal work, sheet metal brackets

Monday, February 27th, 2012

Sheet metal mild steel Zintec brackets after CNC bending

Sheet metal work, sheet metal brackets and angles

Sheet metal bracket and angles are used in most engineering fabrication assemblies. They come in so many different styles from simple 90 degree angle section cut to length; CNC punched sheet metal right up to cast, machined or forged brackets for heavier duty needs. They all perform the same task of joining 2 on more components together where a design need cannot be satisfied by a single component. It’s often the case that 2 materials need to be brought together such as glass window and an aluminium section or a plastic cover and stainless steel housing or perhaps simply the need to have a light weight enclosure with thicker anchor points. All these applications would call for the use of some form of bracket or angle. The sheet metal brackets shown here are typical Zintec brackets CNC punched and bent from a thin gauge material. They have holes for riveting to a larger sheet metal section and a small hexagonal hole for a threaded bush to be inserted.

So many of the sheet metal brackets and angles that we manufacture are never seen by the final customer as they are hidden away inside the final assembled product but carry out an important task never the less. If you have the need for sheet metal brackets or angles in any sheet metal materials please give us a call and we will be happy to put together some price options for you.

Mild steel enclosures after CNC punching and CNC bending

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

Mild steel trays after CNC punching and CNC bending

Mild steel sheet metal electronics enclosures come in so many shapes and sizes. These enclosures are fairly simples being CNC punched from 0.9mm CR4 mild steel as a developed cross shape in one of our Trumpf CNC punch presses. They have been edge de-burred to remove any sharp edges and blunted on the corners where the components have tags from being held within the CNC punched sheet nest. The shape was created in our Edwards Pearson PR6 CNC press brake with 8 x 90 degree bends. You can see that the corners are not yet welded at this stage but they will be by TiG welding and then finally cleaned off smooth back to the original parent sheet metal. These particular enclosures were then powder coated matt black.

We manufacture enclosures from sheet metal which may be simple one part boxes to complex assemblies with many fabricated and welded components. If you have a project that needs sheet metal enclosures why not give us a go and see what we can do you for.

3mm thick sheet metal material after CNC bending

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

3mm thick sheet metal material after CNC bending

Sheet metal angles manufactured in our sheet metal workshops here in Fareham, Hampshire.

These sheet metal angle brackets are typical of the work we manufacture using our Trumpf CNC punching and CNC bending machines. These brackets have been CNC punched from 3mm mild steel and clearly show the CNC tooling marks on the end of each component. These angle brackets were then de-burred using our vertical belt de-burring machines to remove the sharpness of the sheet metal edge and the CNC punch tool witnesses. These particular components were then powder coated so there was no evidence of the CNC punching process for the customer.

If you want to know more about the options you have when having sheet metal work cleaned up please contact us and we can explore your sheet metal projects and the best solution for you.

Rolling sheet metal tubes in thin gauge material

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Rolling sheet metal tubes in thin gauge material

When round sheet metal components are needed in a sheet metal design there are several ways of achieving this shape. Firstly, if a standard round tube can be used in the design with a suitable diameter and wall size it’s easy to saw the tube to length and drill holes or weld it into a fabricated assembly. This cannot always be achieved with standard tube so then the tube would need to be created by rolling a sheet metal blank into a tube. This may be fully seam welded along the closing joint and then cleaned off smooth or sometimes just tack welded together at the sheet joint. This method does allow holes to be CNC punched first if a little distortion when being rolled up into a circular tube is not a problem in the final design. If a part circle is needed, say a semi-circle, the process of multi-bending on one of our CNC press brakes can be used. This consists of CNC punching the initial flat shape and then creating the curved form with a series of small bends at an angle to each other to create the flats at a tangent to the desired circumference. This manufacturing process can be very effective and with no special tooling cost effective for small batch work. The final method is to make up special form tooling to enable the sheet metal blanks to be pressed between top (punch) and bottom (die) tooling to create the curve in 1 or more hits.

With all sheet metal work designs it’s always worth a quick call to see which method would best suit depending on material, gauge, size and volume.

Sheet metal copper angle brackets

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Copper sheet metal brackets

Years ago copper was used on many industrial and domestic metal products due to its natural thermal and electrical properties. It could be copper pipes, electrical switch gear, buzz bars, roof tiles, saucepan bottoms the list goes on and on. Today due to its cost, currently at over £6,000 per tonne its uses can be limited to those that really need its electrical and thermal conductivity properties.

These small brackets and the larger sheet metal copper angle brackets are used in electrical component applications. They have simply been CNC punched, barrel (rumble) de-burred and CNC bent on our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes. These small, thin gauge sheet metal angle brackets are typical of the sheet metal work that these CNC machines are perfectly designed for. With batch sizes of just dozens to many hundreds or thousands press tooling is not required. If however, the volumes start to rise further we would investigate press tooling to help reduce the price as long as the design has been fixed and design changes are not needed.

Copper sheet metal angle brackets

If you have copper or brass sheet metal brackets, angles, plates or panels that need manufacturing please contact us and we will be happy to provide you with a price.

LED display boards with sheet metal enclosures

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Sheet metal LED display board housing

When manufacturing bespoke LED display boards where the length, width, height and LED PCB layouts can change from project to project CNC punched sheet metal work is the way to go. With the ability to take previous CNC programs and adapt them to suit using parametric programming techniques new sheet metal fabrication projects can be created quickly with the knowledge that past cut sizes which have been proven to be correct can be retained as the basis for each new project. Our customer often has little time to get the initial order, write the software, design the LED PCBs and the mechanical parts for their LED display projects so knowing that the sheet metal work is sorted easily is a great help. Our relationship with the customer is such that the detailed drawings are given to us as DXF files with no dimensions and we are left to work from previous proven examples and take what data we need from the DXF. This saves our customer lots of time and enables us to solve our own problems using their DXF for sizes.

Sheet metal inserts, bushes and studs

Monday, January 16th, 2012

Sheet metal inserts - Hank bushes

Using screws and nuts to fasten sheet metal components together has been a production method used for centuries. To speed up the assembly process or to fix a nut in an awkward or blind place is where self-clinch and anchor rivet buses really come into their own. We use a Haeger bush inserter and various manual and hydraulic fly-presses to press the fixings into our sheet metal work in all sheet materials from 0.7mm thick and upwards. Single side approaches, such as tubes, can also be dealt with by using Avdell style single side bushes.

As well as standard metric and imperial thread bushes we regularly insert stand-offs, studs and many specialised inserts into our sheet metal work for example captive thumb screws. Have a look at our Haeger bush inserter webpage for more information on this plant and links to more detailed information on self-clinch and anchor rivet bushes. If you have an odd requirement and are not sure whether there is a sheet metal insert solution available for you give us a call and we can investigate it for you.

Sheet metal fabrications tested as 3D software models

Monday, January 9th, 2012

Sheet metal 3D CAD/CAM model used fro stainless steel assembly

Being ‘tin bashers’ is not all hands on production when it comes to sheet metal work. Obviously the actual sheet metal work has to be produced on the shop floor with our skilled staff using cutting, punching, bending and welding equipment but there is a lot of preparation that has to be completed before any sheet metal work can be started. We often have to start with the clever computer bit as with this 3D sheet metal fabrication assembly that was created to check out the fit of all the parts. These 3D models, as well as allowing us to better understand the components we are going to manufacture, are an important source of manufacturing information. This information can lead to the data needed to program our CNC punching and bending machines. The process can work in reverse with us using our production data to generate CAD drawings and 3D models for our customers to take back into their systems to be used again in new sheet metal designs.

Sheet metal CNC punching of top trays for UK light fittings

Friday, January 6th, 2012

Sheet metal work being CNC punched showing the use of a chute on our Trumpf 3000R CNC punch press

Fast Tube by Casper

Sheet metal CNC punching of top trays for UK light fittings. This video nicely shows the chute feature on a Trumpf 3000R CNC punch press where the unwanted sheet metal blanks from the middle of the light fitting top geartrays are being punched free from the parent sheet and allowed to drop down through the bed of the machine into a waste bin below ready for recycling. This machine feature allows for quick removal of the middle section of the geartray without any tags to be removed or stopping the machine cycle at each component to remove the internal plate. This shows the flexibility of a Trumpf CNC punch press producing sheet metal work from our factories in Fareham, Hampshire, UK.

Sheet metal spot welded light fitting louvres

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

Spot welded louvre assembly for projector light fitting

Simple sheet metal fabrications such as these spot welded mild steel louvre assemblies are typical of sheet metal work that we manufacture every week of the year. They may only be manfactured in small batches of 25 to 50 off or even up to 250 off at a time. The flexibility of CNC punching and CNC bending manufacturing processes enable us to produce components like these fabrications in any volume with ease and competitively. Simple spot welded components like these will have production jigs manufactured to enable us to position each louvre blade and enable it be quickly spot welded.

These mild steel spot welded fabrications are used to fit on the front face of projector light fittings. They are used to help focus the light forward from the lamp and help to reduce side glare.

Spot welded louvre assemblies for projector light fittings

Sheet metal manufacturing in 2012

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

Contined investment in the best new manufacturing equipment

Well what a year 2011 has been.

We have had periods of being very busy and of being quiet during 2011. We have kept moving forward with this new website and blog which has been a big step for us from our old static website. We have tried to offer more than just a few images of sheet metal work and sheet metal machines and include more detailed information on processes and tooling as well as data to help you when designing new sheet metal components. The inclusion of video on the website has been mentioned by several customers as of interest as they are too far from us to pop in and see for themselves what we do.

We have also not stopped investing in V and F Sheet Metal, we have added a second brand new Trumpf 7036 CNC press brake this year to go with the new one we installed in May 2010. They are both proving to be a good move as they have both enabled us to turn sheet metal work with bent features around quicker for customers with their shorter set up times over our older machines.

Looking forward to 2012 I can see that we will continue to keep up to date with the latest software to enable us to maintain communication with our customers and ensure we have the most efficient nesting software for laying out sheet metal CNC punching. We continue to invest in new tooling to maintain the quality of the CNC punched and CNC bent components we are producing. What will happen to the markets in the UK and Europe is beyond our ability to influence but what we can do is to keep ourselves as flexible and responsive to our customers needs as possible and be ready for whatever they throw at us.

Have a Merry Christmas and hopefully a prosperous 2012.

Ray Frith

Fly press, mild steel sheet metal clamp brackets

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

Sheet metal mild steel clamping brackets formed on fly press tooling

These sheet metal brackets have had the U shaped section formed on a hydraulic fly press with simple fly press tooling. They have been manufactured from 1.5mm CR4, mild steel, by CNC punching the holes and outer profile and then by CNC bending them to create a square cornered U shape. This component has then been formed in fly press tooling to create the curved U shaped section in the middle of the bracket. The tooling was made in a few hours and didn’t cost very much making this form of production ideal of small batches of work, proving prototypes and special bespoke projects. V and F Sheet Metal’s ability to turn our hand to such a range of sheet metal work gives our customers a great advantage when it comes to new design projects. We rarely say no to our customers ideas and usually only to suggest where a change can be made to improve the design to make it easier for manufacturing. There are plenty of examples of sheet metal projects within these blog posts and throughout the website plant and gallery pages that illustrate our versatility, please take a look.

Formed sheet metal work

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Formed curve in sheet metal bracket

Formed sheet metal brackets

These sheet metal brackets are typical of the small components that we manufacture every day of the week. CNC punched from mild steel sheet, de-burred and then CNC bent these little sheet metal brackets are manufactured in batches of 100 at a time. The formed curve on the end of the bracket has been produced in our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes. If we have a standard form tool we will always use it to keep the production time down helping to reduce price. Sometimes we will not have a form tool to hand and we can then construct one if the volumes are large enough of the batches repeat often enough. If this is not the case then CNC multi-bending can be used to create the curved form in the sheet metal bracket by producing a series of small bends simulating a curve. This CNC bending technique is also used to produce complex curves with varying profiles e.g. an ellipse.

For more information on forming with CNC press brakes have a look at our web page http://www.vandf.co.uk/plant-list/edwards-pearson-pr3pr6/

CNC bending Aluminium sheet metal sections

Friday, December 16th, 2011

Aluminium sheet metal sections after CNC bending

CNC bending aluminium sections in CNC press brakes

Sheet metal aluminium sections such as these shown here are often manufactured here at V and F Sheet Metal using CNC punching and CNC bending techniques. A component like this can be programmed for CNC bending in 5-10 minutes on our Trumpf 7036 CNC press brakes. When we are bending sheet metal work like this even though we can create the whole program off line if we want to or at the shop floor controller on the press brake we still have to manufacture 1 and test it first. The material gauge can change from batch to batch within its tolerance, the hardness of the material and the grain direction all go to create a variance in the bending even with the same bending CNC program. We cope with this by using program corrections, we bend 1 component and inspect the result to drawing and then make corrections to the CNC program. We only have to tell the CNC press brake how far it’s out and the software automatically adjusts the bend angles and then normally that’s it we are ready to bend all the parts the same size as the drawing.

If you have a sheet metal work projects which needs CNC bending and you are not sure what can be achieved please give us a call on 01489 577786 or check out our bending tooling tables for more information.

Sheet metal brackets

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

Brackets manufactured from 3mm mild steel sheet metal

Brackets can come in so many forms to satisfy different engineering needs. They may be manufactured from sheet metal as these brackets have been by CNC punching from 3mm thick mild steel (CR4) sheet and then CNC bent to size. They can be cut from angle or channel section, cast or forged depending on the volumes required and the job the bracket has to do. For us the most flexible way to manufacture a bracket is to CNC punch them and then bend as we have total control of the bracket thickness, material type, bend lengths, bend angles and hole sizes. We manufacture brackets for a vast range of companies with many different uses e.g. lighting lamp holders, pump tray mounting brackets, speaker cabinet hanging point angle brackets, heater unit wall mounting brackets, you name it and we make it when it comes to brackets.

If you have a sheet metal design that needs brackets manufacturing please give us a call on 01489 577786 and we will be happy to discuss your project with any price options you may want.

Mild steel panels with CNC punched circular cut outs

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

Mild steel panels with CNC punched circular cut outs created by CNC banana tooling

We all know that CNC punch presses are good at punching holes very quickly in any sheet metal material. If you are looking for sheet metal work with circular holes or square and rectangular cut-outs created by punching several over lapping tools then you can’t do better. And again if you have a component that has straight sides to its outer profile you can’t go wrong with CNC punching. I often have customers say to me that they will have to have a sheet metal component laser cut because it has a larger circular hole in it or it has a curved outer profile which is not true. We can produce components with large circular holes and part curves with very few hits using CNC banana tools. The banana tools can be made to the exact radius needed or often we have similar sized banana tools that can approximate the radius needed. By indexing the CNC banana tool as it’s punching in our Trumpf CNC punch presses we can create a continual smooth curve.

It’s always worth asking when you are designing a new component with internal or external curves to see whether we can CNC punch it for you.

Exterior under canopy lighting

Monday, December 12th, 2011

sheet metal under canopy light finttings

HBR2GJYJ3GZN We recently manufactured the sheet metal housings for some exterior under canopy lights installed in the Georgian building. These lights are installed outside but normally protected from the worst of the weather by being protected under a rook or canopy such as a shopping walk way or in this instance under a roof overhang. In this instance they have been used to great effect as an accent to highlight the building rather than for the amount of floodlighting that can be achieved. The effect can be dramatic, enhanced by the “Top Gear” style filtering on the camera lens.

The sheet metal housings are normally manufactured from 304 grade stainless steel and powder coated or at least zinc plated mild steel sheet metal with a powder coated finish. As the components are used outside they normally have front glasses fitted with gaskets to keep the lamps dry.

For more information on these lights and other lighting projects please give us a call.

HBR2GJYJ3GZN

Stainless steel sheet metal garden light fittings

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Sheet metal stainless patio light fitting

These stainless steel sheet metal garden light fittings have recently been featured in a show garden design at the 2011 Hampton Court Palace flower show. Working with our lighting fittings customer we manufactured for them bespoke stainless steel sheet metal components that were CNC punched, CNC bent,Tig welded together and then hand polished to a very high quality.

These images of stainless steel sheet metal illuminated flower planters and illuminated stepping stone pavers really show off the versatility of the products that can be manufactured from sheet metal. These fabricated products were made as samples to show off the range of materials that can be used in a garden and how they can change by being illuminated at night. They are available as standard lighting products or to bespoke order.

Stainless steel is an ideal material for fabricated sheet metal products that will be used outdoors if a clean easy maintenance finish needs to be achieved. Mild steel is however idea if left untreated by either zinc or paint if a more weathered and natural image is required.

The polished stainless steel was used as a mirror inside a plastic shell to reflect the LED lighting outwards and produce this eery night time glow. The planters had a natural beauty by day time without the LED lighting.

Garden illuminated at night

: Stainless steel sheet metal planter

V and F Sheet Metal, Fareham, Hampshire, UK.

Stainless steel spring clips

Sunday, December 4th, 2011

Stainless steel spring clips for light fittings

Stainless spring steel clips are used to hold a light fitting in place in an aluminium casting. These stainless steel spring clips have been manufactured from 0.4mm thick stainless steel coil. These spring clips have been guillotined, pierced by fly-presses, notched and bent on fly-presses. Typical batch sizes are from 100 to 1000 off although other volumes can be produced to suit your own needs. This type of manual sheet metal work complements perfectly the more complex CNC produced sheet metal work that we are better known for at V and F Sheet Metal.

CNC bending capacity for sheet metal work

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

CNC bending sheet metal brackets

Here at V and F Sheet Metal we have 6 CNC press brakes which we use in addition to smaller fly presses for bending sheet metal work. Our bending capacity enables us to CNC bend sheet metal in the following ranges:

Aluminium, brass, copper, galvanised steel, mild steel, stainless steel, tin plate and Zintec from just a few mm across up to 2.5M in length. The range of thicknesses that can be bent varies with the tensile strength of the material being bent but between 0.4mm and 10mm is a range that we deal with every week.

Trumpf 7036 (maximum bend length 1050mm) x 2 off
Edwards Pearson (maximum bend length 2500mm) x 2 off
Guifil (maximum bend length 600mm) x 2 off

For more specific details please call us and we can advise you on your sheet metal design project.

V and F Sheet Metal Company Ltd, 28 Brunel Way, Segensworth East, Fareham, Hampshire, PO15 5SD.

CNC punching capacity for sheet metal work

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

Sheet metal CNC punching capacity at V and F Sheet Metal

Here at V and F Sheet Metal we have 2 Trumpf CNC punch presses and a Titan CNC punch press. Our punching capacity enables us to CNC punch sheet metal in the following thickess ranges:

Aluminium sheet from 0.4mm thick pre-anodised reflector aluminium up to 10mm thick aluminium bar.

Brass sheet from 0.7mm thick up to 3mm thick.

Copper sheet from 0.7mm thick up to 3mm thick.

Galvanised steel sheet from 0.7mm thick up to 3mm thick.

Mild steel sheet from 0.7mm thick up to 4mm thick.

Stainless steel sheet from 0.7mm thick up to 3mm thick.

Tin plate sheet from 0.4mm thick upwards.

Zintec sheet from 0.7mm thick up to 3mm thick.

Materials over these thicknesses can sometimes be laser cut, please ask for more details on your specific design needs.

We can CNC punch sheet metal work from tiny items just a few mm across to sheet metal profiles 2.5M long with a vast array of holes profiles, forms and threads details.

V and F Sheet Metal Company Ltd, 28 Brunel Way, Segensworth East, Fareham, Hampshire, PO15 5SD.

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