Gallery of laser cut mild steel projects now being manufactured here at V and F sheet Metal in Fareham, Hampshire, UK.
Since we have installed a new laser cutting machine we have been able to move some mild steel sheet metal components from ourTrumpf 200R and 3000R CNC punch presses onto our Trumpf 3030 3KW fibre laser cutter. If there are any forms such as pressed dimples, louvres, plunged holes, tapped threads, knockouts etc. then they can stay on the CNC punch presses where they are efficiently manufactured. Some mild steel parts as well as other materials can be cut as hybrid parts with the holes and profile being produced on the laser and the forms pressed in on the CNC punch presses, getting the best possible use of both machine’s abilities. Sheet metal components that have complex geometries or are thicker are perfectly suited to laser cutting but thinner parts are also cut with great speed and reduced need for edge de-burring so they can also be laser cut efficiently.
You can see from the range of laser cut parts shown below the versatility of laser cutting. The laser cutter being able to cut any shape into mild steel sheet without the need for dedicated tooling is a real attraction for many of our customers with smaller batch size projects. Most laser cutting nests that we have converted have shown a better yield of components from a given sheet size. There is obviously the need for cutting head assist gases which for mild steel can be compressed air, oxygen or nitrogen, all of which we have available here at V and F Sheet Metal. The extra cost of the gases can usually be offset by the reduced material usage and the reduction in de-burring time offering a better quality part that is cost neutral for our customers.