Sheet metal work and fabrications in Hampshire
We get involved with so many different sheet metal projects and fabrications here in our manufacturing base in Fareham, Hampshire. I have included today just a few of the latest sheet metal projects that have been manufactured for our UK based customers. Everyone has it’s own story and range of manufacturing skills and techniques needed to produce the perfect sheet metal fabrication.
Galvanised mild steel sheet metal channel sections
These long sheet metal fabrications were CNC punched from 2mm thick pre-galvanised mild steel sheet. The project called for several trial samples to get the design correct for the customer and adjustments to suit our press brake tooling. The bend angles were held off at just over 90 degrees so they would stack inside each other saving a lot of space when being packed and transported to the final installation site in Kenya. The final order call for several hundred fabrications all produced within our sheet metal facility in Hampshire. Our engineering services are idea for a project like this including Radan sheet metal development software, CNC punching and CNC bending.
Sheet metal brackets
This is a great image that caught my eye why walking around the factory the other day, couldn’t resist a quick photo. Each part is a sheet metal bracket with a couple of bends but by stacking them together you do get a great pattern, sad I know but it pleased me. The brackets had been CNC punched, edge de-burred and CNC bent using one of our two Trumpf CNC press brakes. The operation was to have them surface treated with zinc plated and clear passivate by one of our zinc platers in Hampshire.
Aluminium sheet metal fabrication project
A simple aluminium fabrication but it was designed in Radan as a solid model with a front panel and PCB mounting angles from our customers verbal instructions. We were able to take our customers verbal instructions and a simple sketch and turn it into a series of 3D images for approval. Once it was approved we then manufactured a sample set of parts for assembly and then after a few simple updates the production batch was produced and then powder coated. This shows just how powerful 3D modelling can be when the initial project is not fully detailed.
Complex sheet metal shapes
When complicated profiles such as these are required and we don’t have the exact tooling to form in one operation a manufacturing technique know as multi-bending can be very useful. The curves of the profile can be simulated by producing a series of separate smaller flats with a bend setting the angle between each flat. In affect the curve is produced by a series if flat faces touching the curve at a tangent. If we produce my bending and the profile in the sheet metal fabrication is a better approximation to the drawn curve but it costs more as the component takes longer to produce.
For more examples of sheet metal fabrication projects that might help give you ideas for your sheet metal designs take a look at our SHEET METAL WORK AND FABRICATIONS IN HAMPSHIRE.