Already a key manufacturer in the sheet metal sub-contract industry south of England, this latest investment will support Falcon’s expected continued growth in the coming 5 years.

What is it?

The Xpert Pro is an industry leading press brake used to fold a huge range of sheet metal jobs. In-line with Falcon’s recent machinery investments, the Xpert Pro will greatly increase both our capacity and our capabilities in this key work centre.

Taking delivery

What can it do?

High-tech bending

Whether simple or complex parts – the highest repetition accuracy is guaranteed. Dynamic crowning and patented Pressure-Reference technology ensure consistent quality.

More bending in less time

Bend faster than ever. Not only does the Xpert Pro works rapidly, but the sheet metal bender is also impressive when faced with high demands. Intelligent assistant functions and patented bending technology ensure consistently high quality – from the first to the last part of the order. 

Offline & online programming

All process steps on one touch screen: The Xpert Pro intuitively and conveniently understands your CAD files with BySoft Cell Control Bend. The intelligent software creates optimal bending processes and suggests appropriate tools for the operator to use. Keeping consistency between production runs, reducing staff training and setup times, improving our tool lifespan and ultimately keeping the machine working whilst programming is done in the background.

Want more? Click below

Shop floor layout

Falcon Precision are committed to continuous improvement, we judge all top level decisions against this commitment. As part of this we are taking this exciting opportunity to re-do our shop floor layout, with the aim to reduce key wastes of travel and lost resources, alongside improving safety. We are fully re-building and re-wiring our welding and grinding bays, ahead of further investment there in the coming weeks, putting in additional lighting and much more.

We will be adding more updates on training and installation as the weeks progress, to keep up to date with all Falcon’s news, follow our Linkedin page here.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/falcon-precision-limited

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What is it?

The TruPunch 3000 is an automated large format CNC Punch, designed for punching and profiling sheet metal from 0.5mm thick, up to 6mm thick. Materials that can be punched include, but are not limited to:

• Mild Steel
• Aluminium
• Stainless Steel
• Brass
• Copper
• Zintec
• Pre-Galvanised Steel
• Pre-Painted Steel

After a week long installation and training, the punch and sheet loader and tool grinder is now fully operational. The punch has been installed in our extension completed in January 2020, see our post on it at the time here.

As part of the CNC Punch installation, we have taken the opportunity to move our CNC milling machines into the new extension. The desire was to keep them in a cleaner part of the factory to help keep the machines running smoothly and to help workflow through the factory.

Over the coming weeks will be putting up more posts on what this new acquisition means for sheet metal CNC punching at Falcon Precision. Looking more in depth to what is achievable and how this can benefit our end customers. If you wanted to get in touch with us before then we are inviting current customers and their designers into Falcon to better understand how they can implement strong design for manufacture to cut waste and add value to their product/parts.

CNC Laser cutting, CNC punching, CNC machining, welding, metal fabrication, assembly & more all under one roof. Click the link below to contact us directly.

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In our last update on the build, we showed how the new slab had been successfully laid on time. This was a key milestone in the production plan, and allowed the metalwork construction team to move on-site earlier than expected. Click here to see the post https://www.falconprecision.co.uk/news/building-extension-update

Once the construction team were on-site the extension was watertight within a week. All parts fitted first time and were finished to a high standard, testament to the quality of the work done previously. The main electrics and lighting have now been fitted and the metalwork painting has been completed.

Benefits

• All sheet metal will now be stored directly next to the main three work centres that use it. Currently only our most frequently used materials were stored next to these work centres due to a lack of space. To process other materials, pallets needed to be transported between two separate roller doors. The Bystronic fiber laser, Motorum CNC turret punch and the guillotine operations will all benefit. This reduction in down-time means that more of the operator’s time can be spent at the machine, cutting parts.
• Two additional closed off bays will be added to our sheet metal fabrication area. A welding bay and a separate grinding/polishing bay will be added alongside our current work centre. This increase in our sheet metal fabrication capabilities is a reflection of a number of successful years in this department.
• Our in-house assembly work centre will be gaining more floor space. Falcon has seen a rise in customers wanting us to pre-assemble their sheet metal computer cases. This can be to aid quality checks, reduce the shipping/storage size or to speed up assembly in their production line. This extension will allow us to take on more of this type of work, with our reputation as a specialist in sheet metal fabrication growing year on year.
• Our ‘key walkways’ will all be widened throughout the factory. All key walkways will now be wide enough for a large pallet to move easily to all work centres. These will also be clearly colour coded for health and safety considerations.

We are now in the process of moving our existing equipment around to better streamline our manufacturing procedures. A final post on the fit out will be listed here in the coming weeks.

The extension is the second major improvement to be carried out at Falcon this year, with high spec LED lighting having been fitted in February 2019. This has proven to be a popular decision with both our staff and our customers since the installation. See our post from earlier this year for more information. https://www.falconprecision.co.uk/news/led-floodlights-sheet-metal

CNC Laser cutting, CNC punching, CNC machining, welding, metal fabrication, assembly & more all under one roof. Click the link below to contact us directly.

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2019 has been another hugely successful year in our 30 year history of British manufacturing here in Hampshire. We would like to thank all of our staff, customers, sub-contractors and suppliers for all their continued support in this time. We plan to push on in 2020, and have a lot to look forward to in the coming year.

We will be posting a review of 2019 in time, but for now, have a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year.

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The abbreviation CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control. This means that the machine is being controlled by a program (typically G-code), and not an operator.

CNC Laser Cutting

Falcon Precision have one of the very best fiber laser cutters on the market today. Fiber laser cutting has revolutionised CNC metal cutting in recent years, reducing cutting times whilst improving the cutting finish across thin gauge steel.

CNC Punching

CNC punching is the process of creating a hole or shape in metal by applying a high force through a tool and die, to shear or indent. This process is repeated using a variety of custom precision made tools to make a wide range of parts. Punching is often, the most efficient way of producing sheet metal parts, though this depends on part geometry and materials. CNC Punching is most efficient when it can be used for ‘forming’, often with custom tooling. Countersinks, bridges, louvres, dimples, indents, half shears and symbol marking are extremely cost effective with this method. To learn more on CNC punching sheet metal, see our post below that covers this topic in more depth.

CNC Milling

Falcon Precision have been milling aluminium, steel and an assortment of plastic for over 15 years. This is often the most versatile CNC metal cutting technique. Capable of machining tolerances of +/-0,05mm, our CNC milling machines are often used to give a high quality finish to products. Whether its machining fine connector details on a front panel, or machining heavy duty steel, Falcon can cover a huge range of requirements. See our post from earlier in 2019 that covers our two milling machines in greater detail.

To see how Falcon can help your company’s metal cutting requirements, click the link below to contact us directly.

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CNC punching is the process of creating a hole or other shape in a piece of sheet metal by applying a high force through a tool and die, to shear or indent the metal. This process is repeated using a variety of custom precision made tools to make a wide range of parts. Punching is often, but not always, the most efficient way of producing sheet metal parts, though this depends on the part geometry and materials used.

The abbreviation CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control. This means that the machine is being controlled by a program (typically G-code), and not an operator. As well as having a CNC punch, Falcon also has a CNC fibre laser and CNC milling machines.

What materials can be CNC punched?

Falcon Precision can punch aluminium, steel, stainless steel, brass, copper and many others. Typically, the maximum thickness we like to punch is 3mm. Whilst we can punch thicker than this, it can dramatically reduce the life span of the tooling used.

CNC punching or laser cutting?

Both manufacturing techniques have their own strengths and weaknesses, and the process we use for your parts will depend on a variety of factors.

CNC punching strengths:

CNC punching diagram

– Generally faster run times – suits larger volumes. Up to 500 punch strokes per minute!

– More economical to produce simple forms. E.g. countersinks, louvres, dimples, thread forming, dunces, bridges, symbols, ribs, locking tabs – the list is endless!

– Can create entire parts in a single punch with custom tooling.

– Cluster tools can be used to punch large grid patterns, creating multiple holes/slots in a single punch stroke.

Laser cutting strengths:

– The space between parts on a sheet is smaller, giving a more economical sheet utilisation which can result in cheaper parts.

– Can cut a wider range of material thicknesses.

– Faster set-up times to suit smaller volumes

– Can laser etch serial numbers, product codes or revision statuses into components for trace ability.

At Falcon we believe it is essential to have both processes to offer a complete manufacturing service to customers.

Tips for CNC punching

– Hole diameters or rectangular slots should be the same gauge as the material thickness.

– Distance between holes/slots/edges should be the same as the material thickness, however we can go smaller in some circumstances if required.

– Some features are not economical to produce on a CNC punch such as convoluted curves. If your part doesn’t have any aesthetic requirements, make sure it uses straight lines and edges in its geometry so it is suitable for CNC punching.

– It can take less than 0.5 seconds to countersink a hole on a CNC punch turret compared to roughly 10-15 seconds for an operator to manually enter one on a pillar drill. To benefit from these cost

CNC punch turret

savings, make sure the rest of your part is suitable for CNC punching.

– Cluster tools can punch a number of holes in a grid at the same time, drastically reducing run times. This can be used very effectively for ventilation grilles or LED panels.

– As a CNC punch typically takes longer to set up compared to a laser cutter, consider increasing your order volumes to reduce the unit price. This will also reduce the amount of distortion in the part.

– Punch forming can produce some useful features very economically. Louvres for air vents, dimples for locating positions, bridges for slide rails or back stops can all be produced in a matter of seconds.

– If your part is smaller than 88.9mm in diameter (3.5″), we may be able to punch it in one punch stroke with custom tooling. If you are buying parts in their hundreds this is an often underused technique to help economise, however it may not be perfectly flat.

– Some customers have worked with Falcon to help create a ‘nest’ of their parts, similar to how a model of a plane would come in a box. The customer benefits from having a economical collection of parts which they can ‘break-out’ and use as required. This also works with laser cutting.

For more tips on sheet metal design, visit our latest in a series of new design pages here:

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