1) Minimum Bend Radius

The minimum bend radius of a part must be the same as the thickness of the material being formed. We can bend parts to a variety of radii but the minimum must be the same as the thickness of the material. Consider what is required for your design; using the minimum bend radius is considered standard for the industry but a larger radius will generally give a stronger part.

      Bend Radius Example

2) Minimum Edge Distance

Keep all holes and cut-outs at least the thickness of the material away from other edges. It is possible to go under this recommendation with some materials but this is a good starting point.

     Minimum Edge Distance Example

3) Design for Punch or Laser?

This consideration is often overlooked at the design stage and is regularly just an afterthought. Punching a part will almost always be cheaper than laser cutting, however laser cutting allows more convoluted shapes and can generally cut thinner gaps than a punch. Does your part have a lot of countersunk holes? It takes less than 0.5 seconds to countersink a hole on a punch, whilst it takes 12 seconds for a pillar drill to do the same job! Try to design for punch if that is the case by changing over to a simpler design with less curves.

Counterpunch Example

4) Design for Scan Cut

Falcon Precision are known for being specialists in fabricating boxes for the computer industry. A common design feature of this type of work is a large number of rectangular cut-outs that are often used for air vents or grills. This feature is perfect for Falcon’s Bystronic Fibre Laser ‘Scan Cut’ feature, which can cut steel parts much faster than the normal pierce cut > outline cut method used most of the time. Many of Falcons customers benefit from the reduced laser time on their parts; see the video below for a display of what scan cutting can do (seconds 0>20).

Scan Cut Example

To use this feature, parts must be made from mild steel or stainless, and must be no thicker than 1.5mm.

5) Take advantage of our In-house CNC Milling

Very often computer cases have a dozen sheet metal components, yet customers commonly only interact with the front panel. Make your products stand out from the competition by having your company logo engraved on the front face, or incorporate a small recess to perfectly house that custom connector. The ‘feel’ of the product is often what makes it, so make sure your product doesn’t fall short in this area.

CNC Milled Front Panel

For more on sheet metal design at Falcon, click on the link below.

Design & Reverse Engineering

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Datron M35

Falcon’s high speed 3-axis Datron M35 was first bought in 2004 and has since gone through a number of upgrades to keep pace with customer demand. The recent upgrade includes a brand new 60,000rpm 2kw digital spindle and a new water cooling system. This enables the operator to remove more material per cut, decreasing machining time and cost to the customer. The new water cooling system keeps the spindle from overheating, improving accuracy and reducing maintenance downtime.

The Datron M35 is perfect for sheet metal machining, allowing customers to mill pockets, chamfer edges or engrave text onto thin sheet metal. The high speed of the spindle means the cutter leaves a high quality surface finish, making it ideal for engraving front panels, modifying plastic enclosures or machining bespoke heat sinks.

Dugard Eagle 760

The Dugard Eagle 760 is our heavier duty 3-axis mill. Designed for taking heavier cuts, it is used for machining small to medium sized aluminium and steel billets. We manufacture high quality custom enclosures, precision brackets, large heat sinks and can modify cast boxes.

By having on site CNC machining capabilities, Falcon can react to orders fast as a one-stop service for customers. This means we can modify sheet metal parts without having to fit in with a sub-contractors work schedule. Other customers benefit from us making sure that their sheet metal lid fits perfectly with their machined enclosure. Falcon have been manufacturing sheet metal components for 30 years and have been CNC machining for 15 years. Few companies on the south coast can boast this level of experience and expertise. And with our customers returning year after year, we may see further investment in this area soon.

Get in contact with us using the button below to see why our customers return year after year.

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