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

The post Sheet Metal Design appeared first on Falcon Precision Sheet metal work & Machining in Hampshire.

Falcon currently offer 3 work-shifts to our production employees, a day shift, a night shift and an early shift to cover the early hours of the morning. The night shift is set up to run the ‘key’ manufacturing cells like the fibre laser, CNC punch and CNC folding. Their work brief is to target the long running, larger orders where the production workflow has been tried and tested. This allows the early shift and the day shift to concentrate on the new jobs or rush jobs to hit a customers deadline. This system has proven a hit with many of our customers, but equally importantly it also benefits our staff who can work on a shift pattern that suits their lifestyle.

Bystronic Laser

Fast reaction times

24 hour production allows Falcon to react quickly to customers needs. Our current lead time is just 4 weeks, however we regularly hit tighter deadlines when it is required. It allows us to design a part for a customer during the day, then have a prototype or pre-production worked on over night ready for inspection or testing at the earliest opportunity.

To see how Hampshire’s leading sheet metal manufacturing company can help your requirements, click the link below to contact us directly.

The post 24 Hour Production appeared first on Falcon Precision Sheet metal work & Machining in Hampshire.

Falcon Precision have recently completed our successful transition to the new ISO 9001:2015 standards.

ISO 9001 is an internationally recognised standard that specifies requirements for a high level quality management system (QMS).

The standard is based on a number of principles applicable to any successful business such as customer focus, leadership, risk management and continual improvement. The benefits of this QMS are experienced mutually by both Falcon and it’s customers:

• Cost reductions – The methods in the ISO 9001 standard enables Falcon to streamline the sheet metal fabrication process, without affecting product or service quality, therefore reducing costs.

• Productivity improvements – By following best practice, ISO 9001 certification ensures all Falcon employees understand their roles within the organisation, reducing margin for error.

• Customer loyalty – ISO 9001 certification enables Falcon to continuously meet the needs of our customer, increasing customer satisfaction.

We are always aiming to improve all procedures and standards of our business at Falcon Precision. This ISO 9001:2015 certification will help guide decisions that will benefit ourselves as well as our large customer base.

Click here to view our ISO9001:2015 Certificate

The post Falcon Transitions to ISO9001:2015 Certification appeared first on Falcon Precision Sheet metal work & Machining in Hampshire.