For Manufacturers About Subcontractors

Register NOW

Around 90 per cent of components are made in aluminium ranging from 0.9 to 6 mm thick, although mild steel and stainless steel are also regularly processed. The Baykal sits alongside two other CNC press brakes of 4m capacity, one of which is a 200-tonne Elga Synchro supplied by Press & Shear Machinery about 20 years ago.

Despite having a lower tonnage than the other press brakes on site, the Baykal is capable of bending 2m lengths of 6mm gauge mild steel and will tackle 3mm stainless over the full 3m. Batch size can vary from 1-off to several thousand, 30- to 40-off being typical. General accuracy on drawings supplied by customers is ± 1 to 2mm, although the machine is capable of holding considerably tighter tolerances if necessary.

After entering the type of material and its thickness, the component profile is created on screen by giving numerical values to a sequence of dimensions and angles, starting from one side. The relevant press brake tooling is selected from a library of alternatives and the ‘compute’ button is pressed.

The control automatically generates the bending program and advises the width of sheet that needs to be cut to produce the component, taking into account the bend allowances.  Cycle time is displayed on-screen, assisting with quotes, job allocation and managing workflow through the shop.

Established in 1970, Nicholls Fabrications started out doing a lot of work for Leeds City Council, but only fencing contracts remain. A majority of components and assemblies are currently supplied to the building and construction industry. The present Government’s programme of building new schools has increased the subcontractor’s workload in recent years, typical contracts being for the supply of aluminium components for doors and windows. Much of the company’s output is supplied ready-painted from a powder coating facility adjacent to the machine shop.