We recently received an enquiry from an existing customer, who required some 1200mm dia. light shades.
Having manufactured a wide range of different styles of spinning’s for some renowned companies in the lighting industry, this enquiry was something we could produce to the meet the aesthetic standards required for the end user.
The lightshades had to be as light weight as possible, to allow for an additional finish to be applied by the customer once the spinning process was complete.
Due to the gradual profile of the spinning, the most suitable approach to manufacturing this part was to use our semi-automatic hydraulic spinning lathe.
Step 1 – Guillotine / Circle Shear / Centre. Hole
The first stage of the manufacturing process was to cut a sheet of 2.0mm aluminium into a 1500mm x 1500mm square.
To create the circular 1300 dia. blank, the square of material is centred on the circle shear, which then cuts the material to create a 1300mm dia. blank.
During the circle shearing, this will create a slight dimple in the centre of the material that is then drilled to make an 8mm ctr. hole.
This ctr, hole is used to locate the blank centrally onto the tooling prior to spinning.
Step 2 – Spinning
To achieve the profile of the light shade, we opted to perform the spinning operation on the hydraulic spinning lathe.
This spinning lathe works by applying pressure to the material against the tooling using rollers.
The rollers are controlled by the machine operator, who will gradually apply pressure through the hydraulic roller.
An advantage of using a hydraulic spinning lathe is that the pressure being applied to the material is consistent.
In the video you will be able to see our expert metal spinner apply the correct amount of pressure to the material to start to form the spinning.
Get in touch today to see how we can assist you with your next project.
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