Journey Of A Batch, Part 1: Laser Cutting Stainless Steel Awning Brackets
Follow a batch of LoadBear brackets from raw stainless sheet through laser cutting — the first step in turning bar stock into precision-engineered awning hardware.
It’s the start of June and a fresh batch of gutter brackets, spreaders and sign brackets is moving through our Birmingham facility. We’re following it from raw stainless sheet to finished part, one operation at a time.
It’s the beginning of June and we’re currently laser cutting another batch of gutter brackets, spreaders and sign brackets. Every part is cut from premium stainless steel and processed entirely through our facility in Birmingham, UK.
The first operation on the shop floor is our 3 kW fibre laser. From there each component travels through the factory for bending and forming, saw cutting, stud inserts, welding and finishing. Over the coming weeks we’re going to share that journey, one blog at a time.
Operation one: the laser
Our 3 kW laser slices through stainless steel effortlessly. As each component drops out of the nest it’s stacked alongside its siblings, ready for the next operation. The stacks below are the result of a single morning’s cutting: bracket bodies, gussets, spreader plates and small detail parts all ready to head to the press brake.
The 3 kW fibre laser slicing through stainless steel on the shop floor.
Components freshly cut on the 3 kW laser, stacked and ready for bending.
Sorted on the bench beside the press brake, the next stop on the journey.
Why stainless, and why in-house?
Cutting in-house means we control quality from the very first operation. Premium stainless gives us the corrosion resistance and structural integrity our brackets are known for, and keeping the whole process under one roof in Birmingham means every part is traceable from sheet to shipped order.
Next in the series: the press brake. We’ll follow the same batch as flat blanks become folded, formed brackets.