Capabilities
What we can and cannot do
Most suppliers publish only what flatters them. These are the numbers our tooling actually holds — the same ones our pattern designer checks your drawing against before you send it.
The limits
Hard numbers
Four of these catch most drawings: the punching ceiling, the hole-to-thickness rule, the minimum web, and the sheet size.
- Maximum punching thicknessAbove this we move to laser cutting
- 12 mm
- Maximum laser thicknessFibre laser, any drawing
- 14 mm
- Minimum hole diameterA 6 mm plate takes a 6 mm hole, not smaller
- = sheet thickness
- Finest perforationOn correspondingly thin sheet; specialist tooling
- 0.5 mm
- Maximum sheet sizeWidth × length
- 2200 × 4000 mm
- Expanded metal thicknessDiamond, square, hexagonal, grating, half round
- 6 mm
- Expanded standard widthsCustom lengths and coil form available
- 900 / 1250 / 1500 mm
- Minimum web (ligament)Below this the tooling breaks
- 0.7 × thickness
The minimum web figure is an industry default and is being confirmed against this plant’s own tooling — treat it as indicative until then.
Processes
How the work actually gets done
Perforation is one step. Most jobs also need cutting, forming and levelling — all of which happen in the same three bays, which is why lead times stay short.
CNC perforation
Programmed hole patterns across the sheet. The main process for facade, screen and filter work.
CNC turret punching
Any hole shape from the tool library — round, square, hex, slot, oblong, capsule, dimple.
Fibre laser cutting
Cuts to any drawing up to 14 mm. Often combined with turret punching to save cost on mixed work.
Coil-to-coil perforation
Continuous perforation of coil, rewound as coil or cut to pieces.
Expanded metal
Slit and stretched rather than punched, so no scrap is generated.
Shearing & bending
In-house, so panels arrive cut and formed rather than flat.
Precision levelling
Bow and warpage control. A specialisation of this plant — high open-area sheets bow during perforation.
Die & tool development
R&D team develops tooling for jobs that have none. Slower and costlier, but it is why one-offs are possible.
Hole patterns
The standard pattern library
Every one of these can be adjusted for hole size, pitch and open area. Anything outside the library is a tooling question — send the drawing and we will answer it.
Standard round
60° staggered
Straight line round
Rectangular pitch
Optional round
45° staggered
Square
Staggered
Straight line square
Rectangular pitch
Hexagonal
60° staggered
Ornamental
Decorative
Side staggered slots
Staggered
Straight line rectangular
Rectangular pitch
End staggered slots
Staggered
Questions about the limits
- Why must the hole be at least as large as the sheet thickness?
- Because the punch has to survive. A punch narrower than the material it is driven through takes a bending load it was not designed for and snaps. The rule is industry-standard for cold punching, and it is the single most common reason a drawing has to be revised.
- What happens when my design exceeds 12 mm?
- We move it to the fibre laser, which handles up to 14 mm. Laser cutting is slower per hole than punching, so it costs more on a dense pattern — we will say so when quoting rather than surprising you with it.
- Why does a high open area cause bow?
- Perforation puts the sheet into tension unevenly. The more metal you remove, the less there is to resist that, so the sheet curls. Above roughly 60% open area it is common. We level in-house, which is why we can take work others turn down — but mention it on the enquiry so we schedule the levelling.
- Can you work to a drawing tolerance?
- Tell us the tolerance the drawing calls for and we will confirm whether we can hold it before quoting. CNC perforation holds position well across a run; what varies is edge condition and flatness, which is where the levelling matters.