UFO Engineering Services
Specialists in precision contract engineering for almost any industry
UFO Engineering is a contract precision engineering manufacturer. The company is part of UFO and has many years of experience in CAD/CAM manufacture of components for lighting systems.
The company was created to satisfy the demand for precision hand and CNC machining of small to medium sized metal parts typically used in the lighting industry, but we can serve the engineering needs of many industry sectors.
We specialise in small, medium or large volumes of components in aluminum, stainless steel and brass and can offer finishing to your specification.
Currently home to over £2.5 million of CAD/CAM and CNC milling and turning technology, an ongoing program of investment in state of the art manufacturing technology ensures that we have the capability to exceed the most stringent quality requirements.
CNC Production
CNC production is the quickest, most accurate and most cost-effective method of producing medium to large batches of identical parts.
Overview
Our design and manufacturing engineers use computer aided design and manufacturing software for rapid design and setting up of production jobs.
Using an efficient workflow for design and to programme work through production allows us to offer a competitive cost and turnaround on your products while maintaining revision accuracy and quality.
Drawing Submittal
For design or production drawings we can accept CAD drawing files in AutoCAD (dwg or dxf) or models in a range of 3D formats. These can be submitted to us either by e-mail or on disc.
PDFs with comments are also welcome. Our engineers will be happy to offer advice at the design stage to assist in achieving the most cost effective solution from a manufacturing perspective.
CNC Turning & Milling
Our CNC turning capabilities are second to none due to the large investment we have made in CNC machine tools and CAM software.
Overview
On our Swiss type CNC automatics we can manufacture straight turned components or more intricate geometrical shapes by utilising driven tooling integral to the lathe.
Due to the nature of these machines they can rapidly turn, mill, drill, tap and bore a component from both sides, negating the use of a second operation machining or set up.
This results in short lead times and keeps part costs down while delivering repeatable accuracy measured in micro metres rather than millimetres over the whole batch run.
Fabrication & Assembly
We have the capabilities to fabricate and assemble many items from small luminaire fittings to large decorative ceiling fixtures.
Overview
We can fabricate and assemble many items from small luminaire fittings to large decorative ceiling fixtures. Our fabrication capabilities are not limited to lighting components though.
We can make parts from small simple brackets to machine frames. Working with sheet and bar metals, tubes, boards, laminates and plastics to create your finished goods ready for packaging and sale.
Our assembly operators are used to working with small components and we have handling equipment to deal with large items up to several metres across.
For joining metals, we can TIG weld aluminum and stainless steels and MIG weld mild and stainless steels.
Silver soldering and brazing are also available as are adhesive and other joining methods. We can offer bending of small bar and tube, cleaning, polishing and powder coating and of course we are able to machine most parts required for assemblies in house to give you a complete manufacturing service.
Prototyping / Machining
Our manual machining department is used to providing quick turnaround on milled, drilled and tapped quality components.
Manual Machining
Having spent many years serving the needs of UFO by providing custom one-off and small batch production runs, our manual machining department is used to providing quick turnaround on milled, drilled and tapped quality components in a number of engineering materials.
We can produce jigs, fixtures and special purpose machines. These can speed up production and improve repeat accuracy. Linking this to our fabrication and assembly shop will make most things possible and finishing in our paint / powder coating shop can enhance the appearance of your product.
Rapid Prototyping
We offer a rapid prototyping service, where small to medium sized components can be quickly produced from ABS, in our 3D printer.
This is useful for testing purposes before going ahead with a full production run. The machine can also make small batches of production ready ABS parts which are duarable enough for end user applications.
Powdercoating
UFO Engineering can offer powder coating for a wide variety of components in a range of shapes and sizes.
Overview
UFO Engineering can offer powder coating for a wide variety of components in a variety of shapes and sizes. Our trained finishing personnel and modern spray booths ensure a first class finish every time.
We have an electrostatic corona charge system for powder coating which can give a finished thickness of 30µm to over 70µm on aluminum, stainless steel, brass or galvanised material. We can accommodate up to a maximum component size of 800mm x 800mm x 4000mm in our large oven.
Colors & Finishes
Powder coating is available in all standard RAL colors in gloss, satin or matte finishes and in epoxy for indoor use or polyester for outdoor use.
Epoxy is more resistant to chemical damage than polyester but fades more quickly outdoors.
We can advise on the correct coating to use depending on your application.
Our Plant List
UFO Engineering is home to over £2.5 million of CAD/CAM and CNC milling and turning technology. An ongoing program of investment in state of the art manufacturing technology means that we are continually acquiring new machinery to offer new and innovative manufacturing techniques.
Our complete plant list is shown in the tabs below.
CNC Machine Tools
- 2 x Star SR32J CNC Swiss Type Automatic Lathe. Maximum capacity 35mm diameter, magazine barfeeder
- 2 x Doosan Lynx 2100 LMB. Maximum capacity 52mm diameter
- 2 x Colchester Tornado A90 CNC slant bed lathe. Maximum capacity 52mm diameter, magazine barfeeder
- 2 x Colchester Tornado 220m CNC 3-Axis slant bed lathe. Maximum capacity 65mm diameter, magazine barfeeder, swarf conveyer
- 1 x Tornado T6ms CNC lathe. Maximum capacity 56mm, sub spindle
- 1 x Tornado T8msy CNC lathe. Maximum capacity 65mm, sub spindle
- 1 x Tornado T10 CNC lathe. Maximum capacity 83mm, 12 station driven tooling
- 1 x Colchester A50 CNC lathe. Maximum capacity 42mm, magazine barfeeder
- 1 x Milltronics vertical machining centre
- 1 Haas VF5 vertical machaining centre
Conventional Machine Tools
- 3 x Hardinge Super Precision tool room lathe with 8 station turret
- 1 x Colchester Master 2500 lathe
- 2 x Colchester 2000
- 3 x Pinnacle PKTM vertical milling machine
- 2 x Datamatch tapping centre M2.5 - M16
- De-greasing tanks and ultrasonic cleaning
- Aluminium cut off saws
- 3 x large capacity bandsaw (all materials)
- Vibratory finishing and polishing
Other Services
- Powder coating
- Rapid prototyping
- MIG, TIG & MMA welding
- Tube bending