Shaping the future
By Dennis Sumner, managing director, Force 8
Arched and round frames are an anomaly for the average fabricator and are typically subcontracted out to specialist profile bending companies such as Force 8.
We have 30 years of experience, there is very little we cannot cope with when it comes to profile bending and we pride ourselves on the quality of our processes.
Traditionally, curved profile is produced in sections using a hot air system and then welded together, but this creates weak spots throughout the profile. At Force 8, we fabricate a single length of profile on full arched frames – using a hot oil system, where the full length of profile can be heated evenly so there are no breaks or welds – before being shaped on formers
We’re able to do this thanks to a substantial investment in equipment as the system and formers used are significantly more expensive and require their own factory unit. Force 8 also uses the hot air system but only when shorter lengths of profile are used, such as small round windows.
Having a single length of profile is not only aesthetically better, but with no welds or breaks it is also stronger. This really matters when you are bending foiled or woodgrain effect profile, as the last thing you want to see on a woodgrain effect arched sash window is an ugly welded joint, as they cannot be disguised.
This is extremely important when the project is a refurbishment of a period property, and you are replacing original timber sash frames.
Our processes have evolved continually over 30 years, everything is now streamlined and computerised, which allows us to take on complex, special shape frames and the ability to supply arched frames, nationwide, within 48 hours.
The seamless bending process used to be very time consuming, requiring hardboard or MDF jigs as the template for the curve, and while we still get the odd hardboard template, the investment we’ve made in machinery and software means our processes are so accurate that the profile can be cut at the same time as the bending process is taking place – effectively halving the production time.
Our experience and technical expertise allow us able to take on complex projects that other companies will not even attempt.
Another recent innovation within Force 8 is our Employee-Owned Trust (EOT). After receiving many attractive offers to buy the company, I decided that the EOT was the best way forward for Force 8.
Some of our staff, from shopfloor to office, have been with us for over 20 years and I wanted to make sure that the future of the company was secure – and most of all that the staff felt secure. Buy-outs and take-overs, although very generous, did not offer the security I was looking for and I wanted to make sure that the workforce was looked after, as they are the main asset for the company and their skills and knowledge of profile bending are invaluable.
An Employee-Owned company is one where over 51% of the shares are held in a trust for the benefit of all employees. The trust, which oversees the management of the company, includes shop floor representative and one non-working independent person.
Curved frames represent a small but lucrative area of the market, and installation companies are missing out if their fabricator does not have the resources to manufacture them.
If your present supplier is not equipped for arched or special shapes, Force 8 would welcome any design challenges from installers, not forgetting that they can also supply arched, or part arched composite doors to complete the project.
