MANUFACTURING
All of our gates are manufactured in our Nottinghamshire workshops by our skilled artisans. Whilst every set of gates is unique and manufactured to exacting customer specifications, we follow a rigorous process to ensure that quality remains paramount and that a lifetime of service is assured. More importantly, our approach ensures that customers are engaged as part of the design and manufacturing process and that our customer service remains unequalled.
Each key step of our manufacturing process is outlined below.
DESIGN APPROVAL
Once our engagement begins, we will review the provided drawings and provide feedback / seek clarification as necessary. Once we are confident of the exact customer requirements, we will provide a comprehensive quotation and Estimated Delivery Date against the final drawings. Once approved, we will schedule manufacturing and source any necessary materials that are not in stock (e.g. custom composite or metal finishes) in readiness for manufacturing. During the manufacturing process we will provide regular clients updates and answer any questions that may arise.
FABRICATION
Fabrication begins with a comprehensive review of the client order by our skilled team. Once the specification is thoroughly understood by our team, work will commence.
Our first step is the initial cut, where the main structural elements are cut to the required dimensions. Each gate is then laid out on in our workshops and tack welded. Initial dimensions are checked and once signed off, detailed fabrication begins, including welding, tube bending and inclusion of detailed design elements to create the initial gate form.
REFINEMENT
Once the initial gates have been manufactured and thoroughly checked, they are progressed for refinement. The specific activities in this stage are dependent on the chosen material and finish, but put simply, this stage ensures that the gates are ready for polishing or paint. Typically this means cleaning welds to perfection and media blasting to create the perfect surface in readiness for paint.
Polishing
For stainless steel and aluminium gates, a comprehensive multi-stage polishing / brushing process is undertaken – by hand.. For stainless gates that require a mirror finish, high quality abrasives are used initially, then replaced with high quality polishes to create a flawless mirror finish. For brushed or satin finished gates, various grades of wire brushes are used to create a uniform lustrous surface.
powder coating
Gates that are being painted are moved to our in-house paint shop for the application of one of many hundreds of paint options. Our expert team inspect each gate prior to using a cleaning system to remove the tiniest of dust particles. They are then transferred to our paint booth where they receive a coating of the chosen paint finish before being transferred to our paint oven for curing.
Once the paint has cured, our team perform a detailed inspection before they are transferred to final assembly,
Final Assembly
Once polished or painted, gates move into final assembly. Here key items such as composite panels, hinges, locks, finials and laser cut bespoke infill panels are added.
Once each gate has received its hardware and finishing touches, it is again subjected to a detailed inspection. Only once this final inspection has been completed and signed off against the original specification will the gates received their Bennington Gates badge and be scheduled for delivery to their final destination.