The LASER CUTTING process
The metal bending process
Let’s get technical and explore the intricacies of laser cutting and the information we require to bring your project to life.
Time is critical
Many of the projects our clients send to us are time critical and our aim to respond to quotes as soon as possible, often within an hour. This is a big reason why so many customers choose Lasered Components as a supply chain partner.
By preparing your drawings for laser cutting correctly, you help to streamline your order process by cutting down questions, queries or amendments and you enable us to get your order out to you as quickly as possible.
File formats
The file formats we accept for laser cutting are DWG, DXF and NC, these are CAD files, often created in AutoCAD or a similar program.
All correctly prepared drawings should be supplied in a 2D format, whilst we are able to use drawings with bend lines or other information on the file, ideally these should be removed and cleaned up prior to sending them to us please.
Specify materials and quantities
The most important part of your order is what you are actually ordering! Please include this information clearly with or on your drawings.
Take a look at our materials pages to see what we can supply. Feel free to check out our bending operation services post laser cutting.
Etching
Etching consists of a light marking to the surface of the material without cutting through the material completely and usually is used for identification purposes only. When providing drawings which require etching, it should be no less smaller than 5mm for clarity.
We advise that etching should be at least 0.5mm from the edge of the part and it cannot be touching any other lines. If you need the etching moved, feel free to ask the team for help and please provide a detailed description of where it needs to be. Adding etching in a different colour or labelling it as “etching” helps us to quickly identify what is etching and what is a cut line.
Adding etching in a different colour or labelling it as “etching” helps us to quickly identify what is etching, and what is a cut line so the part can be processed swiftly.
Finally, etching on plastic coated materials is difficult to achieve since the coating behaves as a barrier to the laser beam taking away the detail. If you require a photo of what etching looks like on your desired material, feel free to speak to a member of the team.
Single continuous lines
Try to make the drawings of your components continuous single lines wherever possible. If parts are made up of lots and lots of tiny little lines, our lasers will treat each line as a separate cut, stopping and starting where the lines stop and start. This will result in an irregular edge and may effect the final look of the edges of your components.
Broken Lines
Broken lines on a CAD drawing mean that the part cannot be cut by our laser. This should be resolved prior to quoting. To ensure the laser understands what needs to be cut, all lines need to be continuous.
Complex drawings can take significant time to clean up during the estimating process. Therefore, it is ideal for all errors to be resolved before the drawings are submitted to us. This will streamline the process and avoid delays. We are able to address minor errors, however, if the error affects the design of the part, we will ask the customer to resolve the issue.
Lead-ins
A lead-in is essential to the laser cutting process, ensuring that the laser enters the cut line smoothly but it does result in a lead-in pip, a small bump on the outer edge of the component. We will add lead-ins for you on the drawings as part of the setting up process, so there is no need for you to add these on your drawings, unless you have a specific requirement. In these cases, this will need to be discussed with the sales team to ensure your component is as you require whilst making sure the laser cutting process goes as smoothly as possible.
dimensions
Please check every dimension on your drawing before sending them. Our Internal Auditors will spot check them to avoid any discrepancies slipping through the net. We understand the importance of accuracy the first time, so we will flag to you any amendments that need to be made for verification. Depending on the changes, this can impact your lead time if we make the amendments on your behalf.
The maximum part size we can cut from most materials is 2980mm x 1480mm, but there are some exceptions to this rule, please check the materials pages for more specific information.
Examples of lead-ins highlighted in red
Durbar / Treadplate
Please make it clear on your drawings which face should have the pattern and also whether the thickness you have requested is O/P [on the plain] (without the pattern) or Overall (including the pattern).
If this is not specified at the point of enquiry, you will be asked to confirm for your quote.
Corners
Our software will add a 0.5mm radius on all angles of your metal components on all thicknesses, this is applied to internal and external cuts. This aids the cutting process, making it faster and smoother and resulting in a neater corner with reduced burr. On most laser cut components this radius will be barely noticeable but if the pieces you require have very acute inner angles, you might lose a bit of the end, and if it has an extreme reflex angle you might gain a bit of material on the inner edge.
Scale
Please ensure that your drawings are to scale, 1:1. If you’re unable to scale your drawing, please do inform us so we can assist you in scaling it, otherwise your part may be produced smaller or larger than intended.
Tolerances
One of the main advantages of laser cutting is the accuracy, our laser cutting tolerances are +/-0.25mm. For 35mm and 40mm, our tolerances are + / -0.50mm, this is in line with ISO guidelines.
Depending on the final requirements of your product, you may need to apply some edge finishing to your components, so please make allowance for this if it is required.
Any other problems…
Our Internal Auditors check every part on every drawing before sending them to production, if anything appears to be incomplete or does not look correct we will contact you to check it. This might include conflicting information between files and emails to ensuring the correct version / rev of drawing is used.
