A to Z of Laser Cutting
There are quite a few technical terms specific to the laser cutting process, here are a few of them defined and a few little insights into our company too.
A to Z of Laser Cutting
There are quite a few technical terms specific to the laser cutting process, here are a few of them defined and a few little insights into our company too.
A
Automation – our equipment provides a degree of automation that enables production to run 24 hours a day.
Ablation – laser ablation is the removal of material by melting and vaporising it during the laser cutting process.
B
Beam divergence – this is a measure of how much the laser cutting beam spreads out. It is usually measured in milliradians, a unit for angular measurement.
Best price all year round! – you won’t find us doing seasonal sales and promotions because we strive to provide the best possible price every day.
C
CAD – it all starts with a CAD drawing. We can draw simple parts to order, but it is quicker and easier if you are able to provide us with drawings in either DWG, DXF or NC format.
Cutting Gas – the laser cutting process often uses a gas or combination of gasses to enable or improve cutting depending on the material being cut. We laser cut most materials with nitrogen, but use oxygen to cut 10-25mm mild steel.
D
Delivery Network – we use a range of delivery services according to what suits the order and client best. Factors affecting this include size, weight and location.
Dross – laser cutting can produce residue on the bottom of the cut, formed by melted material solidifying as it cools. Some materials, such as poor quality or rusty steel, are more prone to this. Dross formation can be reduced by pulsed fibre laser cutting or an increased oxygen supply as well as good machine maintenance.
E
Emails – how to send us your order! We only provide prices and process orders sent to us by email. This gives us a traceable communication trail for the whole order process.
Edge Quality – fibre laser cuts result in excellent edge quality with a virtually zero edge factor, the amount of deformation as a result of the cutting process.
F
Fibre Laser – there are two main types of commercial laser cutting machine, fibre and CO2, we have been using fibre laser cutting machines since 2013. You can read more about the differences between CO2 and fibre laser cutting in this article. https://lasered.co.uk/news/what-are-differences-between-co2-and-fibre-laser-cutting/
Focal Point – the distance between the lens that focuses the laser beam and the position where the beam has its smallest diameter. It is where the beam has its highest concentration of energy.
G
Green energy supplier – 100% of the energy powering both our production and sales sites comes from renewable sources via Pozitive Energy who we have used since 2018.
As well as using green energy, we also supply laser cut components to the renewables sector.
H
Happy Customers – we often get great feedback completely unprompted from our customers because the products they receive exceed expectations or our speed and service has helped them to secure an important project. And they keep coming back, which is the best endorsement possible.
Health and Safety – protecting our team is key. Factory settings are full of health and safety challenges, but with good, sensible working practices, the correct equipment and training, we pride ourselves on maintaining a safe and healthy working environment.
Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) – this is the area affected by heat conducted into the material during the cutting process. Material properties and microstructure can be affected, these effects can include localised colour changes and hardening.
I
Investment – we constantly reinvest in technology and machinery so that our team can provide you with the best products at the best price, quickly and efficiently
J
Jet of Gas – this is used to reduce oxidisation and contamination on the cut edge of the metal components, it also blows away waste materials during cutting. We use nitrogen, but this could be one of several inert gases and is known as an ‘assist gas.’
K
Keen Sales Team – we pick people people, the ones who want to please our customers and reap the rewards of great service. They’re your first point of contact for placing an order with us and first impressions count.
Kerf – the width of the cut, or how much material is removed by the cutting process. This varies based on many factors, including the laser setup, the material being cut and the thickness of the material being cut. This is automatically factored in when programming your parts so you get your desired final measurements.
L
Laser – is an acronym, it stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
Lead times – always subject to change, but we will be honest with you about these from the outset and strive to better them whenever possible.
Loyalty – our customers return to us time after time and we really value that. Sometimes they dabble with other suppliers but they usually come back and all will be forgiven!
Lead-in – a lead-in is essential to the laser cutting process, it keeps the pierce away from the part and ensures 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.
M
Materials – we stock and supply 200 different grades, finishes and thicknesses, with a further 34 we can order in to supply and laser cut.
MRP – the system we use to order and track materials. MRP stands for Material Requirements Planning and allows us to give as much information as possible to our customers about their order.
N
Nozzle Alignment – the condition of the nozzle is important to cut quality and precision, our machines have an automated smart nozzle system. This scans each nozzle regularly with a 3D imaging scanner to assess the quality of the nozzle and change it if required to maintain the best cut quality.
O
Operatives – the team on the factory floor who do the physically demanding job of ensuring that the drawings in the system turn into the correct products to be sent to you.
P
Production – the production office is a busy place, materials are ordered, deliveries are arranged, jobs are assigned to machines and any technical issues are ironed out.
Pulsed Laser – a laser which cuts using short bursts of laser energy, rather than a continuous wave. These technique is used to produce a reduced burr on the edges of materials that are more difficult to cut.
Planning – we use a digital planning system for every job, giving us full oversight of every part that is due, where capacity is available and always us to move work between machines to ensure orders are dispatched on time.
Q
Quotes – our sales team aim to return quotes sent during working hours within an hour, otherwise it will be returned the next working day. Our quotes are straightforward with no hidden charges.
R
Reflective Materials – fibre lasers can cut reflective materials, they don’t use mirrors or lenses, so the reflective surface from metals such as aluminium, copper and brass don’t cause the problems that they can cause CO2 laser cutting machines.
S
Steel – 73% of the parts we laser cut are either stainless or mild steel and a further 19% are galvanised or Zintec. If we work it out by weight, steel still comes out on top at 89%, with a further 8% cut from galvanised or Zintec.
Skeletons – this is what we call what is left of a sheet of metal after we have cut them and separated parts out the parts we require. Skeletons are saved and recycled.
T
Tolerance – this is the allowable amount of variation in the dimensions of part. One of the main advantages of laser cutting is the accuracy, our laser cutting tolerances are +/-0.25mm. For 35mm and 40mm mild steel, our tolerances are + / -0.50mm, this is in line with ISO guidelines.
Traceability – We offer full traceability for all our components from source to delivery. Mill Certificates are available for; S275, S355, all aluminium and all stainless steel. Find out more on our traceability page: https://lasered.co.uk/technical-information/traceability/
Trumpf – we run four Trumpf 5030 8KW machines, a PalletMaster Tower and LiftMaster Compact and our team are in constant communication with Trumpf for training and personal development.
U
Uniformity – Laser cutting is brilliant for producing lots and lots of identical parts. It’s an excellent process for high-volume production find out more here: https://lasered.co.uk/news/high-volume-laser-cutting/
V
Vetting – all orders added to our system are checked by our auditing team before they are sent to production in order to identify and query any discrepancies if required.
W
Website – our shop window, built to be a resource to our customers and to enable them to put together an enquiry and place an order as easily as possible.
X
eXperience – sorry, had to cheat a bit there. We’ve been laser cutting metal since 1998, with several team members boasting 10 years or more with us.
Y
Yard – the yard outside the factory is a busy place, collections and deliveries come and go all day when the factory is operating with an average of 20,000 parts dispatched every day.
Z
Zero Metal Waste – 100% of the scrap metal from our laser cutting process is recycled, this has the dual benefits of lessening our environmental impact and keeping our material costs down, more savings to pass on to our customers.
We aim to answer quotes sent the same working day. Outside these hours we will respond the next working morning.
We accept DXF, DWG and NC files, please send information about which material, thickness and quantities you require.
