Laser Cutting with our variable-output Mazak laser is a quick and efficient method of producing parts from qty 1 to 1,000. Laser cutting metal produces an accurate part even with complex shapes. Our laser is fully automated to switch between any two materials with in our laser processing capabilities and it has full pallet shuttles. This makes it ideally suited for laser cutting prototypes and production.
Our high quality laser and nesting software insures your parts are cut accurately and efficiently with minimal material loss. Many of our nests run with over 90% material utilization and this includes the loss of material in holes as a scrap. We can easily cut and etch your steel and stainless parts in single setup.
We can laser cut mild steel to ¾” thick. The mild steel we laser cut includes but is not limited to A36, 50W, Astm 516 Gr 70, Astm 386 gr 22, astm 1008, CRS and HRPO. We stock sheet from 20ga to ¾”. We typically offer nitrogen assisted laser cutting up to 14ga but can extend this range all the way to 3/16 / 7ga laser cut steel. Typically we use an oxygen assist gas for laser cutting steel from 0.100 to ¾” and require an oxygen for all mild steel thicker than 3/16”.
Using nitrogen to laser cut steel eliminates the oxide layer that should be removed prior to powder coating or paint to avoid the edges flaking off. The majority of steel we have seen cut by other companies is cut with the use of oxygen. Our laser cut stainless and aluminum almost always uses nitrogen assist gas with a few very rare acceptations for specific process requirements.
We laser cut stainless up to 3/8” thick. Most of our stainless steel stock is 304 grade. We either stock or quickly can get any thickness from 20ga to 3/8”. The common grades of stainless 304 /316 are readily available.
We laser cut quite a lot of aluminum sheet, in fact it’s a speciality of ours. At the moment we run close to half of each week on aluminum laser cutting. We can laser cut aluminum up to ¼” thick and stock aluminum sheet from 0.06” to ¼” at all times. With our liquid nitrogen gas supply the quality of laser cut is beautiful.
Laser cutting is a viable option for galvanized steel with a modern laser such as ours the effect on the galvanized edge is not noticeable to the eye. We can laser cut galvanized steel up to 3/16” thick. Laser cutting galvanized steel is more expensive than steel both in material cost and operating cost. Generally we only recommend laser cut galvanized when no other coating will be applied and the product require “some environmental protection”, since the cut edges have no direct protection.
Typically we can cut holes as little as half of material thickness in all materials with our laser. Other factors such as distance to edge and hole density can effect this ability. We have cut holes as small 0.200 through ¾” steel but can not guaranty this result as a blanket statement.
The quality of our laser cut edges we believe to be second to none. Our highly skilled laser programmer and cnc laser operators insure you get the very best in laser cut parts.
We offer the following additional services to complement our laser cutting, forming / brake work, CNC Maching, Welding aluminum, mild steel & stainless and in house powder coat to complete your parts. Contact us today to get your laser cutting started.
