Laser cutting is a thermal cutting process for sheets and plates: a highly concentrated laser beam melts or vaporises the material along a programmed contour, while an assist gas blows the molten metal out of the kerf. The result is a flat part with precise contours, ready to be bent or welded.
The source today is most often a fibre laser, effective on steel, stainless steel, aluminium, copper and brass. The CO2 laser is still used, notably for non-metallic materials such as wood, acrylic or cardboard. The gas plays a decisive role: oxygen speeds up cutting of steel but leaves an oxidised edge; nitrogen gives stainless steel and aluminium a clean, oxide-free edge suited to welding and painting; compressed air is an economical option. Maximum thickness depends on power: from a few millimetres on a small machine to around twenty millimetres of steel on an industrial installation, more on the most powerful. Accuracy is in the order of a tenth of a millimetre on thin sheet, with ISO 9013 describing thermal cutting quality. Nesting software lays the parts out on the sheet to limit scrap.
Needing no tooling, laser cutting suits prototypes as well as small to medium runs. It reaches its limits on very thick sections, where plasma cutting takes over, and on heat-sensitive materials, for which waterjet cutting is preferred. It often comes before bending. The guide laser, plasma or waterjet helps you choose, and the one on the price of laser cutting details the cost. See also the sheet metal and cutting capability.
In a quote request. Send a DXF or DWG at 1:1 scale, with closed contours, along with the material, grade, thickness and quantity. State whether the edge must be oxide-free (nitrogen cutting), for example before welding or powder coating, as well as the tolerances and any markings or engraving.