Expertise
Laser, waterjet and plasma cutting, bending and light sheet metalwork: post your file and compare quotes from sheet metal fabricators.
Sheet metalwork turns metal sheets into functional parts: covers, frames, enclosures, brackets, furniture or signage components. It rests on two main stages, flat cutting and then forming, most often by bending, completed by assembly and finishing. A single workshop may offer the whole chain, or limit itself to cutting and leave the bending to a fellow fabricator.
When you are looking for a laser cutting quote or a sheet metal fabricator near you, one question always comes up: which process to choose? Fibre laser dominates for thin and medium sheet, plasma for thick steel at lower cost, waterjet for heat-sensitive or very thick materials. Punching keeps its place on thin sheet produced in medium volumes.
The strong point of this trade is digital preparation. From a clean DXF file, the workshop nests your parts on the sheet, programs the machine and can start cutting very quickly. The following sections review the processes, materials and price levers, then how to word a request so that quotes are comparable, from a single part to a recurring series.
Precise and fast on steel, stainless steel, aluminium, copper and brass, with little burr and nested parts to save material. Modern machines cover everything from very thin sheet up to around twenty millimetres of steel, depending on their power.
Suited to heavy steel thicknesses at low cost. Edge quality is less fine than with laser, which is fine for parts that will be welded or reworked.
Cold cutting, with no heat-affected zone, in thick metals as well as stone, glass, composites, rubber or foams. It is slower, and therefore more expensive per metre cut.
Ideal for thin sheet in volume: formed shapes, louvres, extruded tapped holes and engravings are produced in a single operation at very high speed.
CNC press brake, tooling suited to each radius, multiple bends: bending gives light sheet metal parts their rigidity, in sizes from a few centimetres to several metres.
Round, square or rectangular tubes are cut with notches, holes and tab-and-slot joints, which later simplifies welding of frames and structures.
Welding, riveting, nut insertion, fitting hinges or seals: the workshop delivers a finished assembly, ready to paint or install.
The price of sheet varies greatly with grade, thickness and surface finish. Thickness also slows down cutting, and so increases machine time per part.
The machine charges for time spent: a complex outline with many small holes costs more than a rectangle. Every hole requires a cut start.
Good placement of parts on the sheet reduces scrap. Grouping several references in the same material and thickness often improves this yield.
The number of bends, the bent length, special tooling and the angular tolerances required increase set-up time and price, particularly on small batches.
Deburring, tapping, insert fitting, welding, stainless passivation, painting or powder coating add cost items that are best quoted together.
Programming and start-up are fixed costs. A part ordered regularly lets the workshop keep the programs and tooling, and reduce the cost.
There is no best process in absolute terms, only a process suited to the material, the thickness and the finish expected. The following table gives orders of magnitude, to be confirmed with the workshop, as capabilities depend on the machines.
| Process | Usual steel thicknesses | Strengths | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fibre laser | From under 1 mm to around twenty mm | Precision, speed, fine detail, clean edges | Heavy thicknesses, non-metallic materials |
| Plasma | From a few mm up to several tens of mm | Low cost on heavy thicknesses | Coarser edge, heat-affected zone |
| Waterjet | Very wide range, up to over 100 mm depending on the material | Cold cutting, any material | Lower speed, higher cost |
Laser is the default choice for a light sheet metal part, as it combines precision and speed. The cutting gas influences the look of the edge: nitrogen gives a bright edge, ready to weld or paint, notably on stainless steel and aluminium; oxygen, used on mild steel, cuts thicker material but leaves an oxidised edge. If the look of the edge matters, say so.
For parts that will later be assembled by welding and fabrication, a plasma or laser cut in heavier thickness is often sufficient. For gaskets, stone slabs or composites, waterjet is the obvious choice. Our guide to the price of laser cutting and sheet metalwork details the impact of each choice on the quote.
A part that is well drawn flat can become impossible to bend if a few basic rules are forgotten. The first concerns the inside radius: for mild steel it is generally about the thickness of the sheet; stainless steel and especially some aluminium alloys in the hardened state require larger radii, or they will crack. A bend line perpendicular to the rolling direction of the sheet gives better results than a bend parallel to the grain.
The flange length must remain sufficient for the sheet to sit properly in the tool. Holes too close to a bend deform into ovals: allow a distance of several thicknesses, or drill after bending. Finally, springback, more pronounced on stainless steel, is compensated for by the operator; an angular tolerance of around half a degree to one degree is common.
After bending, painting or powder coating often finishes the part. Plan for hanging holes and areas to be masked, and mark them on your drawing.
The quality of a DXF file largely determines how quickly you get a quote. A clean file contains closed outlines, with no duplicates or overlapping segments, at 1:1 scale, with one layer for cutting and another for engravings or bend lines. Avoid ellipses converted into thousands of tiny segments, text that has not been converted to outlines and mixed units. Common formats are DXF and DWG for flat parts, STEP for the bent part.
Also attach a drawing or document stating the material, thickness, number of parts, critical dimensions, finish and any special requirements, such as material traceability or compliance with a standard. A photo or an example of a part already made helps the workshop understand what you expect.
Posted in a Meaflow request, your DXF is quoted by several fabricators from the same data: the difference between two offers is then explained by their processes and services, not by a different reading of the file. Questions about a bend radius or a finish are settled by messaging before you choose. To structure your request, rely on the manufacturing specification guide, and on the CNC machining page if some parts need machining rework. Is your file ready? Post your sheet metal project.
Choose the right cutting process, know the usual thicknesses, understand what drives the price of a sheet metal part and design parts that bend without extra cost.
STEP, IGES, Parasolid, DXF, STL, 3MF, dimensioned PDF, Gerber: the right file for each manufacturing process, a summary table and good practice for sending files.
What a workshop needs to know to quote and make your part: a method in a few points, a ready-to-copy template and common mistakes to avoid.
TIG, MIG, structures, tanks, metalwork
Painting, powder coating, anodising, galvanising
Milling, turning, 3- to 5-axis machining centres
Functional prototypes, pre-series, models
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The price depends on the material, thickness, cutting length, number of pierces, quantity and finishing. There is no per-kilo rate that applies to every case. On a small batch, part of the cost is fixed (programming, set-up). Getting several fabricators to quote on the same DXF file remains the most reliable method.
A DXF or DWG file at 1:1 scale, with closed outlines and no duplicates, is the standard. For a bent part, add a STEP model and specify the bend radii and angles. Always state the material, thickness and quantity. A PDF drawing is a useful complement to the file for critical dimensions.
It depends on the material and the power of the machine. Current fibre lasers routinely cut steel up to around twenty millimetres, with lower limits for stainless steel and aluminium. Beyond that, plasma or waterjet takes over. Always ask the workshop what its machine can do.
Yes, many fabricators accept single units and very small batches, especially for maintenance or prototyping. The unit price is then higher, because programming and set-up are not spread. Mention in your request that it is a one-off part, and say whether a batch could follow.
Simple cutting and bending in a common material can leave within a few days at a workshop with capacity. As soon as a particular grade has to be sourced, or the parts need welding, assembly or painting, the schedule extends to several weeks. In both cases, the workshop’s workload matters more than the cutting time itself; give your deadline in the request.
Yes, if the request is made at the quote stage. Fabricators buy their sheet from distributors who supply type 3.1 certificates, and can pass them on to you for demanding applications. This traceability has a cost, especially if a dedicated batch has to be set aside. State it in your request.
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