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In general lasers can cut several types of plastic, wood material, etc., in addition to metals, with some special modifications. But since water jet is a more suitable means for cutting most of these materials, our workstation specializes in the cutting of metals: - Structural steel with a thickness up to approx. 15 mm (for use in cutting special sheet metals optimally modified for laser cutting - e.g., Raex, SAEY-LaserFORM, Domex, etc., up to a thickness of 20 mm)
- Stainless steel up to a thickness of 10 mm (for cutting simpler shapes up to 15 mm)
- Aluminium and Al alloys up to a thickness of 3 mm (burrs occur for most ranges of thickness and it is better to cut with water)
- Brass up to the widht approx. 3 mm
- Perforated metal sheets
Examples of common laser slops Laser cutting is very sensitive to the quality of the material, especially for structural steels:
Laser cutting on low-quality sheet metal | |
- Chemical composition - a higher content of Si is very harmful
- Means of production - for hot or cold rolling
- Homogeneity - non-homogeneity in the composition or defects in the material - hard patches, cavities, etc., make the cut difficult or impossible
- Surface - rust, major scale after rolling, labels with markings, description of paint coating, etc., considerably complicates the cut or makes it impossible
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The best in this case is to use sheet metal already specially modified by the manufacturer for laser cutting (for examples, see above), where the much higher price of the material is compensated by the faster and cheaper cutting process and the better quality of cut. The surface of several types of sheet metal must be ground or lubricated, etc., before cutting. For sheet metals of unclear composition or origin, we recommend performing a test cut before the actual cut. |
Comparing the quality of a laser cut for specially modified sheet metal (Raex - upper sample) and common steels of 15 mm thickness | |
To use or not use foil? Sheet metals covered with protective foil can be successfully cut if the foil is used only one-sidedly and it is designed specifically for laser cutting (most manufacturers usually offer this). It must be taken into account that the edge of the foil is slightly burned but this doesn't leave marks on the product. In case of uncertainty, again it is better to carry out a test cut of the concrete material.
The result of cutting stainless steel ground sheet metal with protective foil |
More plates on top of each other? A laser cannot cut more plates on top of one another even with low thickness. It leads to welding one piece onto another and other complications when cutting. ^ Up
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