The Advantages of Laser Cutting
Laser cutting machines are incredibly powerful tools for quickly cutting holes into sheet metal plates. Some of the key advantages of laser cutting machines are:
- Stress-Free Cutting. Unlike a stamping machine or press brake, a laser cutting machine does not rely on mechanical force to penetrate metal. This eliminates many of the microscopic fractures and stress marks that might weaken a piece of sheet metal that was bent mechanically.
- Extremely Close Cutting. When making custom metal shapes from sheet metal cutouts, the fact that laser cutting is stress-free allows for metal shapes to be cut extremely close together. This allows for extreme material efficiency when creating metal cutouts—allowing more metal shapes to be created from a single metal sheet.
- Smooth Edges for Cuts. Another benefit of using lasers to cut sheet metal forms is that the laser leaves behind a smooth, shiny surface. This helps to reduce the risk of sharps or burrs being left behind on a laser-cut object.
- Reduced Tooling Wear. Because a laser cutting machine doesn’t need to make physical contact with the workpiece, there is far less wear and tear on the laser cutter than there would be on a bending machine or press brake. This helps to extend the useful life of the laser cutting machine while reducing maintenance costs (though the laser diode will still need to be serviced or replaced eventually).
- Less Need for Secondary Operations. Because the laser cutter leaves a smooth cutting edge, there’s less need for secondary operations to remove sharps and burrs. This helps to increase overall manufacturing speed so more parts can be manufactured in a day.
