What Is Laser Cutting?

Laser cutting is a high precision CNC thermal process that uses a high-powered laser beam to cut, melt, or burn a material sheet. It cuts and etchs material with a focused beam of light. It can produce complicated parts without a custom-designed tool for metals, wood, and plastics.

High repeatability makes the process suited for one-offs and low- to medium-volume production. Metal production uses laser cutting extensively (steel, brass, aluminum).

Types of Laser Cutter

C02 lasers

The most common laser cutter type because of their relatively high energy efficiency and high power output ratio. Best suited for cutting, boring, and engraving.

Nd lasers

Have a high energy, but low repetition efficiency.

Nd:Yag lasers

Higher powered for cutting thick materials but more expensive to operate.

Both Nd/Nd:Yag lasers are used for boring, engraving and welding.

Crystal laser cutters

Higher concentration machine parts wear faster than gas cutters and are more expensive to run.

Tolerances

· Down to +/- .005

Advantages of laser cutting

● Extremely accurate
● Produces clean, smooth edges
● No material warping
● No tooling required
● Rapid turnaround

What Materials Can We Cut?

DS focus on metal cutting. See the list below for our metal cutting capabilities.

Mild steel up to 1 inch

Stainless steel up to 1.2 inches

Coated steel up to 0.2 inches

Aluminium up to 1.2 inches

Copper alloys up to 0.56inches

Applications For Laser Manufacturing

· Automotive

· Electronic

· Medical

· Aerospace