CNC Laser Cutting Services

Rapid Prototyping
Sheet Metal
CNC Laser Cutting

Overview: How CNC Laser Cutting works?

The Basics Of CNC Laser Cutting

Laser cutting generates the first 2D flat of the sheet metal fabrication. Turnaround time for laser cutting is faster than punching, saving you time on shorter runs, and is more precise and consistent cut than mechanical cutting.

CNC laser cutting produces consistent clean edges to the most exacting tolerances. It is a flexible, versatile manufacturing solution for fabricating parts with complex geometries that require distortion-free finishes.

The Basics Of CNC Laser Cutting

Features of CNC Laser Cutting

Advantages

Fast and Repeatable

Quick removal of large amounts of metal material, parts ready as fast as 1 day.

Strength & Durability

High-performance plastics like PA/PC/ULTEM are ideal for applications that require resistance of certain aspects.

Accuracy

We use the most advanced industrial FDM 3D printers with tolerances of +/- 0.004” or +/- 0.002” per inch, whichever is greater.

Turnaround

FDM parts do not require tooling which reduces the manufacturing lead time from weeks to days, allowing for faster innovation and speed to market.

Geometry

With dissolvable supports(industrial-level only), interlocking and complex structures are easy to be achieved.

End Production

FDM is capable of producing end-use parts on-demand to boost your marketing by customization.

Drawbacks

Surface Quality

Extruding material layer-by-layer,the surface has layer lines and fine details cannot be realized

Scale Effect

The unit cost and lead time will not be reduced as much as casted or molded parts.

Available sheet metal fabrication processes

Our network of Manufacturing Partners gives you easy access to sheet metal fabrication capabilities to serve all your manufacturing needs.

Name	Description	Allowable sheet thickness
Laser cutting	This manufacturing process uses a high-power laser beam to cut a material sheet.	0.5-10mm
Bending	This manufacturing process uses a dies to produce a U-shape	0.5-6mm

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Tolerances for sheet metal fabrication

Feature	Tolerance
Cutting feature	±.0078"(0.2mm)
Bend angle	±1.0°
Bend to edge	+/-0.010"(0.254mm)

Available Materials for sheet metal fabrication

Our thermoplastic-like SLA materials include grades of ABS, polycarbonate and polypropylene, along with a durable nickel-coating option.

Available Finishes

Standard (As-Milled) (Ra 125μin)

The finish option with the quickest turnaround. Visible tool marks, potentially sharp edges and burrs would be removed by default. (If you need parts with sharp edges and burrs, please remark below or note on 2D drawing). Surface finish is comparable to 125 uin Ra finish.

Bead blast + Anodized color

Anodizing creates a corrosion-resistant finish. Parts can be anodized in different colors—clear, black, red, and gold are most common—and is usually associated with aluminum. And with bead blast, the part surface is left with a smooth, matte appearance.(Note: 1.There will be a certain color difference between the actual color after anodizing and the above color board. 2.Rack marks are inherent to the anodizing process. When engineering a part that will be anodized, you'd better identify where the part will be racked. Typically, the racking location is chosen to minimize the visibility of the mark after the part is assembled.)

Anodized

It creates a corrosion-resistant finish. Parts can be anodized in different colors—clear, black, red, and gold are most common—and is usually associated with aluminum.(Note: 1.There will be a certain color difference between the actual color after anodizing and the above color board. 2.Rack marks are inherent to the anodizing process. When engineering a part that will be anodized, you'd better identify where the part will be racked. Typically, the racking location is chosen to minimize the visibility of the mark after the part is assembled.)

Electrically conductive oxidation

It creates a corrosion-resistant finish, the film produced by conductive oxidation is only 0.01-0.15 micrometers, which is not very wear-resistant, but it can conduct electricity and resist atmospheric corrosion.(Note: 1.There will be a certain color difference between the actual color after anodizing and the above color board. 2.Rack marks are inherent to the anodizing process. When engineering a part that will be anodized, you'd better identify where the part will be racked. Typically, the racking location is chosen to minimize the visibility of the mark after the part is assembled.)

Black oxide

Black oxide is a conversion coating used to improve corrosion resistance and minimize light reflection.

Brushed

Brushing is a surface treatment process in which abrasive belts are used to draw traces on the surface of a material, usually for aesthetic purposes. The thickness of the abrasive belts (usually between \#80-120) affects the finish. Although suitable for a handful of metals, brushing is most commonly applied to aluminum.

Bead Blast

The part surface is left with a smooth, matte appearance.

Spray painting - Matt paint

Spray painting: Using spray guns with air pressure to disperse into uniform and fine droplets and apply the painting to the surface of the object. Application: generally used in the appearance of smart hardware, home appliances, and plastic parts.

Spray painting - High gloss paint

Powder coat - Matt

This is a process where powdered paint is sprayed onto a part that is then baked in an oven. This creates a strong, wear- and corrosion-resistant layer that is more durable than standard painting methods. A wide variety of colors are available to create the desired aesthetic.

Powder coat - High gloss

Chrome plating

Chrome plating is a technique of electroplating a thin layer of chromium onto a metal object. The after product of chrome plating is called chrome. The chromed layer can be decorative, provide corrosion resistance, ease cleaning procedures, or increase surface hardness. Sometimes, a less expensive imitator of chrome may be used for aesthetic purposes.

Galvanization

Galvanization is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged in a bath of molten hot zinc.

Nickel plating

Nickel plating is a technique of electroplating a thin layer of nickel onto a metal object. The nickel layer can be decorative, provide corrosion resistance, wear resistance, or used to build up worn or undersized parts for salvage purposes.

Silver plating

Silver plating is about the method of adding a thin layer of silver to an object.

Gold plating

Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold on the surface of glass or metal, most often copper or silver.

Tin plating

Tin plating is the process of thinly coating sheets of wrought iron or steel with tin, and the resulting product is known as tinplate. The term is also widely used for the different process of coating a metal with solder before soldering.

Vacuum plating - High gloss paint

Vacuum plating mainly includes vacuum evaporation, sputtering and ion plating. They are all used to deposit various metal and non-metal films on the surface of plastic parts through distillation or sputtering under vacuum conditions. It can get very thin surface coating. Detail sanding would proceed for these parts in order to achieve the best surface effect after plating.Features: fast speed and good adhesion.
Application: functional coatings for higher-end products, household appliances, and cosmetic packaging.

Vacuum plating - Matt paint

#1000 sanding

Sanding is the use of fine abrasive sand particles to rub the surface of the product to produce a diffuse, non-linear texture effect. Adhere different abrasive grit to the backing paper or the back of the board, and the abrasive grit can be distinguished by different granularities according to the size: the higher the particle size, the finer the abrasive grit, so the surface effect is better.

Silkscreen

Silkscreen generally refers to screen printing, which is the process of pressing ink through a stencilled mesh screen to create a printed design, graphics and text.
Kindly note that silkscreens can be made only on flat surfaces. ONLY Ai and svg formats are acceptable and meanwhile mark the dimension and placement on the 2D technical drawings.

Laser engraving

Laser engraving is the use of laser technology to engrave text and pattern on objects. The characters engraved by this technology have no nicks, the surface of the object is smooth, and the text and pattern will not wear out.
Kindly note that laser engraving can be made only on flat surfaces. ONLY Ai and svg formats are acceptable and meanwhile mark the dimension and placement on the 2D technical drawings.

Smooth machining (Ra1.6µm, 63 µin)

A finishing CNC machining operation can be applied to the part to reduce its surface roughness. The standard smoothing surface roughness (Ra) is 1.6 μm (63 μin). This can be decreased down to 0.4 μm (15.7 μin) upon request and on a case-by-case basis. Machine marks are less evident but still visible.

Chemical conversion coat (Chem film)

Non-chromic chemical conversion coating provides corrosion resistance and good conductivity properties. Adds very little thickness, about 0.00001”-0.00004”. Chem film will conform to MIL-DTL-5541, TYPE II. It contains no hexavalent chromium, a substance which became regulated under RoHS directive in Europe and so forth as an environmentally hazardous substance.

Electrophoresis

Electrophoresis is the motion of dispersed particles relative to a fluid under the influence of a spatially uniform electric field. The technique applies a negative charge so proteins move towards a positive charge. It is ultimately caused by the presence of a charged interface between the particle surface and the surrounding fluid.

Passivation

Improves corrosion resistance for 200 and 300 series and precipitation hardened corrosion-resistant steels. Thickness is negligible, about 0.0000001”. Conforms to ASTM A967, AMS-QQ-P-35, MIL-STD-171, ASTM A380, or AMS 2700.

Etching

Laser etching, also called laser engraving or laser marking, is used to create a visible mark on the surface of many substrates, including metal, plastic, stone and glass. The process involves the use of a high-heat laser to modify the surface of the substrate.Electrolytic etching has the same goal as laser etching: to create an aesthetic mark on an object. However, this type of etching can only be done on metal.The first step in chemical etching is to laminate a sheet of metal, or the substrate, with a layer of light-sensitive resist. Once the photoresist is exposed to UV light and a positive image of the product is produced, the masked sheet is exposed to an etching solution. Unmasked areas of the sheet are removed by the etchant, and the masked areas stay protected, creating a part. The photoresist is removed from the finished part, or sheet of parts.

Electropolished (Ra0.8µm, 32µin)

An electrochemical process cleans steel parts to reduce corrosion and improve appearance, by making the metal brighter. Removes about 0.0001”-0.0025” of the metal. Conforms to ASTM B912-02.

PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition)

Physical vapour deposition (PVD) is a process used to produce a metal vapour that can be deposited on electrically conductive materials as a thin, highly adhered pure metal or alloy coating. The process is carried out in a vacuum chamber at high vacuum (10–6 torr) using a cathodic arc source.

Pickling

Pickling is a metal cleaning process that uses very strong acids to clean the metal of certain types of surface conditions. These conditions include mill scale, oxides, impurities and stains. The solution of acid used when pickling is called the pickling liquor. During the process, the metal is submersed in the pickle liquor for a set amount of time and then removed.

Others

When the surface finish you need is not listed above, or you have special requirements for the surface treatment of the part, please describe it clearly below.

Dyeing

Dyeing is done in a special solution containing dyes and particular chemical material. Dye molecules are fixed to the fiber by absorption, diffusion, or bonding with temperature and time being key controlling factors. Usually the result of dyeing will have a certain color difference.