Four Cutting Edge Reasons For Manufacturers to Use Lasers
Posted on: 19 October 2020
Although laser cutters were developed from a previous technology, known as MASERs, in the middle of the twentieth century, it was not until the 1990s that they began to become mainstream in manufacturing industries. These days, laser cutting is the favoured method of cutting and shaping all sorts of material. Manufacturers can adapt it to virtually any cutting or etching process they need to carry out but this is not the only reason why it is so popular. Why is laser cutting such a useful process in industry these days?
1. No New Tooling
When you cut with a laser, there is no retooling that you have to carry out between jobs. So, imagine you want to cut a thermoplastic to a particular shape one day and then punch out blanks from a sheet of steel the next. With a conventional cutting system, you would need to alter all sorts of equipment and calibrations. With a laser cutter, on the other hand, all you have to do is provide the new cutting data to the equipment via a computer interface. Therefore, you can change jobs multiple times a day when laser cutting with no significant downtime.
2. Very Accurate Cuts
Laser cutters have been favoured in high-tech industries for decades because of their ability to work to very high tolerances. Nowadays, because the cost of the technology has dropped a great deal, all manufacturing industries take advantage of this degree of precision. Most laser cutting systems offer a tolerance that is a fraction of a millimetre.
3. High Speeds
Because there are no moving parts at the cutting edge of a laser, it can operate at high speed. In other words, you do not need to work the teeth of a saw back and forth multiple times to effect a cut. Lasers simply cut then move on to the next cut and keep going without the need for a break. This means that manufacturers can enjoy quicker turnarounds for any orders they are fulfilling.
4. Cutting Without Contact
Another big plus point about laser cutters is that the only thing that comes into contact with the workpiece during the cutting process is light. The laser does all the work so nothing else is required. In turn, this means that precious or delicate materials can be cut without having to worry about them being damaged or marked in some way during the procedure.
To learn more, reach out to a local laser cutting service.
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