6 DFM Tips for Laser Cutting
Designing your part with the laser cutting process in mind can result in improved quality, better aesthetics, reduced costs, and a faster turnaround.
Implement these Design for Manufacturing (DFM) best practices, and our Pennsylvania metal fabrication shop will deliver a top-notch manufacturing experience!
1. Create Your 2D CAD Drawing with Clear, Clean Line Work
Does your CAD program draw curves with flat segments instead of solid arcs?
During sheet metal fabrication, longer segments can get interpreted as facets instead of continuous curves. Imagine wanting a circle but receiving a hexagon. That’s an extreme example, but the point remains: longer segment lines can translate to your curved lines resembling a series of short flat sides.
Before sending us your CAD drawing, give it a once-over and confirm that your curved lines are drawn with true arcs.
Remember to connect the dots
Don’t forget to connect all the dots and outline your part’s entire geometry! Unconnected lines or open contours may result in poorly cut parts or additional drafting time.
2. Design Your Hole Diameters to be Equal to or Greater than Your Material’s Thickness
Just like with CNC forming, your part’s hole diameters must be at least equal to your material’s thickness! If your part will be made from a 3/16” (0.1875”) stainless steel sheet, the hole diameters cannot be any smaller than—you guessed it!—3/16”.
Avoid holes too close to the material edge
While we’re on the topic of holes: it’s best to avoid designing holes too close to the material’s edge. As with hole diameters, you should allow a distance equal to at least the material’s thickness between the hole and the edge. Some materials, like aluminum, require 2x that distance, if not more.
Solutions for near-edge holes
If it’s absolutely necessary for your holes to be closer to the edge than recommended, we can make that happen for you! Just know that we may need to forego laser cutting. Instead, we may incorporate a second drilling operation or send the part out for waterjet cutting.
During your design phase, go ahead and talk to our Pennsylvania metal fabrication shop. We’ll help you determine the correct measurements for your tapped holes and the ideal manufacturing processes for your part.
3. Optimize Your Design for Your Manufacturing Partner’s Capabilities
We selected our shop’s laser cutter specifically to meet the manufacturing needs of nearly 90% of our customers’ parts! Our laser cuts most materials up to ⅜” (0.375”) thick, the standard for multi-process shops like ours that also offer welding and metal fabrication services.
Because our laser cutter is built to suit a variety of material types and thicknesses, you don’t have to worry about receiving parts with a rough outer surface—an issue caused by other cutting processes. Instead, your laser-cut parts will have a smooth, clean finish. While fiber lasers do cut thinner sheets faster, C02 lasers will provide a better cut edge and will pierce and cut faster on thicker plate over ¼”. We have two options for assist gas, oxygen and nitrogen. Oxygen helps achieve a higher temperature when cutting thicker carbon steel. Nitrogen, because it is an inert gas, adds no extra heat and prevents oxidizing, which provides a smooth cut edge for stainless steel and aluminum.
Solutions for laser cutting thicker materials
If your part necessitates a sheet material thicker than ⅜”, we will employ one of our trusted vendor partners to perform the laser cutting on one of their high-wattage machines equipped specifically for thick parts. Leveraging an outside resource may increase your cost and lead time, and these rates will be reflected in your quote.
4. For Small Part Quantities, Consider Alternatives to Laser Cutting
Baillie Fab can laser cut any quantity of parts you need. But if you only need a few parts, you may want to consider a simpler, less expensive alternative process.
The real value in laser cutting is achieved in higher volume productions, so contact our team to discuss whether laser cutting makes sense for your design.
5. Finished side
You may want your parts made from #4-brushed stainless steel—a great choice! Brushed stainless sheets typically arrive with one side more aesthetically pleasing than the other, and of course, we want to cut your part with the nice side facing out.
To guarantee that the brushwork appears where you want it, simply add a callout to your finished 2D CAD drawing indicating which side of the part is the “front.” Identifying which side is “up” is also crucial for our forming department, where the team will need to know which direction to apply the bend.
Solutions for grain direction
Don’t forget to specify the grain direction on your part by adding a callout to your drawing.
Most metal sheets are 4’x10’ with lengthwise grain. You’ll get more parts per sheet if you orient the grain along the longest section of your design.
6. Design within the Dimensions of Your Sheet Material
For instant cost and time savings on sheet metal fabrication services, design your part with your material’s size in mind—including a border!
While it sounds logical that two 4’x4’ parts should fit on a 4’x8’ sheet, the laser cutter actually requires a border of up to 0.5” around every part. (We can tell you definitively how large the border should be depending on your material, the part, and its processes.)
We always strive to get as many parts as possible from a single sheet, and you can help us make the most of your material by designing parts for maximum space efficiency. The more parts we can fit on a single sheet, the more money you’ll save!
If we can only cut a single part from a sheet, however, you may wind up paying for quite a bit of material that goes to waste. Help us help you avoid that unnecessary expense.
Get Expert, In-House Laser Cutting from Baillie Fab
Not all Pennsylvania metal fabrication shops have a laser cutter, but here at Baillie Fab, we aim to offer as many in-house processes as possible so you can benefit from lower prices, shorter lead times, and optimized quality control.
Before designing your next part for laser cutting, connect with our team, and we’ll provide the insights you need to develop a smart design and get superior parts.
