Intricate designs can be cut into sheet metal using hand and home improvement tools. But it is very laborious and difficult on your hands. With a metal laser cutter, complex designs may be quickly and easily cut and carved out of metal. Best of all, you can accurately reproduce the same product over and over again. Of course, most people don’t have access to a metal laser cutter in their garage, but using a custom metal cutting service is less expensive than you may expect.
Metal is a spectacular choice of material, but the truth is that it is not easy to work with at home. It becomes complicated when you have to cut intricate designs out of sheet metal. It’s one thing to maneuver through a long straight line, and it’s another to completely cut out small, detailed, and curvy shapes and patterns.
The trick is to determine the type of tool for the job.
What Type of Sheet Metal to Use
The first step in sheet metal design is choosing the right material for your needs. You need to determine the thickness of the sheet metal, which is measured in gauges. A thinner sheet would have a greater number of thicknesses and vice versa.
Before cutting the metal, you need to bend it with a Metal Folding Press Brake. Owning or renting this tool can be quite expensive, so it is best to use a custom metal cutting service like TNN Engineering. The metal type (aluminum, copper, brass, stainless steel, mild steel) and thickness of the metal determine the type of gas and laser cutter to use.
What Type of Laser Cutter To Use?
Laser cutting is a temperature-based, non-contact manufacturing process for cutting or trimming various materials such as plastic, metal, wood, paper, glass, with a high-power laser beam. The laser beam cutting process includes beam creation, focusing, spot heating, fusing, scrap removal, and beam movement.
A metal laser cutter is a preferred tool for cutting sheet metal. A metal laser offers greater operational reliability, greater accuracy, precision, and high-quality edges. These metal laser cutters can be integrated with a profile cutter or can be operated by hand.
Machine performance is an important factor in determining whether it can cut thick metal. Therefore, before deciding on a custom metal cutting service or laser cutter, you should check the performance of this machine.
Using a low-power machine with less than 100W power will not even scratch the heavy plate. A metal laser cutter should have at least 300-350W of power. You can have a metal laser cutter at home, but a machine with high power demand can be expensive and huge. It is usually best to go to a custom metal cutting service that can do this for you.
How to Cut Intricate Designs in Metal
Now the fun part is creating the design you want on the veneer. Laser cutting uses 2D technology, and you need to use an application that supports 2D vector drawing to create your designs.
Note that the cut contours must be closed to remove the part from the sheet metal. Once you have drawn the design in the software with the proper line thickness and color, you must save it in the correct format that is acceptable for our metal laser cutting service. A custom metal cutting service, like TNN Engineering, can also help with the creation of the design.
Cutting the design on the sheet metal can be done by manually operating the laser cutter or connecting it to a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) system. A CNC laser cutting machine can read intricate designs and produce a precise cut or engrave on the sheet metal. The final product requires no further cleaning or finishing.
CNC Laser Cutting
Computer Numerical Control (CNC) laser cutting is a process for producing sheet metal that is carried out with CNC laser cutting machines. The most common type of sheet metal laser cutting is vapor deposition cutting, which involves melting the material with a laser beam and then removing the molten material with a high-pressure gas.
A flying optics laser cutter has a fixed bed for the cutting material, with the laser beam head (optics) moving over it in the X and Y directions. The moving material works similarly to standard punch presses, with the bar fixed to a position and the material moving in directions underneath. The hybrid normally moves the workpiece in one direction (X), and the head / optical beam moves in the perpendicular direction (Y).
The machining range for most CNC laser cutters is 0.3mm to 20mm for the higher power models. Accuracy is within +/- 0.10 mm and cut edges are crisp, square and free of slag. The laser cutter can cut various materials, including mild steels, stainless steel and aluminium.
Although laser cutters can create more complex shapes, they are limited in how they can shape the material. If a sheet metal construction requires the material to be reshaped, a CNC milling machine is more suitable for face milling, edge milling and contouring, bevelling and engraving.
CNC milling machines provide the technology, precision, accuracy, and a continuous flow of processes necessary for high production rates. They have the characteristics that make them quick, with little to no human error. You can save time and money, as well as reduce the danger of material waste. Its functioning does not necessitate any hassle. People with the proper qualifications, on the other hand, must be in charge to guarantee that the production runs smoothly day after day.
TNN Engineering has high level industry partnerships and access to premium CNC laser cutting equipment for creating intricate designs in sheet metal. For more information about our complete metal laser cutting service, please contact us now.
At TNN Engineering, we offer quality CNC milling services and custom metal cutting and pressing that are most efficient way to cut out metal designs, with guaranteed durability.
