Ross Howard

Laser Cutting Costs Explained

Unlike punching or milling, traditional tooling is not required for laser cutting. Laser cutting is a process that requires limited set up costs. Depending on volumes this often makes it cheaper compared to competing processes such as stamping or chemical etching.

Laser cutting parts is a cost-effective way to prove a concept, follow an R&D process and develop solutions. From here, you can transition to pre-production and low to medium volume runs.

The costs for laser cutting can vary depending on several factors, including the type of material being cut, the thickness of the material, the complexity of the design, the size of the production run, and the specific laser cutting technology used. Whilst laser cutting is cost effective for R&D and low to medium volume projects, for large volumes Datum leverages the expertise of our long-established stamping partners.

Here’s a breakdown of the primary costs associated with laser cutting:

Machine Costs

• Design and Programming: Preparing the design file for the laser cutter, which involves creating or modifying CAD or DXF files.
• Setup and Calibration: Setting up the laser cutter for the specific job, which includes aligning the laser, adjusting settings, and performing test cuts.

The intricacy of a product’s design can impact the machine set up costs. More complex designs can sometime require more prototyping as well as more specialised and precise processes. Both of these factors can effect production expenses, but they are sometimes worth it if it ultimately means being able to produce more parts during production in a time efficient manner.

Material Costs

• Raw Material: The cost of the material (Stainless Steel, Aluminium, Alloy 42, Nickel, Nickel Alloys and Nickel-coated steel) can vary.
• Material Utilisation: Efficient use of material can reduce waste and lower costs. This is often optimised through nesting software.

Cutting Costs

• Machine Time: Laser cutting services often charge based on the machine’s run time, which can vary depending on the material, thickness & design.
• Cutting Speed: Cutting speed is effected by the time required for the laser beam to penetrate the material. Thicker and harder materials take longer to cut, increasing the overall cost.
• Design Complexity: Complex designs with intricate detail and intricate features can mean that the laser has to brake repeatedly and only reaches its maximum speed over a small part of the travel path.

Post-Processing

• Finishing: This can include cleaning, deburring, bending, folding, crimping and marking, which can add to the cost.

Customisation

• Specialist Finishes: We provide optional finishes including coating, painting, tempering or hardening.

Customised finishes incur higher costs, however, they are a worthwhile and sometimes necessary investment, depending on the type of product you intend to make and ultimately sell.

Economies Of Scale

• Batch Size: Larger production runs will reduce the cost per-unit due to the spread of setup and programming costs over a greater number of pieces. For large volume runs we will calculate the most cost-effective solution for our client and may utilise the expertise of our well-established stamping partners.
• Repeat Jobs: Repeat orders typically have lower setup costs as the design and programming work has already been completed.

Our focus is on delivering high-quality parts to our customers on time. Set up costs are essential for this but should only be seen as part of the production process. We have engineered our offer to minimise tooling costs and investment, ensuring our focus remains on the items and deliverables that our customers want.