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Home > Metal & laser cutting tips > Laser cutting vs. metal stamping
Standard metal cutting processes: laser cutting vs. metal stamping
Laser manufacturing activities currently include cutting, welding,
heat treating, cladding, vapor deposition, engraving, scribing,
trimming, annealing, and shock hardening. Laser manufacturing
processes compete both technically and economically with conventional
and nonconventional manufacturing processes such as mechanical
and thermal machining, arc welding, electrochemical, and electric
discharge machining (EDM), abrasive water
jet cutting, plasma cutting,
and flame cutting.
Metal stamping is a forming process that presses a metal
blank with a powerful die into a predetermined desired shape
(or pattern). The metal formed must be ductile (malleable) enough
to bend into shape without breaking. Deep drawn metal stamping
draws the metal shape through progressive passes through the
stamping die to produce long narrow final metal stampings.
The table that follows contains a comparison of metal cutting
using the CO2 laser cutting process and metal stamping
process in industrial material processing.
Fundamental process differences
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Method of imparting energy
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Light 10.6 µm (far infrared range)
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Punch and die
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Source of energy
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Gas laser
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AC motor
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How energy is transmitted
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Beam guided by mirrors (flying optics); fiber-transmission
not
feasible for CO2 laser
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Flywheel
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How cut material is expelled
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Gas jet, plus additional gas expels material
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Punch through die
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Distance between nozzle and material and maximum permissable
tolerance
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Approximately 0.2" ± 0.004", distance sensor,
regulation and Z-axis necessary
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0.020" to 0.300" depending on the material thickness
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Physical machine set-up
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Laser source always located inside machine
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Need to set up required punch and die
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Range of table sizes
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8' x 4' to 20' x 6.5'
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Not applicable to this process
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Typical beam output at the workpiece
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1500 to 2600 Watts
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Not applicable to this process
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Typical process applications and
uses
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Typical process uses
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Cutting, drilling, engraving, ablation, structuring,
welding
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Punching
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3D material cutting
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Difficult due to rigid beam guidance and the regulation
of distance
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Not applicable to this process
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Materials able to be cut by the process
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All metals (excluding highly reflective metals), all
plastics, glass, and wood can be cut
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All metals can be stamped depending on the machinery
and press tonnage
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Material combinations
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Materials with different melting points can barely
be cut
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Not recommended
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Sandwich structures with cavities
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This is not possible with a CO2 laser
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Not possible for this process
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Cutting materials with liminted or impaired access
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Rarely possible due to small distance and the large
laser cutting head
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Not possible
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Properties of the cut material which influence processing
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Absorption characteristics of material at 10.6 µm
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Material hardness is a key factor
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Material thickness at which cutting or processing is
economical
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~0.12" to 0.4" depending on material
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0.010" to 0.187"
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Common applications for this process
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Cutting of flat sheet steel of medium thickness for
sheet metal processing
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Punching of flat sheet of lesser thickness and drawing
applications
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Initial investment and average operating
costs
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Initial capital investment required
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$300,000 with a 20 kW pump, and a 6.5' x 4'
table
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$50,000 to $300,000
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Parts that will wear out
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Protective glass, gas
nozzles, plus both dust and the particle filters
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Punch and die wear plus the need for regular sharpening
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Average energy consumption of complete cutting system
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Assume a 1500 Watt CO2 laser:
Electrical power use:
24-40 kW
Laser gas (CO2, N2, He):
2-16 l/h
Cutting gas (O2, N2):
500-2000 l/h
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10 hp motor
Electrical power use:
9 kW
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Precision of process
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Minimum size of the cutting slit
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0.006", depending on cutting speed
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0.002"
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Cut surface appearance
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Cut surface will show a striated structure
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The cut surface will show a sheared edge
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Degree of cut edges to completely parallel
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Good; occasionally will demonstrate conical edges
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Good
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Processing tolerance
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Approximately 0.002"
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Approximately 0.002"
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Degree of burring on the cut
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Only partial burring occurs
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Only partial burring occurs
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Thermal stress of material
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Deformation, tempering and structural changes may occur
in the material
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Deformation on thinner materials
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Forces acting on material in direction of gas or water
jet during processing
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Gas pressure poses
problems with thin
workpieces, distance
cannot be maintained
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Not applicable to this process
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Safety considerations and operating environment
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Personal safety
equipment requirements
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Laser protection safety glasses are not absolutely
necessary
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Protective glasses and ear protection near presses
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Production of smoke and dust during processing
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Does occur; plastics and some metal alloys may produce
toxic gases
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Occurs, due to continuous stamping motion creating
dust
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Noise pollution and danger
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Very low
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Very high
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Machine cleaning requirements due to process mess
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Low clean up
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Low clean up
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Cutting waste produced by the process
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Cutting waste is mainly in the form of dust requiring
vacuum extraction and filtering
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Large amounts of metal cutting waste result from stamping
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Other metal cutting processes
If you would like more information about our laser cutting
services, please use our contact
form or email us at info@teskolaser.com.
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