Learn The Different Processes That Take Place Leading Up To Laser Cutting

Laser cutting is one of the most sought after CNC fabrication techniques in the industry. Through laser cutting, you can achieve highly accurate and sophisticated cutting designs with ease. However, do you know just how your laser cut designs come to be or the processes that are required before you can get your amazing pieces of work? Find out below.

Step one: Discussing your cutting needs

Laser cutting begins with you having a chat with one of the fabrication technicians at a fabrication outlet. You get to sit down with them and explain what you want to be done with your materials. You can explain by mouth, you can show them a photo of the finished design that you want to achieve or you can draw them a draft image on paper (alternatively they can be the ones to do that). This step allows the technician to understand what you want and to evaluate whether it's possible to create it and how much that will cost.

Step two: Creating computer designs

For your materials to be cut using a CNC laser machine, a soft copy design must be fed into the machine. The machine then reads these designs in order to replicate them through the laser. So once your technician understands the designs you want, they will embark on creating CAD or CAM designs on the computer. Once done, the technician will confer these designs with you to confirm that it is what you want and to carry out any final touches if needed.

Step thee: Producing the initial sample

Once the computer designs are ready, the technician will prepare a sample first. This is often done for large orders. For a non-bulk order, however, the technician might go ahead to produce your finished materials at this point. Samples are important for bulk orders in order to avoid production blunders. The technician will give you a chance to inspect the sample in order to ascertain that it is the final product you want.

Step four: Making final adjustments before production

In most cases, when initial samples are produced, final alterations to the design might be made. When this happens, the technician will have to adjust their computer designs to reflect these changes. However, in the event that you are satisfied with the initial sample, this process will be skipped and final production on the CNC laser cutter will commence.

So if you're planning to seek laser cutting services, this is the full process that you should expect. Of course, most of it will be undertaken by the fabrication team. Yours will be to provide the initial designs/sketches and to approve any initial samples produced.


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