Laser-Cut Sheet Metal
Hole-to-edge distance
Ideally keep holes at least twice the sheet thickness away from any edge. Closer is possible, down to the minimums in the tables below, but a narrow web to the edge can distort.
Holes for bolts
Draw the clearance hole, not the bolt size: 5.5 mm for M5, 6.6 mm for M6, 9 mm for M8. A hole of exactly 5 mm will not take an M5 bolt, especially after painting.
Cut-out text
When text is cut through the sheet, the inner parts of letters such as O, A or B fall out. A stencil font with bridges prevents that; the configurator offers such fonts.
Consistent thickness
A part has the same thickness throughout, because it is cut from a single sheet.
Minimum sizes by material and thickness
How small a hole, how narrow a web and how close to an edge a hole can be depends on the material and thickness. Every material page has a table for it:
- Aluminium AlMg3 (EN AW-5754), 1 to 4 mm
- Steel DC01 (1.0330), 1 to 2.5 mm
- Steel S355MC (1.0976), 3 to 6 mm
- Stainless Steel 1.4301 (X5CrNi18-10), 1 to 5 mm
- High Carbon Steel C75S +QT (1.1248), 0.2 to 1 mm
The tables give what can still be cut cleanly, and the configurator checks exactly these values. The rules above are recommendations with a margin, for example for parts that will be bent later.
General file preparation
- Upload DXF or STEP (.stp / .step). With STEP, the configurator takes the largest flat face as the outline and the distance to the opposite face as the thickness, so the part has to be flat and the same thickness throughout.
- Remove construction lines, dimensions, frames and title blocks before exporting, so only the outline is in the file.
- Draw at 1:1 scale and set the unit in the file. If a DXF has no unit, we read it as millimetres.
- Only closed outlines can be cut. Close any gaps and remove duplicate lines on top of each other before exporting.
- Parts are made to ISO 2768-m. If you need tighter tolerances, ask through the quote form before ordering.
How to export the DXF correctly from Fusion 360, FreeCAD or Inkscape, and what the upload messages mean, is in the guide to preparing a DXF.
Need design feedback?
The configurator checks uploads against the minimum sizes and shows hints. For complex parts, reach out before placing your order.
Upload your design