If you are looking for a method for absolutely exact sheet cutting, you should get laser-cut sheets. Laser cutting offers several advantages - however, unlike many other activities in sheet metal working, you cannot do it yourself. Anyone who wants to laser-cut sheet metal needs a large and, above all, expensive machine.
Because we use this process and can offer you laser-cut sheets, we know what matters in laser sheet processing. In this article we want to explain in plain language how a laser cut works and which advantages arise for you as a customer when you choose laser cutting by ESC Burg.
What happens when sheet metal is laser-cut
Before we go into the various processes for producing laser-cut sheets, let us first explain what exactly happens during laser cutting. A laser is used as the cutting tool, striking the metal in a focused beam at one point. The intense heat radiated by the laser melts the metal, allowing the laser to sever it.
Because lasers usually strike the metal with a width of only 0.5 mm, a very exact cut to specification is possible. To achieve the best possible result, laser-cut sheets are cut by a computer-controlled laser. This also makes it possible to choose the shape freely when laser cutting sheet metal.
Which processes are there for laser processing?
Fundamentally, a distinction is made between three different processes for laser cutting sheet metal. They are used for different sheets - no single process can be used for laser cutting aluminium or stainless steel in all material thicknesses.
Laser flame cutting
In this process for producing laser-cut sheet, pure oxygen is used as the cutting gas. Laser flame cutting is used above all for thicker sheets. Oxidation can occur at the cut edges, which may make post-processing necessary.
Laser fusion cutting
Instead of oxygen, inert gases such as nitrogen are used as the cutting gas in this laser process. The cut edges therefore remain free of oxidation. Thanks to the very high temperatures, sheets are also separated exactly and cleanly by fusion cutting.
Laser sublimation cutting
We do not use this process ourselves. It is used above all for laser cutting non-metallic materials. Nitrogen is used as the cutting gas because it prevents the laser-cut materials from igniting. The laser cut is made not by melting but by vaporisation.
Advantages of laser-cut sheets
When we cut sheets with a laser, the result is burr-free up to a certain material thickness. This means the cut edges do not need to be reworked, because they are clean immediately after the laser cut. We stock various alloys that we can cut for you with our lasers. Stainless steel 1.4301, for example, is laser-cut burr-free up to a material thickness of 10 mm. With stainless steel 1.4571, we observe increasing burr formation from 8 mm.
Laser sheet processing is faster and therefore also more cost-effective. That is why we use this cutting process whenever it makes sense and operate several laser cutting lines. The heart of our production facility is our Bystronic Fiber Laser XXL, which can laser sheets with material thicknesses from 0.5 mm up to 30.0 mm with pinpoint accuracy. With this line, we can cut sheets up to 2,500 mm wide and 6,200 mm long to your specifications.
Laser cutting online: what can you expect from us?
We are happy to put our laser line to work for you if you are interested in laser cutting by ESC Burg. We have continuously optimised our production workflows and can today complete almost every order within 48 hours. This means we need only two days from receipt of your order to dispatch of the finished product.
This is only possible because we always hold a large stock of all common stainless steel alloys - and because we can align our production line quickly and flexibly with our customers' orders. From the outset, it was important to us to have this flexibility in production so that we can also accept orders from private individuals. Our offer is by no means aimed only at key accounts wanting to order multiple identical stainless steel workpieces.
Various services around stainless steel
Our company is fully dedicated to processing stainless steel sheets. Because our customers' wishes are so varied, we have organised ourselves into three work areas, which you can use individually or in combination.
First, we have to cut a sheet in your desired size from the large sheets. For this we use, in addition to laser cutting, a plasma line and precision guillotine shears. We always select the cutting method according to what is best suited to the chosen alloy and the thickness of the sheet.
On request, we can also take on surface treatment at our plant. We have the equipment to foil-protect, blast and pickle sheets, and various grinding processes are also available.
Our customers do not always need a plain sheet - often it also needs to be bent or folded. For this we have professional machines that always guarantee an absolutely uniform result. You can choose the shape of the sheet and also specify the bending angle. We produce individually to your specifications.
Ordering from us is this easy
Although we work with high-tech machines, we are not an anonymous internet supplier. Contact with our customers is important to us, because our product genuinely requires advice. That is why the route to your order always leads through our experienced sales staff. They advise you free of charge and without obligation and calculate sheets in your desired dimensions for you.
In this way, we can make sure you select the right alloy for your intended use - there really are major differences between the stainless steel grades. It matters to us that you make the right choice straight away and therefore enjoy our products for a long time. We will also discuss with you in which format you can submit drawings so that we can process them with our laser. Our experience has shown that a short consultation clears up many uncertainties, so that you can look forward to your sheet, made by us to your specifications.
+49 3921 72-0