AMADA CNC Laser Cutting Guide
This guide covers what AMADA CNC laser cutting does well, where the process reaches its limit, and how a cut blank becomes a finished part. It is written for design engineers and sourcing engineers who need to judge whether a flat pattern can be cut and shipped, or whether it still needs five-axis CNC work. By the end you should be able to read a drawing and decide which operations are required.
What an AMADA Laser Actually Does to Your Drawing
The machine reads a flat pattern. Everything about the part comes from how that pattern is designed and how the edges are treated afterward.
How AMADA CNC Laser Cutting Removes Material
AMADA builds fiber laser cutting systems that run on a CNC motion platform. The head moves on X, Y and Z while the controller keeps the focus point locked to the sheet surface. A 1 kW to 6 kW source cuts carbon steel, stainless, aluminium and brass, with nitrogen or oxygen assist gas chosen by material and edge requirement.
Cut quality comes from three settings: focus position, assist gas pressure and cutting speed. Push the speed and the kerf narrows but dross forms on the underside. Slow the feed and the edge gets a wider heat-affected zone. On thin gauge the practical answer is usually a slight positive focus and high-pressure nitrogen.
The process is 2D. A flat sheet goes in, a flat profile comes out. Holes, slots, relief cuts and outside contours all come from the same program, so a part with 40 cut features costs about the same to program as one with 4. Sheet thickness decides everything else.
What Thickness and Tolerance You Can Expect
Fiber laser output drops as the sheet gets thicker. Mild steel cuts cleanly to about 20 mm, stainless to 12 mm, aluminium to 10 mm. Above those numbers the edge starts to taper and the cut speed falls off, which is where a shop should tell you to consider plasma or waterjet instead.
Positional accuracy on a well-maintained AMADA is typically around ±0.05 mm on thin sheet, and the kerf itself runs 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm depending on thickness and lens. Those two numbers matter more than the machine spec sheet, because they set what the following machining operation has to remove.
Hole diameter has a floor. A hole smaller than roughly 1.5 times the sheet thickness cuts poorly. The rule is simple: below that ratio, drill or mill the hole after cutting rather than fighting the laser.
Material and Thickness Guide
Typical clean-cut limits on a fiber laser. Values assume good flatness and a maintained machine.
| Material | Clean cut limit | Edge finish | Follow-on operation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mild steel | 20 mm | Ra 3.2–6.3 μm | Deburr, often none |
| Stainless steel | 12 mm | Ra 1.6–3.2 μm | Nitrogen cut, no oxide |
| Aluminium | 10 mm | Ra 3.2–6.3 μm | Deburr, check dross |
| Brass | 6 mm | Ra 1.6–3.2 μm | Light deburr |
| Copper | 5 mm | Ra 3.2–6.3 μm | Reflective, slower feed |
| Titanium | 6 mm | Ra 1.6–3.2 μm | Argon assist preferred |
When to Stop and Machine Instead
Laser cutting leaves a recast layer on the cut face and a small taper through the thickness. For a bracket or a cover panel, neither matters. For a sealing face, a bearing bore or a press-fit hole, both matter a great deal, and the part must go to a CNC machine after cutting.
Three features almost always need secondary machining: holes with an H7 tolerance, faces that seal against a gasket or O-ring, and any surface with a flatness or perpendicularity callout under 0.05 mm. Cut these features undersize, leave 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm of stock, and let the mill finish them.
Heat is the other limit. Thin sheet distorts when the cut path puts too much energy into a narrow web. A part with a long unsupported strip and no relief cuts will bow. Adding tabs or repositioning the lead-in usually fixes it without changing the design.
Cut, Then Machine in One Setup Chain
At GreatLight we run AMADA CNC laser cutting for the flat pattern and then move the blank to our 5-axis and 4-axis machining centers for the critical features. With 16 simultaneous 5-axis centers and 12 four-axis mills, a laser-cut bracket can be drilled, tapped, bored and faced without leaving the shop floor.
The combined route holds ±0.005 mm on machined features while keeping the speed advantage of laser on the outer profile. That matters on parts with many holes and one tight bore, which describes most automotive brackets, medical instrument housings and robot end-effector plates.
We check the raw sheet before cutting, monitor the first-off part, and inspect 100% before shipment. Reports go out on request. Tolerances and finishes are quoted against the drawing, not against a generic table.
Questions Engineers Ask
Can AMADA laser cutting hold ±0.005 mm on its own?
No. Laser positional accuracy is around ±0.05 mm on thin sheet, and the kerf taper adds variation through the thickness.
The ±0.005 mm figure belongs to the CNC machining operations that follow. If the drawing needs that tolerance, plan a machining step after cutting.
How small a hole can be laser cut?
A rough floor is 1.5 times the sheet thickness in diameter. A 2 mm hole in 3 mm stainless will cut but the edge will be poor and the hole may taper.
Below that ratio, cut a pilot and drill or mill to size. This also gives you a rounder, straighter bore.
Does laser cutting change the material properties?
The cut face forms a narrow heat-affected zone, usually under 0.1 mm on thin sheet. The bulk of the material is unaffected.
If the part is later welded or heat treated, tell us. We can adjust the assist gas or leave extra stock so the recast layer is removed during machining.
What file format do you need for a laser-cut part?
A DXF or DWG flat pattern is ideal, with the bend lines on a separate layer if the part will be formed. A 3D STEP file works too if you also send the flat pattern.
Send the drawing with tolerances and finish callouts. We review it and return a DFM note within 12 hours, before cutting starts.
Can you cut one prototype and then scale to production?
Yes. There is no minimum order quantity. We run single prototypes and production runs above 10,000 parts on the same equipment.
The first article is measured and reported. If the design changes, we re-cut the flat pattern rather than adjusting the finished part.
How do you handle thin or distortion-prone sheet?
We add micro-tabs, adjust lead-in positions and sometimes change the cut sequence to spread heat. Nitrogen assist helps on stainless where oxide discolouration is not acceptable.
For very thin gauge, a sacrificial backing sheet keeps the profile flat through the cut.
Send a Flat Pattern, Get a Quote and DFM Note
Upload your DXF or STEP file. We review the cut path, flag features that need machining, and return a quote within 12 hours.
12-hour quote100% inspectionNDA on request
