Laser cut parts question

gundog · Apr 10, 2018

I ordered some parts cut on a laser they are a first for me. When the parts came today they had a sharp burr on each part where the cut started and finished is that normal? The parts are flanges cut from 5052 .080" each part has 6 holes 4 - .260" & 2 - .01875 the parts are about 8" x 2" these are not precision parts. They all had sharp surfaces around each hole. Since I have never worked with a laser cutter I am not sure if this is to be expected? I was very disappointed to see I had to de-burr all the parts they are also scratched up so I have a batch in the vibratory tumbler now but they don't tumble good because they stick together. I now wish I would have just stacked them up and machined them.

AARONT · Apr 10, 2018

This is pretty standard. Especially with them being scratched up. I have yet to receive stock(that wasn't polished) that didn't have scratches.

Matt@RFR · Apr 10, 2018

If you don't specify, you get what you got. You need to specify the removal of the lead in tit, the deburring of sharp edges and surface treatments for the main surfaces. And when you specify all those things, the price goes up.

Triaged · Apr 10, 2018

You need to communicate with your laser cutter about lead-ins/lead-outs. They should not be piercing on the cut line but that takes longer to program. Any square corners should also have outside loops programmed if you want them sharp. Not hard stuff to do but takes some extra time that they obviously didn't take.

Vancbiker · Apr 10, 2018

Another thing to keep in mind is that the laser outfit may have used shaker tabs to hold the parts in the sheet so the entire sheet and parts can be removed from the machine as one and shaken apart later. As said above you need to communicate your requirements when awarding the job.

jmullett · Apr 10, 2018

You can also get PVC film on the good side of the material to add additional protection. It also makes a difference on how the sheets are handled i.e. sheet slid off of forklift forks vs. vacuum cup sheet lifter.

If you don't need a mirrored/polished surface finish, and easy way to provide a uniform finish is a scotchbrite disc on a 4 1/2 inch grinder run over the surface to remove all the burr/slag. A piece of flat carpet on a workbench holds the pieces well when performing this operation.

gundog · Apr 11, 2018

I am going to chalk this up as a learning experience. Next time I think I will just make them on the bed mill. I think I could have just stacked up 5 or 10 at a time and drilled them then bolted the batch to a sub plate to cut the profile and got the same results I was hoping for parts that were finished and I could have just labeled. They were $2.20 each for 100 of them and for that price I expected more the material cost for each was pretty low and they were such a simple part.

curtis r · Apr 11, 2018

Also put nylon wire ties loosely through the holes the keep them from sticking together in the tumbler.

MachEng · Apr 11, 2018

If the laser is focused properly the material should crumble off the edge with ease. Worse case run over them with a DA sander and it should come right off. If the supplier has a timesaver type machine they should be able to run it through and take it off.

gundog · Apr 11, 2018

curtis r said:
Also put nylon wire ties loosely through the holes the keep them from sticking together in the tumbler.

Thanks I never thought about doing that I have had problems with several flange type parts sticking together and no getting the desired finish.

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