Modern manufacturers are using laser cutters more and more. Laser cutting is extremely accurate, allowing craftsmen to cut materials quickly and with a speed and precision that would otherwise be impossible. Used mainly in industrial manufacturing, the laser cutting process ises a highly focused beam of light to cut materials. Depending on the materials you are working with, and the sort of laser equipment, the material is blown away by jets of gas, vaporized or burned, leaving behind a precisely cut edge, bore or etching. Laser cutters increase both the quality and speed of the cutting process, owing to the fact that lasers don’t need to be replaced like the blades on other cutting machines. Following are ten things lasers can do:

- Laser cutting machines can be used to cut various materials with a high degree of accuracy, from sheet metal to plastics, ceramics, wax and wood.

- Laser cutting allows you to cut as many identical products as you desire by removing a great deal of the contamination and wear commonly involved with mechanical cutting. Because lasers don’t have a blade edge to wear out, they can be used infinitely with consistent results.

- Laser cutting, because of its precision and minimal effect on the material surrounding the cut, can achieve sufficient cutting results even with materials that are difficult or even impossible to cut by other means.

- As the laser is so precise and has such a small area of effect, you can cut materials without warping the surrounding material. Compared with some other forms of heat-cutting, the heat from a laser is highly concentrated, preventing it from affecting the area close to the cut.

- Compounds that do not melt, for instance certain plastics, carbon and wood, can be cut with a vaporization process, where the waste material will be vaporized, essentially eliminating it.

- Laser cutting enables you to produce cuts, etchings and boring to exceptionally fine tolerances. Some laser cutting machines can be positioned accurately to tolerances of 5 – 10 micrometers. A micrometer is less than the width of a human hair.

- Most laser cutters are usually quite simple to use and don’t require a large amount of skill or training. Most laser cutting tool suppliers provide what training is needed.

- Laser cutting machines allow you to cut down significantly on clean up time and effort, as they produce much less waste material than machine cutters. Wood is cut without sawdust and metal is cut without shavings. Generally speaking, the small amounts of material waste can be cleaned up using a common vacuum cleaner.

- Laser cutting tools can be modified to create much the same effects as a blow torch by reactive cutting. Ordinarily used with steel over one millimeter thick, this method allows for much better consistency and precision than torch cutting.

- Laser cutting are sometimes used to crack heat-sensitive materials in a controlled way. Often used when working with glass, the process allows you to control and move the crack to suit production needs.

Marc Anderes is the Vice President of Operations of Maloya Laser that is dedicated to Metal Manufacturing and Laser Cutting with state-of-the-art laser systems, targeting medical, aerospace, scientific and transportation needs.