Laser Cut Aluminium from Cutting Technologies

A naturally occurring metal; Aluminium is in fact the most abundant metal on Earth, and represents about 8% of the weight of the Earth's solid surface - thank goodness it's so useful! Its popularity in industry stems from its density - it's about a third of the weight of steel, and its corrosion resistance - the surface of aluminium oxidises on contact with air, and forms a corrosion resistant "skin". Various alloying elements are added to aluminium to change its characteristics - some increase strength, while others assist machinability. Tell us your application and we'll recommend the best commonly available alloy.

Laser Cut Aluminium
Processed every day here at Cutting Technologies - Applications range from architectural components, through light-weight theatre sets to "clean stencils" - stencils used to pressure wash advertising campaigns onto dirty pavements! The quality of laser cut aluminium is excellent, and we use special techniques to protect the surface of the soft material from scratches. Sheet Metal Companies use a lot of Aluminium for light-weight but strong bracketry - see the image on the examples section.

Examples
Technical
Quality

laser cut aluminium
A water sculpture located in a Welsh city centre. There are dozens of large laser cut panels, each one different and based on water colour paintings - we had to translate the paintings into something the lasers would understand. The laser cut panels were then formed, anodised and joined to form the columns. Anodised aluminum has even better corrosion resistance than the raw material, and will last for years even in a fairly aggressive environment.

Laser Cut Aluminium Brackets

Laser Cut & Folded Aluminium Brackets for an HVAC application. Although we don't fold components in-house we have many clients who do all sorts of fabrication, so we're able to offer the service if you need it.

A laser cut stencil used for "clean graffiti" - pavements are pressure-washed through the stencil to create a unique and environmentally friendly advertisement. We cut lots of these for different campaigns - the major advantages of our service is we can translate the artwork into the stencil, and we deliver very quickly - these are normally needed next day.

laser cut anodised aluminium
Wall art laser cut from pre-anodised aluminium. The artist wanted the edges to have the shiny laser cut finish, so we anodised the sheet and then cut it. This is 3mm thick material, but we can do this type of work up to 10mm thick. Metals are being used much more as art in their own right - a great thing for laser cutters!

Maximum Component Size	3000x1500mm
Minimum Component Size	Very Small - depends on material thickness
Maximum Thickness	10mm
Minimum Thickness	<0.5mm
Minimum Detail	Detail should not be less than the 80% material thickness e.g. minimum 8mm diameter hole in 10mm thick material
General Cutting Tolerance	>3mm - +/-0.1mm 3-6mm - +/-0.15mm 6-10mm - +/-0.2mm
Effects of Thermal Cutting	The cut edge on thinner sections is smooth and even - the edge quality degrades a little as thickness increases
Common Grades Stocked	1050 / 5000 / 6082. There are lots of others - tell us the application and we'll try to recommend a suitable grade.
Common Sheet Sizes	2000x1000mm/2500x1250mm/3000x1500mm
Common Applications	Any application requiring a lightweight but strong component.

10mm Steel Cut Edge
A close-up image of the edge of laser cut Aluminium. As you can see the overall quality is excellent, but due to the thermal conductivity of the material there are occasionally areas where there is a little breakaway - Aluminium is not the easiest material to cut!