Cutting is one of the most basic procedures in manufacturing metal products and components. If you’re involved in the production of auto parts, industrial equipment, or consumer goods, it’s important to cut metals with precision to obtain desired shapes and sizes.

However, you may ask yourself – how difficult can metal cutting be? While basic cutting tools have their place, modern manufacturing relies on more advanced and precise metal-cutting processes.

These methods provide for tight tolerances, high-quality surface finishes and they even allow for making complex patterns of grooves into the hardest metals imaginable.

This blog post will look at five commonly applied but powerful metal-cutting processes used in industry today. 

  1. Laser cutting

Lasers are almost like sci-fi movies. And when combined with the utilization of computer numerical control (CNC), they become a very adaptable tool for cutting metals with surgical precision.

This is how laser cutting works: A laser beam concentrates with such power that can melt or vaporize metal in an instant. The resulting focused beam then follows the programmed path, progressively slicing through the metal sheet or plate.

Laser cutting produces extremely clean and narrow cuts with minimal material distortion. Intricate shapes and patterns in materials up to one inch thick can be cut easily. Additionally, there are no mechanical cutting forces involved, leading to less wear on tools.

The market value of Laser Cutting Machines was estimated at USD 7.1 billion which is projected to have a CAGR of over 5.5% from 2024-2030. Automotive, aerospace and electronics sectors are driving demand for lasers due to their high speed and accuracy in cutting operations .

2. Plasma cutting

When the lasers are not powerful enough for the metal cutting, then plasma cutting is used. In plasma cutting, metals are cut using superheated air.

The electrode in a plasma cutter is used to make an arc with the earthed piece of metal. This arc causes air to be ionized into a plasma stream that can reach temperatures as high as 40,000° F! It cuts thick metal pieces just like a hot knife slicing through butter.

Plasma cutting provides both speed and power that makes it perfect for use in heavy industrial cutting applications such as shipbuilding, rail manufacturing, and construction projects.

3. Waterjet cutting

As interesting as it sounds. In this process, actual water is used to cut metal. Waterjet cutting involves directing a thin, high-pressure jet of water mixed with an abrasive like garnet sand.

Essentially, this concentrated flow rapidly travels at speeds up to Mach 3 (around 2,500 ft/s or 760 m/s), and it eats through the metal by means of severe erosion. The cold cutting process eliminates heat-affected zones that could result in warped and discolored edges while bringing a high level of  accuracy.

Also, waterjets can easily slice through almost all types of metals or materials without causing any deformities due to heat diffusion. Moreover, these machines allow you to produce parts with complicated geometries having tight dimensional tolerances and a superior surface finish.

4. EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining)

This cutting process is a real hidden gem through which manufacturers produce parts and components from solid metal blocks or plates. EDM means Electrical Discharge Machining, and it is an amazing method of manufacturing.

Here is how it happens: An electric discharge passes through the electrode tool into the metal workpiece, which is immersed in a dielectric fluid. This electric discharge heats up to the point where microscopic particles of metals vaporize, gradually eroding the desired shape on this workpiece.

EDM cutting produces detailed shapes and cavities that would be nearly impossible with traditional cutting tools. Because there is no direct pressure being applied during cutting, it can cut extremely hard materials like carbides.

5. Oxyfuel cutting

This is one of the classic methods of metal cutting. One of the oldest thermal cutting techniques, it still has a lot to offer especially when cutting thick plates.

Oxyfuel means using fuel gas (such as acetylene) and an oxygen stream to preheat metal to its ignition temperature. The focused stream of oxygen then quickly oxidizes the heated metals.

It has poor accuracy compared with other techniques like waterjet or laser but oxyfuel is highly economical for cutting mild steel above 0.25 inches in thickness. 

 

Choose the right tool for the job.

Of course there are numerous amazing cutting processes that help in manufacturing metallic components and products these days. Every single one of them has its own unique benefits.

All that matters is how well you place your best foot forward by selecting an appropriate cutting technology, according to your application, material, and production volume. Aspects such as cut quality, kerf width, thickness capacity and operational costs need to be considered all through.