ABOUT Cutting Services
Cutting Services are machining and manufacturing services in which a variety of techniques from flame cutting to saw cutting are used to produce lengths, shapes, etc. from existing stock materials. Such materials can be metals, plastics, glasses, etc. Cutting services are often employed for large production runs of cut to length pieces which can often be set up for automated production. Beyond cut off services, flame, laser, and plasma cutting services are often employed to make intricate shapes in a variety of materials. Waterjet cutting can be used to cut a variety of materials including stone. Die cutting is generally done on paper, plastic film, cork, and other similar materials.
Cutting service providers often offer more than a single form of cutting, and can assess materials, cut complexity, tolerance requirements, etc. and so recommend an optimum approach to meeting a project's requirements. Some cutting services are portable and performed in the field with transportable equipment. Others are shop based.
Material thickness is often a deciding factor in the fitness of various cutting methods. Production rates can also play a role as some methods are inherently faster than others.
Water Jet Cutting uses high pressure, high velocity water streams mixed with abrasives to cut through a variety of materials including many metals.
Laser cutting uses computer controlled lasers to vaporize many varieties of metal, and is capable of making intricate cuts.
Die Cutting uses steel rule dies, blanking dies, etc. in conjunction with die presses to cut usually thin and often flexible materials including cork, rubber, paper, etc.
Saw Cutting uses blades, abrasive wheels, etc. to make mainly square cuts in metal, ceramic, and a variety of other materials and also refers to specialties such as concrete sawing.
Flame Cutting uses various oxygen-gas mixes to produce flames that are capable of melting metal. The process is somewhat crude but is capable of cutting thicker slabs than other tool-less methods.
Plasma Cutting uses an electrically ionized gas to melt through metals that cannot be cut with oxy-acetylene torches such as aluminum and stainless steel.
Converting covers the cutting and subsequent operations done to films, tapes, foils, and other flexible materials.