Flat Sheet Laser Cutting vs. 3D Tube Laser Cutting

The type of cutting equipment that will give you the best results when crafting your components depends on their design, the type of material you’re working with and other factors.

At BenCo Technology, our PA laser cutting shop contains a variety of cutting technologies including flat sheet lasers and 3D tube lasers.

Flat Sheet Laser Cutting

Flat sheet laser cutting works extremely well when producing parts made of large flat sheets of steel, stainless steel, copper, brass and aluminum. Flat sheet lasers are very accurate, fast and they enable you to produce large volumes of parts with the same consistency. In some cases, they even allow you to cut and etch in the same step.

While they can be used for cutting single prototypes or producing full runs, their disadvantage is their inability to cut thicker plate or materials that aren’t flat.

At BenCo Technology, our flat sheet lasers can cut sheets sized up to 83″ x 162″ with a maximum thickness of 1″ for hot rolled, .75″ for stainless, and .5″ for aluminum.

With in-house forming capabilities, we can cut raw parts out of flat sheet materials and then bend them into just about any shape with subsequent processes.

3D Tube Laser Cutting

An advantage of 3D tube lasers over flat sheet lasers is their versatility. The 3D rotating laser head doesn’t just cut flat, straight stock; it can cut round tube, channel, angle, square tube and open profile stock. It can also countersink and make beveled edges.

With the capability to cut, bevel, countersink and chamfer all in the same step, you can save a lot of time and manual effort. As with flat sheet laser cutting, 3D tube lasers can produce single prototypes to full runs. Our BLM tube lasers at Benco cut up to a maximum O.D. of 8.66141″.

What’s the Best Cutting Technology for Your Components?

Talk with us to find out. At BenCo, our PA laser cutting shop has a variety of cutting equipment because we know every business has unique needs. Not only do we have state-of-the-art flat sheet lasers and 3D tube lasers, we also offer water jet cutting, plasma cutting and saw cutting, too.

Contact us to talk about your next project. We’ll be happy to recommend the best cutting option for your specific application.