Proficient Production Laser Cutting Services

When laser cutting parts there are many things to consider if you want the most efficiently cut parts.  Common edge cutting or common line cutting is a feature used in production laser cutting for both flat and 2D laser cut parts where nested parts share a common edge.   Our P.E.P. software will analyze the part or parts and lay them in a nest for the most efficient material usage.   Other things that need to be considered is pierce interference and collision avoidance which can affect cut out material getting on a part or a previously cut part interfering with the next cut line.

It is also important to understand the kerf, which is the lost material between the 2 parts being laser cut.  The kerf will change based on 5 variables which are the properties of the material and it’s thickness, the laser cutting speed, wattage, frequency.  This is probably the biggest reason many programmers and laser operators fail to common line cut parts.

The benefits are great if the time is taken on large production runs.   Common line cutting will save between 12.5% to 40.9% of the total cutting distance of a 60” X 120” sheet of metal which could mean making a profit on a job and saving the customer money.  Noble Industries loves opportunities to bring a win-win solution to our customers!

For more information about laser cutting and for a quote, go to www.nobleindustries.com or call Brenda Snyder at 800-466-1926.

OEM Metal Products

GM, Ford, Caterpillar, John Deere, Kubota are just a few OEM companies that most everyone will recognize by name alone.   Have you ever considered the number of OEM metal fabrication companies that make components for these companies?  There are quite a few 2nd tier companies supporting the quality workmanship that is represented in a popular OEM product.

By working for Noble Industries, an OEM metal fabrication company, I have the luxury of seeing Original Equipment Manufactured components daily.  Many parts we make are for OEM products scarcely heard of yet they provide a useful purpose to people all over the country.  Noble Industries is a large ISO 9001 certified custom metal fabrication company with capabilities to fabricate sheet metal, tube and wire parts.  Our ISO certification makes us a great metal fabrication company for OEM products.

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Metal Fabrication A36 Bracket Case Study

Metal Fabrication Case Study

Customer:  Automotive Aftermarket

Product: Metal Brackets

Type of Fabrication:  Laser cutting, CNC Punching, Press Brake Forming,  Powder Coating

Problem:  Fast production of metal brackets caused cracks in the A36 material while forming the part.

Solution:  Noble Industries understands the chemistry of A36 material and how to form it without stress cracks.  We have been forming metal brackets in A36 HRPO since 1978 so it is typical that we can solve a customer’s problems with A36 metal brackets.

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Growth in Metal Fabrication in Uncertain Times

Weakness in the automotive industry, the natural disaster in Japan, the mortgage crisis and rising fuel costs have all played a large part in the instability of metal fabrication companies around the United States.  For the past 4 years, auctions were held daily for large machine shops, sheet metal fabrication companies and metal stamping companies.  Large corporations like General Motors, Dana Corporation, Caterpillar, Navistar, John Deere, Kubota and others have lost their suppliers because that metal fabricator was focused on a single customer or industry.  When that industry took a major hit the fabricator could not survive the downturn.  Many other corporations are looking at their supply chain and assessing the health and stability of their vendors to ensure that they can deliver quality parts on time and within budgets.  They are also looking to see if their suppliers have the ability to ramp up if the economy picks up and additional demand for their product occurs quickly.

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Laser Cutting

A process that is growing in metal fabrication is laser cutting.  Laser cutting services are being used much more often instead of sending parts across turret presses or other punching devices.  Why?  Laser cutting provides some advantages in material utilization, precise tolerances and quality of the part.   If there are variable shapes and round edges a laser machine is more economical for shorter runs because tooling is not needed to cut the part. 

The process of laser cutting is similar to what many of us learned as a boy scout or girl scout.  On a sun shining day, we can take a magnifying glass outside and use the sun’s ray to burn a whole in a leaf or piece of paper.  The same process applies to laser cutting.   A laser cutting machine uses a resonator to produce a beam that gets focused on the metal material to melt a hole through it.   This works with the light bouncing off mirrors and then through a lens to deliver a bright beam.  The laser machine bed moves as the beam cuts making shapes based on a computer generated program.   Assist gas or nitrogen is normally used to help in cutting.  Laser cutting with nitrogen provides the best edge.   There is much more information a laser operator has to learn in order to produce quality parts.  Today’s laser machines are connected to computers and the network for loading programs design to cut specific parts.

Noble Industries has 6 Mazak Lasers that can cut light gauge material up to 1” plate.  We have the equipment and knowledgable staff to program and handle all your laser cutting needs!  Give us a call at 317-773-1926 for small or large laser cutting jobs.