Materials for Custom Cutting, Laser cutting and Water Jet Cutting
We do not charge for quotes, and have no minimum order, just drop us an email at sales@modelengineerslaser.co.uk with a DXF file of your part, making sure that:
• That your drawing is on the TOP Plane, and is one continous chain - NOT a polyline as we can't make any edits if we need to add tabs
• Drawing lines are NOT in white or dashed; this is not a colour and the laser doesn’t recognise it, and therefore, doesn’ t cut it.
• You include your full name (including title and Christian name), address - including postcode, telephone number, and customer number(if known) on the email to enable us to process your quote.
Note: Not doing these actions may result in you not getting a quote, or having it substantially delayed. If you are having trouble, please call or email us, we are happy to help. If you are ordering a material that we do not cut a lot off (such as acrylic or wood) if it is a small cut for only a few items, there may be a set-up charge, but this will be made clear to you when you enquire if this becomes relevant to your order.
Material list
Mild Steel CR4
3000x1500mm 0.9 / 1.2 / 1.5 / 2 / 2.5 inclusive
3000x1500mm 3mm
Mild Steel S275
3000x1500mm 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 15 and 20mm
Mild Steel S355
3000x1500mm 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 15 and 20mm
Acrylic
CLEAR CAST 2030x1520mm 3 / 5mm inclusive
WHITE 069 CAST 2030x1520mm 3 / 5mm inclusive
BLACK 962 CAST 2030x1520mm 3 / 5mm inclusive
Poplar Plywood 1525x1525mm 3 / 4 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15 / 18mm inclusive
MDF 2440x1220mm 3 / 4 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15 / 18mm inclusive
Aluminium 1050
3000x1500mm 0.9mm
3000x1500mm 1.2 / 1.5 / 2mm Inclusive
3000x1500mm 3mm(Default to this grade if not specified)
Aluminium 5251
3000x1500mm 3 / 4 / 5mm inclusive
3000x1500mm 6mm(Default to this grade if not specified)
Aluminium 6082 T6
3000x1500mm 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 inclusive
3000x1500mm 15mm
Stainless Steel
304 2B 3000x1500mm 0.9 / 1.2 / 1.5mm inclusive
304 2B 3000x1500mm 2mm and 3mm(no 2.5mm)
304 DP1 3000x1500mm 0.9 / 1.2 / 1.5mm inclusive
304 DP1 3000x1500mm 2mm and 3mm(no 2.5mm)
316 2B 3000x1500mm 0.9 / 1.2 / 1.5mm inclusive
316 2B 3000x1500mm 2mm and 3mm(no 2.5mm)
316 DP1 3000x1500mm 0.9 / 1.2 / 1.5mm inclusive
316 DP1 3000x1500mm 2mm and 3mm(no 2.5mm)
304 HR 3000x1500mm 4 / 5 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 inclusive
304 HR 3000x1500mm 15mm Only
316 HR 3000x1500mm 4 / 5 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 inclusive
316 HR 3000x1500mm 15mm Only
Brass CZ 108
2000x1000 0.5mm
2000x1000 0.7 / 0.9 / 1.2mm inclusive
2000x1000 1.5 / 2 / 3mm inclusive
Bronze (Various sizes, please enquire)
Copper (Various sizes, please enquire)
Gauge Plate / Ground Flat Stock
We use Gauge Plate or Ground flat Stock high carbon steel for most of the expansion links. It is not possible to laser cut GFS as it creates a glass hard and brittle edge to the material due to the heat involved and the high carbon content. All of these are therefore Water Jet cut, and we typically leave 6 thou in holes for reaming, and 6 thou on all working edges and profiles for polishing to clean
Tolerances
When cutting long parts, like brake pull rods, reach rods, and some frames, it is very common for the material to stress relieve and take on a curve as the material is cut. Hot rolled material is particuarly prone to this, although it can also occure in the Cold Rolled materials too. We take every precaution to limit this, and anything that is too bent is scrapped and recut. We operate on a rule of 10mm bow in 1000mm of length as being 'acceptable' and can be readily straightened by passing through some bending rolls. Unfotunately this is just a product of the material and there is very little we can do about it. Some of the worst offenders are the bar frame loco's, typically of American or South African origin, such as Mountaineer(12mm thick) and Virginnia (6mm thick). If there is a particular need for straightness then we recommend the more expensive water-jet cutting process.
As with any machining process there is always a tolerance to the accuracy we can cut, due to built-in factors of the laser cutting machine itself. The following list gives an idea of how accurate we can maintain the cut profile.
Mild & Stainless Steel, and Aluminium
<3mm +/- 0.15mm
3mm-6mm +/- 0.2mm
8mm-12mm +/- 0.25mm
>12mm +/- 0.5mm
Brass +/- 0.2mm
Copper +/- 0.15mm
Plywood and MDF
<3mm +/- 0.5mm
3mm-6mm +/- 0.6mm
8mm-12mm +/- 0.7mm
>12mm +/-0.8mm
Plywood comes with it's own additional problem, in that the manufacturers tolerance for the thickness of the board is very large, and being a live material it is susceptable to moisture in the atmosphere. All our materials are kept indoors but daily changes in humidity cannot be avoided. This makes it very difficult when designing slot and tab assemblies, and the big furniture manufacturers get around this by designing for a particular size, then cutting from the next thickness up and power sanding the pieces to the thickness they want.