this is a shortcoming of laser cutters. On material under 6.5 mm thick, there isn't enough thermal mass to soak up the heat you need to put a small hole all the way through. With birch, it catches on fire. With steel, it melts and looks bad.
The advantages are primarily no tooling, no jigs, no setup. No clamps, even, if you want to play fast and loose.
Where it loses to traditional methods is production - on quantity a handful, laser cutters are great. When you need Q144 or Q1000 you need to look at stamping or die cutting.
The advantages are primarily no tooling, no jigs, no setup. No clamps, even, if you want to play fast and loose.
Where it loses to traditional methods is production - on quantity a handful, laser cutters are great. When you need Q144 or Q1000 you need to look at stamping or die cutting.