Calculating laser cutting costs is a complex story. There are many things that affect how much laser cutting costs. That's why you often see that prices cannot be found online with laser cutting companies. The price is always calculated specifically for you.
We wanted to charge as fair a price as possible and not have to calculate it ourselves. Therefore, we created snijlab.nl where you can upload your drawing and a price will be calculated automatically.
In this article, we will explain what issues affect the cost of laser cutting. We will also look at what the cost of laser cutting is compared to other manufacturing methods.
What determines the cost of laser cutting?
Simplicity/complexity of design
In general, the simpler your design, the faster it can be made. This is because you pay for the "cut length," that is, how long the line is that is cut (or engraved). Based on this, we calculate how much power the making of your order consumes, which helps determine the production cost.
Material
Material choice plays a role in production time. After all, thick heavy materials take more time to cut than thinner ones. With very small designs, this is often less relevant because startup time plays a bigger role there.
Production time
Because each part is custom-made, the production time varies for each part.
Start-up costs
Start-up costs also play a role. It is important to check your drawing carefully to make sure that manufacturing goes well and no material is wasted. After manufacturing , your work should be well checked. For example, for flaws in the material, whether the engravings have good contrast, etc. This makes manufacturing of a single piece of a unique part relatively expensive.
Examples
A single piece of a unique part can be had for as little as €25, a large collectible plate of a precious material can exceed €100, and a small part in a series can be laser cut for as little as €0.10, for example.
Compared to other techniques
In our article Laser cutting in larger volumes, we already compared different production techniques in terms of time to market, freedom of form, suitability for prototyping and suitability for producing larger volumes.
In terms of cost, of course, there are also differences between different production methods.
We will assume in this comparison that you want to have something made to your own design out of wood or plastic. Are you using wood? Then milling and laser cutting are the only options; 3D printing and injection molding of wood are not.
3D printing
3D printen is voor enkelstuks van kleine (<10cm) objecten soms goedkoper, doordat de opstartkosten laag zijn. Wil je meer dan één stuks, dan wordt de prijs van 3D printen per stuk meestal niet veel goedkoper. Een groot deel van de kosten zit namelijk in de productietijd en die wordt niet minder.
3D printing quickly becomes expensive for larger designs, due to the long production time. Laser cutting and milling are then more suitable.
CNC Milling
Milling has somewhat higher start-up costs than laser cutting. The process also takes longer. But it does have advantages with large formats. For example, it produces nice edges and allows for the creation of pockets (floors).
Injection molding
In injection molding, the mold (the hollow mold) is in most cases the largest investment item. The design and complexity of the part determine the cost of the mold, which easily runs into the thousands of dollars.
Snijlab laser cutting
With laser cutting, the manufacturing itself is much faster but there are some more start-up costs than with 3D printing. That means the price goes down quickly with larger volumes.
A single piece of a unique part can be had for as little as €25, a large collectible plate of a precious material can exceed €100, and a small part in a series can be laser cut for as little as €0.10, for example.
In short, there are a few areas where laser cutting always beats other techniques in price
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Medium-sized (up to 1m) designs in wood and plastic
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Kleine (<20cm) objecten in hout en kunststof in serie
This is how you keep the cost of laser cutting low
Materials
Are you making a prototype? Then choose an inexpensive material such as corrugated cardboard or MDF. Products can also often be made from these materials.
Heb je hout nodig? Kies dan voor dunne materialen <6 mm voor Berken multiplex. Dit is mechanisch sterk en relatief snel te verwerken. Voor een dikker product kan Populieren multiplex voordeliger zijn. Dit hangt af van je ontwerp, dus check het online.
Not too many different materials
For each subsequent drawing of the same material, you get a discount. After all, many of the start-up costs have already been incurred. Again, that saves. So whenever possible, choose the same material for all your parts.
Smart design
Don't draw unnecessary cut lines. See where you can have parts adjacent to each other so that they are separated by one line instead of two.
Choose an economical delivery time
Choose a longer delivery time if you can wait a little longer. This allows more time to process your order, making production more economical.
More pieces = less cost
The first copy is always the most expensive. Choose a larger quantity, then spread the start-up costs over more products.
Many different parts?
Merge them into one drawing. That saves in start-up costs.
Additional services at no extra cost
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An engineer checks your drawing before it goes into manufacturing
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Minimal smoke deposits and shadow edges on your parts
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Quality control so that 99+% arrive correctly (we measure this continuously)
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Your part numbers clearly listed on delivery for quick commissioning
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Free design consultation via video call
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Free advice on material selection
Would you like to know what producing your design by laser cutting at Snijlab costs? Then request an online quote or order directly.
