Welding Journal

For many (or most) manufacturers, the laser has become the default tool for creating sheet metal blanks. The advantages are as obvious as they are plentiful: high throughput, flexible geometry, high accuracy, low operating costs, no tooling requirement, and so on. The downstream effects are also a bonus. While a waterjet proves an ideal edge condition, it is slow and expensive to run. A punch or turret can achieve high throughput and offer the additional benefit of enabling forming operations, but witness marks may..