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Tube Laser vs Bundle Cut Sawing

March 09, 2019 | Updated May 20, 2022
tube laser

| Updated May 20, 2022Tube lasers, obviously, are limited to cutting one stick of tube (or angle or channel) at a time.

How does that stack up to saw cutting bundles of tube when comparing labor time?

The answer may be surprising.

Bundle cutting is very efficient, but it has draw backs. Here are a few the bundle cutting advocates should consider:

1) The time it takes to ‘assemble’ the bundle.

2) The time and expense that is encountered when bundle pieces disassemble or flay about causing the saw blade to break.

3) The time it takes to deal with pieces that are not cut exactly right because the bundle isn’t cooperating perfectly.

4) The time it takes to deburr all the parts (normally left with a rough burr).

5) Here is a big, big one that most people forget or fail to recognize…the time it takes to manage downstream fit and weld issues because the parts are not cut squarely or are out of tolerance.

Tube Laser technology has come a long way. We are not talking about a flat laser, meant to cut sheet metal, that has a tube cutting add on. We are talking about a dedicated sixty foot machine that is cycling through 20’ lengths of material in automated fashion.

If the tube is square and the parts have no holes, miters or angle cuts, bundle cutting may still win, particularly if there are very large quantities.

However, if you had any kind of miter or angle cut, or any kind of hole or slot, tube laser technology will prove significantly faster.

Here is why:

1) Tube Lasers eliminate the huge amounts of time consumed in multiple setups needed to saw, deburr, cope, fixture, drill.

2) Tube Lasers eliminate huge amounts of waste in material movement (from work center to work center).

3) Tube Lasers eliminate waste of space as piles of batch and queue parts can be removed from the shop floor.

4) Tube Lasers vastly improve the fit and weld time down stream because the parts are perfectly cut, +/- .01, which keeps fitters from struggling with alignment and welders from filling gaps (and fighting all the warping that comes from excess welding). This is a huge benefit!

Even more, parts can be laser cut to fit into each other with tabs and slots making it virtually impossible for down stream quality errors.

Even more, parts can be cut with etching, tabs and slots that make fixtures unnecessary.

Bundle cutting may still have a car in the race but only on the rare exception. The first notion of anything beside square cuts and the Tube Laser will easily win the race.

Call us or email for more information—the costs savings are real!

801.392.9494
info@allmetalsfab.com

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