b'STEEL BEAMS SHINEare particularly good at cuttingProductivity and Savings heftysteels. Although lasers carry aSteel is one Steel is one of the best mate- price tag, theyre very inexpen-rials that you can cut with lasers insive to operate, so per-part costs terms of quality and throughput,are the lowest of any cutting op- of the best he said. All grades of steel havetion, said Brett Thompson, laser been shown to cut really well withtechnologies and sales consult- materials lasers. ing manager at Trumpf Inc. in that you can cut with lasers in terms of quality and throughput.When laser cutting stainless steel (shown at left), different assist gases produce different results.IPG Photonicsctemag.com/cteguide.com15LaserMachining.indd 15 9/19/22 11:36 AM'