Laser cutting service for San Jose, online ordering — parts delivered same day or money back.^*

Laser cutting is one of the most versatile methods for machining parts thanks to its ability to scale from prototype to production with ease, provide repeatable results, and its ability to be highly accurate and precise. However, major engineering projects require a laser cutting service that is reputable, reliable, and trustworthy which is where Ponoko comes in. Ponoko offers all US customers a 24-hour delivery service once an order has been completed, and this applies to all materials stocked by Ponoko. San Jose, in particular, is home to many industries that can take advantage of the precision and accuracy provided by Ponoko laser cutting services including semiconductors, metalworks, software companies, and industrial control equipment suppliers.

When it comes to cutting, there are many different technologies available which include plasma cutting, CNC machining, manual labor, and water blasting. CNCs are typically used with large blocks of metal and consist of machines with as many as 5-axis, and these machines can create very complex 3D structures. However, CNCs are slow and expensive to run as they use tooling bits which wear down over time. Furthermore, they require constant flow of coolant to prevent bits from overheating that can cause further damage to the CNC and the workpiece itself. Water and plasma cutters are generally used for thick metals that a laser cutter cannot penetrate, but they are nowhere near as precise as laser cutters. As such, water and plasma cutters are better suited for applications where tolerances are less tight such as large metal enclosures, building materials, and even automotive panels. Manual cutting involves skilled labor using tools to cut material, but such methods are extremely slow, expensive, and difficult to repeat. Such skills are generally valued as they do not produce the same result each time giving each part produced a sense of uniqueness. Furthermore, manual labor is the antithesis of mass-production and is therefore unsuitable for quantities past 10. Laser cutters are highly advantageous in that they do not have cutting bits that wear down, they do not put mechanical strain on the workpiece, they are fast, and use numerically controlled motor systems to ensure that each command sent to them is executed precisely. This makes laser cutters ideal for both prototyping and full-scale production. However, it should be stated that laser-cutters are mostly used for 2D parts. While 3D parts can be manufactured, it is generally done by exploding a 3D design into 2D layers or faces which are then put together to create a final 3D part. This means that laser cutters are not used to make engine casings or rotor blades, but can be used for creating engine gaskets, enclosures, and faceplates.

Ponoko is able to offer all San Jose customers aluminum laser-cutting services with part sizes up to 790mm x 384mm and thicknesses up to 3.2mm. All aluminum provided by Ponoko is carefully engineered to the highest quality, and both 6061 and 5052 types are available. Aluminum by Ponoko is ideal for a range of different applications including front panels, enclosures, faceplates, PCB stencils, and custom emblems.

Of all methods available to cutting 2D shapes out of material, laser cutting is one of the most cost-effective solutions. The reason for this comes from the lack of tool heads that get worn down when machining workpieces, the speed at which lasers can cut, that both the engraving and cutting stages are done in the same machine cycle, and that laser cutters can scale from prototypes to production runs with ease. CNCs are an alternative method to laser cutters and ideal for creating 3D shapes as they tend to have multiple axis including translational and rotational. However, cutting 2D shapes in thin materials is a very inefficient process as the tool bit can wear down requiring replacement, the forces applied to the workpiece can move it around if not properly secured, and the need to perform multiple passes to prevent wear and tear on the tool bit. Manual cutting of materials (i.e., a tradesman), is another option for getting prototypes produced, but this comes with a lot of challenges. The first is that unless precision equipment is used (such as a hand milling machine), the resulting part will suffer from poor precision and accuracy. Secondly, manual labor is far slower than modern computer-controlled processes such as CNCs and laser cutters, and this can delay a project by a significant amount of time. Thirdly, manual cutting is only ideal for individual prototypes but entirely impractical for mass production.

San Jose plays host to a wide variety of different companies working across many different industries including semiconductors, metalworks, software, and manufacturers, and all of these industries can take advantage of the laser cutting services offered by Ponoko. Semiconductor manufacturers and researchers can benefit from laser-cut EMC shields and housings commonly found in radio components (such as Wi-Fi SoCs). These same metal enclosures can also be used to create heat removing semiconductor covers that help to transfer heat from a die to a heatsink while protecting the semiconductor die. Copper provided by Ponoko can be useful in electrical applications involving bus bars and other rack-mounted equipment. Bus bars are ideal for transferring large amounts of current between various devices while reducing the amount of cabling needed, but some designs may require custom bus bar shapes that are not generally available from distributors. Software companies can also take advantage of laser cutting services by Ponoko in applications that require unusual hardware requirements or installations. For example, there may be an application that requires multiple single board computers to be connected together in a cluster, but there are no fixture options available for securing all the computers together. Manufacturers of industrial control equipment may also require custom designed enclosures and cases to house industrial equipment. As plastic injection molding is far too expensive for individual prototypes, Ponoko laser cutting can enable for individual enclosures and concepts to be manufactured to produce functional prototypes. From there, Ponoko can scale up the parts to produce thousands of copies either for initial release or as a finalized production run.