I’m searching for an unusual process capability, and I’m wondering if anyone can steer me toward the right technology.
• Need to cut very fine thru-hole features (<1mm across) into stainless steel sheet (<20 gauge) and possibly titanium.
• The features are fine and close together; the result resembles lace. It is important to minimize local distortion; heat effects are a definite concern. Distortion due to conventional machining is also a concern.
• The parts are small (< 100 X 100 mm).
• Absolute tolerances are not tight (~0.010” or 0.25 mm), but feature-to-feature tolerances are considerably tighter (0.002” or 0.05mm)
I’m familiar with waterjet (preferred from heat and distortion perspective) and plama (heat may be an issue), but only at a much larger scale. I have no experience with laser cutting. Do these technology exist in miniature form?
Dan.