Carbon steel

Cut Chart

Set the metal, the thickness, and the laser kW. Compare speed, accuracy, and whether the process belongs.

A36 / 1018

½″

12.7 mm · Carbon steel

Laser source

Material

Range

You care about

Plate stock. ½″ · 12.7 mm.

At this thickness

Laser, or plasma if the edge will be ground

Laser and high-definition plasma run at the same speed on ½″ carbon steel — about 72 ipm. Laser holds ±0.008″ with a smaller heat zone. Plasma is the usual pick for parts that get welded. Waterjet if heat is forbidden.

Straight cuts only

Not in the race above. A shear blanks rectangles in one stroke. A bandsaw is slow, cool, and square. Neither profiles a part.

Plate shear

Heavy for this machine

One stroke, straight edge only. Fastest way to blank a rectangle. No contour, no holes, no heat.

Speed
1 stroke
Tolerance
±0.035″
Kerf
none
Heat
none

Bandsaw

In range

A toothed blade. Slow, cool, square. Good for blanks, bar, and miter. Not a profile.

Speed
5.0 ipm · 2.4 min/ft
Tolerance
±0.020″
Kerf
0.060″
Heat
none

What each process can actually cut

The bright band is plate (¼″–1″). Solid bar is production-quality. Fade is “it will go through, edge suffers.”

Plate0¼″1″2″LaserPlasmaWaterjetOxy-fuel

White dot is the thickness you selected. Arrow means the process continues past this axis — oxy-fuel and waterjet into 8–12″.

Speed across thickness

Plasma overtakes this laser around ⅝″ on carbon steel. Waterjet stays slow. Oxy-fuel only on carbon, and barely changes with thickness.

  • Laser
  • Plasma
  • Waterjet
  • Oxy-fuel

Speed vs accuracy

Upper right is faster and tighter. Dots move with thickness and material.

Tighter is up · inches per minute is right

Fast and precise05080.6±0.02±0.04±0.052Cutting speed, inches per minuteTypical tolerance, inchesLaserPlasmaWaterjetOxy-fuel

The cut, to scale

Kerf is the slot the process removes. The band beside it is the heat-affected zone — parent metal that was altered even if it stayed on the part. Waterjet has none. Slot width is to scale with this thickness.

How each process cuts

Fiber laser

A focused infrared beam melts a narrow path. Assist gas clears the kerf — oxygen on carbon steel, nitrogen on stainless and aluminum.

HD plasma

An electrically ionized gas arc melts the metal. Gas blast clears the molten material. Works on anything that conducts.

Waterjet

High-pressure water mixed with garnet erodes the metal. No heat. The cut is a cold grind.

Oxy-fuel

A flame brings carbon steel to ignition temperature. A pure oxygen jet burns a path through it. Stainless and aluminum will not ignite this way.