Tube Laser Cutting
On-Time Project Delivery
We consistently deliver projects on time and within budget, ensuring your deadlines are met without compromising quality.
Customer Satisfaction
With a focus on quality and client relationships, we maintain a high customer satisfaction rate, with a significant percentage of our clients returning for repeat business.
Quality AssurED
Our products undergo rigorous quality assurance, including batch testing and life cycling, ensuring that every item we manufacture meets the highest standards of reliability and performance.
No Marking Out, No Drilling, No Jigs
Send us the file, and we’ll cut the lot in one pass. Smartweld offers tube laser cutting in Christchurch on a 6 kW Bodor fibre laser that takes round tube and pipe up to 220 mm outside diameter and square hollow section up to 200 x 200 mm in lengths up to 6.5 metres. We cut mild steel, galvanised steel, stainless steel and aluminium. We supply the steel, and your job starts the same day the order is confirmed and the steel is in.
Tube Laser Cutting Specifications
These are the numbers a fabricator checks first, so here they are in one place.
Our Tube Cutting Machine
Our Bodor is a dedicated tube cutting machine running fibre laser cutting technology, separate from the flatbed laser cutter we use for sheet and plate.
| Machine | Bodor laser tube cutting machine, 6 kW fibre laser |
| Round tube and pipe | Up to 220 mm outside diameter |
| Square hollow section | Up to 200 x 200 mm |
| Length | Loads lengths up to 6.5 m |
| Wall thickness, mild steel | Up to 20 mm |
| Wall thickness, galvanised (pre-galv and hot-dip) | Up to 20 mm |
| Wall thickness, stainless steel | Up to 10 mm |
| Wall thickness, aluminium | Up to 8 mm |
| Tolerance | +/- 0.1 mm |
| Files | STEP preferred. A PDF, photo or sketch works too, and we draw it up in 3D |
| Steel | Supplied by Smartweld |
| Start | The same day your order is confirmed and the steel is in |
Section a bit outside those numbers? Ring us on 03 382 2102 and we’ll tell you straight whether it’ll fit.
Flat sheet and plate, from thin sheet up, go on the flatbed, so for those see our laser cutting service page.
RHS, SHS, Round Tube And Pipe We Cut
The tube laser holds the section in the clamp of a CNC rotating chuck and turns it under the cutting head. That means it can cut tube on every face in a single set-up, which a flatbed laser can’t do. We cut ferrous and non-ferrous sections, from round tubes and rectangular tubes to open sections.
Laser Cutting Square Tube And Box Section
SHS, RHS, box section, whatever your drawings call it. We take square hollow section up to 200 x 200 mm. Give us the size as outside dimensions and wall thickness, for example 100 x 100 x 5 SHS, and we’ll know exactly what you mean. For a rectangular section, send the size and we’ll confirm it fits the chuck.
Pipe Laser Cutting And Round Tube
Round tube and pipe go up to 220 mm outside diameter. Watch the nominal bore trap. Pipe is often sold by a nominal size that isn’t its outside diameter, so a 100NB pipe actually measures 114.3 mm across. Give us the outside diameter and the wall thickness and the quote will be right first time.
Structural Steel, Angle And Flat Bar
The machine also takes open sections such as angle, flat bar and smaller structural steel beams, as long as they fit the chuck. Custom slotted angle is a typical tube laser job. Send the size and we’ll confirm.
Materials And Wall Thickness
- Mild steel, walls up to 20 mm.
- Galvanised steel, pre-galvanised and hot-dip galvanised sections, walls up to 20 mm.
- Stainless steel, walls up to 10 mm, for corrosion-resistant work.
- Aluminium, walls up to 8 mm.
Two things worth knowing about galvanised tube. Cutting takes the zinc off at the cut edge, so the edge is bare steel. If it’s going to be exposed, plan a touch-up. And if a closed section is being hot-dip galvanised after it’s fabricated, it needs vent and drain holes. We can cut those in the same pass, sized to your galvaniser’s spec.
Cutting flat sheet rather than tube? See stainless, aluminium and carbon steel sheet and plate.
Custom Tube Cutting And Tube Profile Cutting
Custom tube cutting means your laser cut tubes turn up with every feature already in them, ready to fit. There’s no tooling changeover between jobs, so one-offs make as much sense as long runs.
Holes And Slots
Laser cut holes, square holes, slots, windows and access cut-outs, cut cleanly on any face and in the same position on every part. On a production run the first part and the last come off the same file, and that repeatability is what makes them match.
Copes, Notches And End Profiles
Copes and notches where one tube meets another, shaped ends, and decorative cut-outs for screens, signs and display work. Parts can be labelled for assembly, so whoever puts the frame together knows where each piece goes.
Tube Laser, Saw Or Plasma Cutter
A saw is still the right tool for plain square cuts to length. If that’s all a job needs, a tube laser may not be worth it.
Laser tube cutting earns its keep once there are holes, slots, copes or repeat parts, because one set-up replaces the measuring, marking, drilling and jig work. Plasma tube cutting machines suit heavy wall, while a laser gives a narrower kerf and a cleaner edge with less burr, so usually less deburring, which matters when laser cut parts have to slot together.
Slot-Together And Bolt-Together Designs
Here’s how a lot of tube frames still get made. Measure. Mark the holes. Set up a jig. Drill. Cut. Prep for welding. Weld. Assemble.
Here’s the other way. We draw it up, load the steel, and the tube laser cuts every hole, slot and joint in one pass. Tabs and slots locate each part in position, so the frame goes together the right way without a jig. If it still needs welding, the tabs hold it square while you tack it.
Often we go a step further and take the welding out altogether. We redesign the frame as a bolt-together kit, with every part labelled for assembly.
Send us the welded design you build today and we’ll look at whether it can be cut to slot or bolt together.
A Welded Frame Redesigned To Bolt Together
We’ve done this for one client already and we’re working on a second design for another.
Tube Laser Cutting Services And How To Send A Job
Our tube laser cutting services cover one-off parts and full production runs, from a single decorative piece to repeat frames.
- Send us a STEP file, or a drawing, photo or sketch with the dimensions.
- We check it, and draw it up in 3D if it isn’t already.
- We quote. Once you confirm the order, we order in the steel.
- The same day the steel is in, our operator programs the cut and the job starts on the tube laser.
- You collect, or we arrange freight.
Files We Take
STEP is the industry standard and the quickest way to a quote. No STEP file? Send a PDF drawing, a photo or a sketch with dimensions and we’ll draw it up in 3D software before it’s cut.
With the file, tell us the material, the section size and wall thickness, the length, how many you need, and any finish.
Turnaround And Steel Supply
We supply the steel. Once your order is confirmed and the steel is in, cutting starts the same day. How long the run takes depends on the job, the wall thickness and the cutting speed that suits it, so ask for a date when you get your quote.
Who We Cut For
- Steel fabricators and metal fabrication shops who’d rather spend shop hours welding and assembling than marking out and drilling.
- Structural engineers who need copes, notches and connection holes cut to the drawing.
- Gate, fencing and balustrade makers running posts and rails with every hole in the same place.
- Truck, trailer and transport builders cutting frames and brackets straight from the file.
- Architectural metalwork, including decorative cut-outs, lettering and display pieces.
We’re an engineering business as well, so if the parts need welding, press brake folding or fabrication after cutting, we do that in-house too.
Tube Laser Cutting In Christchurch
We do our tube laser cutting for Christchurch from our workshop at 1431 South Eyre Road, Swannanoa, north of the city near Rangiora. Fabricators across Christchurch, Rangiora, Kaiapoi and the rest of Canterbury can call us on 03 382 2102 or email sales@smartweld.co.nz.
Tube Laser Cutting NZ Wide
We can cut for customers outside Canterbury too, anywhere in New Zealand. Send the file and we’ll quote freight with the job.
Tube Laser Cutting Questions
What is tube laser cutting and how is it different from sheet laser cutting?
Tube laser cutting is a cutting process where a laser beam cuts holes, slots, copes and shaped ends into tube and other sections, held in a CNC rotating chuck that turns the tube under the cutting head. A sheet laser only cuts flat sheet and plate. Smartweld runs two laser cutting machines. A 6 kW Bodor tube laser handles sections, and a separate flatbed laser handles sheet and plate.
What sizes and sections can you tube laser cut?
Smartweld’s tube laser takes round tube and pipe up to 220 mm outside diameter and square hollow section up to 200 x 200 mm, in lengths up to 9 metres. It also takes RHS, angle, flat bar and smaller structural beams that fit the chuck. For a rectangular or open section, send us the size and we’ll confirm it fits.
How thick a wall can you cut in steel, stainless and aluminium?
The tube laser cuts walls up to 20 mm in mild steel, 20 mm in pre-galvanised and hot-dip galvanised steel, 10 mm in stainless steel and 8 mm in aluminium.
What file do I send for a tube laser quote?
A STEP file is the quickest route, because it’s the industry standard and carries every cut. If you don’t have one, send a PDF drawing, a photo or a sketch with dimensions and we’ll draw it up in 3D before cutting. Include the material, section size, wall thickness, length and quantity.
How accurate is a tube laser, and what tolerance can you hold?
Smartweld’s tube laser cuts to +/- 0.1 mm, the high precision that tab and slot parts rely on. Hollow section from the mill has its own size and straightness tolerances, so design your fits around the steel as well as the laser.
Can you laser cut galvanised tube?
Yes. We cut pre-galvanised and hot-dip galvanised sections with walls up to 20 mm. The cut edge ends up bare steel, so plan a touch-up if it will be exposed. If you’re galvanising a closed section after fabrication, we can cut the vent and drain holes your galvaniser needs.
Can a welded frame be redesigned to bolt together?
Often, yes. We redesign the frame so its parts locate with tabs and slots and bolt together, cut every part in one pass, and label each one for assembly. That takes out the measuring, jigs, drilling and, in many cases, the welding. Send us the design you build now and we’ll look at it.
When should I use a saw instead of a tube laser?
Use a saw when all you need is plain square cuts to length. Using a laser for that usually adds cost without adding much. A tube laser pays off when the parts need holes, slots, copes or shaped ends, or when you’re cutting the same part over and over.
Do you supply the steel and how long does a job take?
Yes, Smartweld supplies the steel. Once your order is confirmed and the steel is in, the job starts on the tube laser the same day. How long it takes after that depends on the size of the run, so ask for a date when you get your quote.
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