The laser cutting cost calculator estimates what each laser-cut part really costs and what to quote for it. Enter cut length, pierces, cutting speed and your hourly running costs; it returns cost per part, machine time, parts per hour, your machine hourly rate and a suggested selling price.
Faster cutting is the biggest lever on cost per part. Send us a part file and we will run it on an Arcus fiber laser and return the real cycle time.
How the cost is calculated
The calculator works out how long the laser spends on each part, multiplies that by a machine hourly rate, and adds material and a share of the setup time.
Depreciation is the machine price divided by the write-off years and the cutting hours per year. During setup, only the operator, depreciation and overhead are charged, since the beam and gas are off.
How to use the calculator
- Take the total cut length and the number of contours from your CAD or nesting software.
- Enter the cutting speed and pierce time for the material and thickness from your machine's cutting parameter table.
- Fill in your local electricity, gas and labor costs. The defaults are typical starting points, not quotes.
- Read the cost per part and the suggested selling price with your margin.
Ways to cut cost per part
- Common-line cutting and chain cutting reduce both pierces and cut length.
- Switching thin mild steel from nitrogen to high-pressure air cuts gas cost sharply where edge color is not critical.
- Higher laser power raises cutting speed on medium and thick plate, so the hourly cost is spread over more parts.
- Better nesting lowers material cost, usually the largest share of the part price. Try our sheet nesting calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is a typical hourly rate for a fiber laser?
It depends on power, gas, labor and above all on utilization. Depreciation is spread over the hours the machine actually cuts, so a machine on two shifts has a much lower hourly rate than the same machine on one. Enter your own figures to see the breakdown.
Why does pierce count matter so much?
Each pierce takes time, from a fraction of a second on thin sheet to several seconds on thick plate. A part with many small holes can spend more time piercing than cutting.
Where do I find the cutting speed?
From the cutting parameter table supplied with your laser, which lists speed by material, thickness, gas and power. If you are comparing machines, ask Arcus CNC for reference speeds at the laser power you are considering.