What is piercing in laser cutting?

Piercing is the process of creating an initial hole through the material before cutting begins. The laser must burn through the full thickness at high power, which takes significantly longer than cutting along a line.

Why does piercing take so long on thick material?

Thick materials require more energy to melt through completely, so pierce time increases with thickness. As one example, piercing 10mm steel might fall in a range like 0.4-0.8 seconds in some setups, while cutting at 1 m/min would traverse the same thickness in about 0.6 seconds. For 100 holes, that would add tens of seconds of pure piercing time. Always validate actual times on your own machine.

How can I reduce piercing time?

Reduce pierce count by redesigning parts with fewer internal features, use common-line cutting where parts share edges, position small cutouts on part edges to eliminate piercing, and consider starting cuts from material edges when possible.

Does laser power affect pierce time?

Yes, higher available power can significantly reduce modeled pierce times. In simple comparisons, moving from 6kW to 12kW may cut pierce time for some thick materials to roughly around half, but in practice piercing is often power-limited to avoid splatter and damage. Use this estimator and your own cut data to understand how power changes affect your specific jobs.

Pierce Time Estimator

Calculate laser piercing time for accurate cost estimates and job planning

Job Parameters

Pierce Time Impact:

Increases linearly with hole count
Can represent a significant share of total cutting time on highly perforated jobs
Often overlooked in manual quotes

Enter parameters to calculate pierce time

Pierce Time Reference (6kW Fiber Laser)

Material	1mm	3mm	6mm	10mm	15mm
Mild Steel	0.05s	0.15s	0.4s	0.8s	1.5s
Stainless Steel	0.08s	0.25s	0.6s	1.2s	2.0s
Aluminum	0.06s	0.18s	0.5s	1.0s	1.8s
Brass	0.10s	0.30s	0.7s	1.4s	2.5s
Copper	0.12s	0.35s	0.85s	1.6s	3.0s

Pierce times are approximate and vary with laser power, gas pressure, nozzle condition, and material quality. In simple models, pierce time tends to decrease as available power increases; as a rough mental check, doubling power can sometimes bring times closer to half these values. Real processes are often power-limited and may not follow this scaling exactly, so always rely on your own cut charts and test parts.

Workflow Integration

1. Pull job inputs. Use CAM data or the processing parameters reference to log thickness and hole counts.
2. Run the pierce estimator. Capture the extra minutes and plug the cost impact into the laser cutting calculator or price per meter tool.
3. Archive the data. Save pierce assumptions with your hourly rate burden so future quotes reuse the same values.

Understanding Pierce Time

What Is Piercing?

Piercing is the process of creating an initial hole through the material before the laser begins cutting a contour. The laser must burn completely through the material at a single point, which requires significantly more time than cutting along a line because there is no forward motion to distribute the heat.

Why Pierce Time Matters

Pierce time is often overlooked in manual quotes, but on parts with many small features it can be a noticeable share of modeled job time. As an illustration, a 100-hole part in 10mm steel might contribute on the order of tens of seconds of pure piercing time (for example, a range like 40-80 seconds in some setups) before any cutting begins. At a $100/hour machine rate, that kind of pierce-time block would correspond to roughly a couple of dollars of modeled cost. Always confirm actual times and costs using your own cycle data.

Pierce Time vs. Cutting Time

Example: 10mm Mild Steel with 6kW Fiber Laser

Pierce time (example): 0.8 seconds per hole
Cutting speed (example): 1 m/min = 16.7 mm/sec
Cutting 10mm in this simple model: about 0.6 seconds
Result in this scenario: the modeled pierce time is longer than the modeled cutting time for the same thickness; your actual ratio will depend on your parameters and machine.

Cost-Effective Pierce Reduction Strategies

1. Edge Starts

Position features on part edges to eliminate piercing. A slot that reaches the edge requires no pierce.

2. Common-Line Cutting

Nest parts so they share cutting lines. Each shared line eliminates one pierce.

3. Feature Consolidation

Replace multiple small holes with fewer larger features where functionally acceptable.

4. Batch Processing

Group similar parts to amortize setup time and maximize material utilization, reducing pierce count per part.

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