By laser processing bending cut geometries or ‘kerf cut’, sheet materials that are rigid such as acrylic and wood can be bent. We have tested a wide variety of different materials including acrylic and wood from 3-5 mm, and have provided the appropriate graphic templates for download for you on a select few.
Different cutting techniques you can process
Kerf Cut: Bended wood with straight cut lines
Kerf Cut: Straight cut lines
Kerf 1: Straight cut lines
Cutting straight lines will form a solid radius and the further apart that each cutting line is, the greater the bending radius will be. Depending on your specific material and graphic, a distance up to 0.5 mm between the lines can be processed.
Kerf Cut: Bended wood with small waves
Kerf Cut: Small waves
Kerf 2: Small waves
Cutting small interconnected waves will give the material a large bending radius and flexible appearance. This technique is best suited for materials that are up to 3 mm thick.
Kerf Cut: Bended wood with large honeycombs
Kerf Cut: Large honeycombs
Kerf 3: Large honeycombs
With large honeycombs, the curves are cut out of the sheet and tapered at each end. Because of the large honeycomb, wooden boards can be used with flexibility up to about 5 mm thick. This pattern is most commonly used in model making. The honeycombs can be easily taken apart as well as put together, and can also be combined with connections, such as with bracelets for example.
Kerf Cut: Bended wood with wavy cut line
Kerf Cut: Wavy cut line
Kerf 4: Wavy cut line
Similar to pattern 1, this laser cut pattern consists entirely of cut lines, but offers different bending properties as it is much more flexible.
Kerf Cut: Bended wood with honeycombed cut lines
Kerf Cut: Honeycombed cut line
Kerf 5: Honeycombed cut line
The uniquely formed pattern of this bending cut offers flexibility in all directions, which makes a variety of creative applications possible, such as in bag design for example.
Kerf Cut: Bended wood with wide waves
Kerf Cut: Wide waves
Kerf Cut: Bended wood with narrow waves
Kerf Cut: Narrow waves
Kerf 6 and 7: Wide and narrow waves
These cuts are versatile and work well with several different types of materials. The shape given to the individual cut lines allow for flexibility and stability.
Kerf Cut: Bended wood with triangular shapes
Kerf Cut: Triangular shape
Kerf 8: Triangular shape
Due to its design, this cutting pattern is most commonly used as a graphic element and can be bent in all directions.
The triangular shape of this cutting technique is well suited for materials up to around 3 mm of thickness, and becomes inflexible and rigid after 5 mm or more.
Templates for download
Here you can find all of the kerf cut graphics available for download.
Most types of wood will adapt extremely well to cutting techniques with bending applications. With that being said, it is important to be mindful of the wood type being used, and the following distinctions will need to be considered:
Plywood Plywood is very suitable for the use of bending applications, and by gluing the sheets, the wood will become flexible in all directions and can be bent to a narrow radius.
Solid wood For solid wood boards up to around 5 mm of thickness, cutting techniques for bending applications with recesses, such as Kerf 6, will allow for much more flexibility than a straight cut or cut without recess (Kerf 1). For this reason, it is important to laser cut your workpiece in the direction of the grain to avoid a loss in flexibility or material damage.
MDF Similar to plywood, MDF is very easy to work with. Because of the mixture of grains, aligning the cut lines is not required however.
Kerf cut: Cutting technique for bending applications
Techniques for acrylic cutting
Cutting techniques associated with acrylic are best for rigid bends, e.g. boxes or cases where the bending radius is very rarely changed. With a continuous load of the cutting pattern, e.g. with a book, the webs can easily break.
When processing acrylic, the following points must be observed:
A 2” lens (at minimum) should be used for laser cutting with bends. Since acrylic will melt from the heat of the laser beam, if the focal length of the lens is too small, it may result in the cut areas sticking back together.
We suggest using a cutting distance of around 1-1.5 mm. If melting occurs even with the appropriate lens being used, try increasing the distance between the individual cut lines. However, if the distance used is too large, bend flexibility will decrease.
Kerf Cut: Cutting techniques on acrylic bending applications
Kerf cut: Cutting technique for bending applications
Important tips for achieving the best bending result:
In summary, the following factors should be considered when creating the design:
Material properties and composition
Grain direction
Distances of the cuts
Material thickness
Looking for additional information?
Contact the Trotec service hotline where one of our top qualified and highly motivated laser experts will gladly assist you with any additional questions or problems that you have.
