I consider myself one of the lucky ones not to have received any laser cut parts in my tail, wing or fuselage kits which were all ordered prior to 2020. However, my finish kit was ordered and delivered during the laser cutting period and I notice my canopy handle looks different to all other pieces. I wondered if this was laser cut?
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Curious - is this part laser cut?
- Thread starter rsr3
- Start date
No. While the punched holes leave a relatively smooth edge, those part edges typically have a look like that, at least the thick parts do. The punch die tends to create those ridge lines, especially on the harder 2024 material. The tell tale is the asymmetry of the two surfaces perpendicular to the cut edge. One side (where the die enters) will have a smooth surface at the entry of the cut and the other side will have a small lip, where the die pushed a bit of material out past the skin in the exit side. Very similar to what you get when you drill a hole in metal - a clean entry and a bunch of sharp **** on the exit side, just different prinicples.
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I am pretty sure that part is water jetted.
Thanks for that as that probably makes more sense.
The thickness of this part can be punched, but it leaves a much more irregular edge, and the part doesn’t remain flat.
That is why it is water jetted as I mentioned in post number four.
