Laser cutting / plasma

What preparing the cutting program includes

We prepare the control program for a laser or plasma machine that the client already has, and we don't cut the metal ourselves — their equipment does the cutting, and we set its trajectory and modes. As input we take a drawing or a vector file (DXF, SVG, AI), tidy up the geometry: close the contours, remove duplicate lines and zero-length segments, place the pierce points and lead-outs. Then we set the traversal order, tabs, kerf-width compensation and form the G-code for the customer's specific controller. Separately we write the power, speed and gas-flow modes for the material and thickness so the edge is clean rather than over-burnt. In the end the client gets a ready program file and parameters verified before running on the production machine.

How the software-machine combination works

In essence it's a chain: a vector on the screen turns into a sequence of commands that the machine's motors execute along the axes. Laser cutting works because a focused beam heats and vaporizes or melts the material at the cut point, while a gas jet blows the melt out of the kerf. Plasma works differently: an arc of ionized gas melts the metal, and the same flow carries away the slag, so the speeds and gaps here are different. The program controls not only the movement but also the moments of turning the beam or arc on, the pierce, the burn-through and the transitions between contours — and on this depends whether the cut will be clean. Our part ends at correct G-code and a post-processor; the physical cutting is done by the client's equipment by these instructions.

Where the laser and cutting came from

The first working laser was fired up by Theodore Maiman on 16 May 1960 at the Hughes Research lab in Malibu — it was a ruby rod that produced coherent red light with a wavelength of about 694 nm. As early as 1961 the first commercial lasers appeared, and the technology began to be tried for material processing. In 1965 the engineering center of Western Electric used the first industrial laser to drill holes in diamond dies — where mechanics were too slow for the hardest material. In 1967 the Briton Peter Houldcroft demonstrated laser cutting with an oxygen jet, cutting a steel sheet with a focused CO2 beam — and that's where industrial laser cutting of metal began. So less than ten years passed from the first beam to real cutting.

Why software and precision decide it

The machine executes exactly what's written in the program, so an error in a contour or a mode isn't forgiven — the metal is already cut. If contours aren't closed or pierce points are placed badly, the real cut shows burn-throughs, under-cuts and dross that then have to be removed by hand. The post-processor translates the trajectory into the G-code dialect of the specific controller, and a mismatch in commands, units or axis order produces a shifted cut or a botched pierce. The power, speed and gas modes are picked for the make and thickness of the metal: the same steel on different parameters gives either a clean edge or a melted one. That's why preparing the program and verifying it matters more than the mere fact of pressing the button on the machine.

What tools we work with

The base control language is G-code: a set of commands by which the machine understands where to move, at what speed and when to turn the beam or arc on. On the machine side there's often GRBL — open firmware for Arduino-based controllers that parses G-code and drives the stepper motors in real time. For preparing jobs we use LightBurn: in it we prepare the geometry, set up layers with modes, define the cut order and export correct G-code for the client's controller. The combination of LightBurn plus GRBL covers most entry- and mid-level machines on which laser cutting runs. We pick and tune this chain for the customer's specific hardware rather than forcing a single template.

When these languages and tools appeared

G-code is older than the whole stack: the numerical-control language was developed at the MIT Servomechanisms Laboratory in 1958, and the first RS-274 standard was published by the EIA association in 1963 — machines still work on this basis. GRBL is significantly younger: the first version was written by Simen Svale Skogsrud in 2009 in optimized C for Arduino, and the project was then developed by other contributors. LightBurn appeared already as a mature editor for laser machines, grown out of earlier tools around GRBL controllers. So the foundation (G-code) was laid back in the late 1950s, while the user layer (GRBL, LightBurn) took shape over the past decade and a half. We work across this whole chain — from the base standard to the modern editor.

Why you should trust the program to us

The combined experience of our development team is more than 45 years in IT, and we approach preparing cutting programs as code: versions, verification, a repeatable result. We don't manufacture metal and say so honestly — the client's machine does the cutting, while our area of responsibility is the geometry, the G-code, the post-processor and the modes for the specific equipment. We run and verify every program before the production launch so as not to catch burn-throughs, shifts and edge defects on real hardware. The engineering approach matters more than promises: we understand the GRBL, LightBurn and G-code combination at the level of tuning for the machine's make, not in general terms. In the end the client gets predictable laser cutting on their own equipment and a program that can be put into a series.