When you send us a DXF file for laser cutting, you might think the geometry is the geometry — a line is a line, a circle is a circle. But in practice, the quality of your DXF file directly affects cut quality, lead time and cost. We see this every week on the workshop floor.
Open contours. A profile that isn't a closed loop means the laser doesn't know where to start and stop. We have to repair the geometry before we can cut it — which adds time to your job. A clean DXF has every profile as a closed, continuous contour.
Duplicate lines and overlapping geometry. When a drawing has been edited multiple times, you often end up with lines on top of lines. The laser cuts the same path twice, wasting time and leaving a wider kerf than intended. Clean up your geometry before sending it.
Dimensions that don't match the title block. We've seen drawings where the title block says 100mm but the actual geometry is 98.5mm. We measure and confirm before cutting, but it's a delay. Make sure your CAD model matches your dimensions.
Unnecessary internal corners. Laser cutting leaves a small radius at internal corners (because the beam has a diameter). If your design has sharp internal 90-degree corners, the cut won't be perfectly sharp. We can advise on corner radii that cut cleanly.
When we receive your DXF, we check it before we quote — not after. If the file has issues, we flag them and discuss the fix with you before we start. We'd rather spend ten minutes cleaning up a file than cut a batch of parts that are wrong.
If you don't have a clean DXF, send us whatever you have — a PDF sketch, a hand drawing, a photo. We'll redraw it to a clean DXF and confirm dimensions with you before we cut. No extra charge for the redraw on most jobs.
We've been on both sides of the drawing. When a clean DXF comes in, the job flows: we nest it, cut it, quote it fast. When a messy file comes in, we spend time repairing geometry, calling to confirm dimensions, and reworking the program. That time gets added to the job — either in lead time or in cost.
Our advice: spend an hour in CAD before you send the file. Close your contours, remove duplicate lines, check your dimensions, and ask us to review the drawing before you finalise it. We'll flag anything that won't cut cleanly, suggest design improvements, and make sure the first cut is the right cut.
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