Laser Kiss Cutting
What is A Kiss Cut?
“Kiss Cut”, that’s an unusual term for any industry, but it explains the process used in laser cutting services that provide this type of cut. A kiss cut is a way to provide precision cut 2D components on an adhesive backed substrate. Unlike traditional cutting that cuts all the way through the material. Kiss cutting is done when the designed flat parts will be applied as needed by the requester or third-party manufacturers. The result of this process is that the parts can be peeled off and used when needed, so the results are like precision stickers. This technique is often done with ultra-thin materials in thicknesses between 0.0254mm to 0.203mm and applied to an adhesive backed substrate. Polyimides, Peek, mylar are just some of the types of materials used for kiss cutting projects. To make it a kiss cut requires knowledge of the materials and adhesives being used, which in many cases are acrylic or silicon based. Unlike a through cut, the process involves the laser parameters or “tool” to be adjusted. These tool settings include laser energy or wattage, laser passes, laser frequency, laser focus, dwell time, and laser speed (how fast is the laser head moves across the substrate). For example, a three-layer substrate consisting of a 5-mil thick Kapton sheet with a 1 mil adhesive layer, and a release paper liner can be kiss cut. The laser tool is adjusted to cut through the Kapton and adhesive, but not through the paper liner. The laser beam just “kisses” the liner but leaves it intact. Along with other settings, this combination of parameters can give customers the ability to use these types of precision parts, (shims, gaskets, spacers, thermal shields, and others), for specific applications, while being very precise in the geometry.
What Is the Difference Between Kiss Cutting and Die Cutting?
The main difference between kiss cutting and die cutting is that laser technology uses a beam of intensified light energy to cut and die cutting uses a hardened tool or “die” to cut the material. Results of a laser kiss cut part, and a die cut part would be hard to tell from a casual observation. However, under magnification, there are some significant differences like edge quality and dimensional tolerances, that can determine the ....
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Laser Kiss Cutting - A-Laser Precision Laser Cutting
A-Laser Precision Laser Cutting - Laser Ablation, UV and IR Lasers
