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Yes, brass can be laser cut with ease, and Ponoko has equipment specially designed for this task. Brass, being a metal, requires much higher laser powers than those used to cut softer materials such as wood and paper. Brass can also be cut manually with tools as well as CNCs, but these methods have a number of disadvantages. Manually cutting brass is extremely expensive as it requires highly skilled individuals to shape, cut, and smooth the metal. CNCs can cut brass automatically (like a laser cutter), but the use of a mechanical tool bit to cut pieces of brass causes tool wear which is expensive, and also requires that the material is secured down. Furthermore, CNCs are often slower than laser cutters and as such are less ideal for mass-production of 2D parts. Brass is not the only metal that can be laser cut; aluminium, steel, and copper are examples of other metals that can be cut using a laser. Ponoko also stocks these alternative metals.

It is important to understand that laser cutters are generally used with sheet materials only. Unlike what Hollywood shows, laser beams are not perfect and diverge as they leave the laser module. This means that at greater distances, the laser is less effective at cutting material, and therefore has a realistic maximum distance of cutting. Ponoko offers brass sheets up to 0.06 inches in thickness, and the specific type of brass stocked by Ponoko is called Yellow Brass. These sheets have a maximum build area of 31.1 inches x 15.1 inches, have no laser kerf width, a minimum feature size of 0.09 inches, and a minimum engraving detail of 0.04 inches.

Yes, brass can be easily engraved with a laser cutter and engraving brass has numerous advantages compared to direct printing and labels. Engraving involves a laser beam removing a small layer of material from a surface meaning that engraving is a subtractive process. Unlike ink and labels, engraved patterns are virtually impossible to remove unless an abrasive material is used, and depending on the depth of the engraved pattern, may even be impossible to remove via sanding. This makes engraving an ideal method for marking brass that needs to last for a long time, and such applications for engraving include instructions, logos, identification, and tracking codes. The advantages of engraving even go beyond the end application; they are very production-friendly. The process of engraving uses the same machine that cuts the workpiece meaning that both cutting and engraving are done in the same machine cycle. This results in extremely accurate parts whereby the engraved design and cuts are perfectly aligned while also reducing the time taken to manufacture the part(s).

The cost of getting any material laser cut has two main components to its price; the cost of the material and the cost of labour. Generally speaking, most of the cost is in the material itself and compared to other metals, brass is one of the cheaper metals to laser cut. However, it is expensive when compared to cheaper materials such as cardboard, paper, and plastic. Other cutting methods do exist for brass, but these are either more expensive, cannot produce large quantities of parts, or have poor precision and accuracy. By far the most common alternative method for production-grade brass parts would be CNC milling machines. Such equipment uses a tooling bit that grinds out unneeded material and can offer great accuracy and precision, but CNC milling is a slow process that is expensive and less ideal for mass production.

Brass is a versatile material that is commonly found in a wide range of applications, and laser cut brass parts are generally ideal for most of these applications. To start, brass has a decorative quality to it thanks to its luster and resistance to corrosion. Laser cut brass decorations can be used for metallic logos, create 3D metallic shapes, and even be used as trimming around boxes and books. One useful property of brass is that it exhibits very low surface resistance which is why brass is commonly found in locks, hinges, and gears. As such, laser cut brass parts are ideal for mechanical parts that need to minimise friction, and one area in particular that stands out is the gears found in clocks. Another useful property of brass that often goes unnoticed is that it is naturally an antibacterial surface. Brass doorknobs will self-clean their surface after approximately 30 minutes. As such, laser cut brass sheets can be applied to surfaces that expect to see heavy traffic to minimise the spread of bacteria and viruses.