Laser-Cut Parts
Laser-Cut Plus Secondary Machining
The laser cuts the profile. A mill or reamer holds the few features the profile tolerance cannot, on the same part.
Laser-cut and machined parts are quoted here as one order: the profile is cut at a laser tolerance, and the quote states the tolerance used; a mill or reamer adds what that tolerance cannot hold, a dowel hole reamed to a slip fit, a milled pocket or step, a face held flat, an edge that locates. Milled features are quoted from the print, each with its own tolerance and datum. Send a STEP plus a PDF through the quote form; no minimum, quotes in 24-48 hours.
Updated October 2026
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Commercial work only. We don’t quote firearms, DoD, ITAR, or EAR-controlled parts.
What a mill or reamer adds to a laser-cut blank
A reamed dowel hole is the most common machined feature here, because a laser-cut hole carries a slight taper and a heat-affected edge and lands inside the profile tolerance. Wikipedia’s entry at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reamer describes precision reamers as tools that "enlarge the size of a previously formed hole by a small amount but with a high degree of accuracy", holding on the order of -0 / +0.02 mm (0.0008 in) while removing under 0.2 mm (0.008 in) in soft material.
The rest are features a flat cut cannot make or hold. Milled pockets, steps and counterbores take material out of the face, for a bearing seat or a cap screw below the surface. A face milled flat gives a mounting plate a real reference. Edges that locate against another part get milled to the tolerance on the print, and a hole pattern that must match a mating part gets its positions held by the mill. Threads are covered on tapped and countersunk holes.
Laser tolerance vs machined tolerance
The laser profile and the machined features carry different tolerance classes, and the print should say which is which. The quote states the tolerance used on the laser profile; this site’s laser cut tolerances page explains how a laser tolerance is written on the print.
Machining is a step tighter. Typical machined tolerance is ±0.005 in, and milled features and reamed holes are quoted from the print, each to the limits drawn for it. The CNC machining tolerances page covers the bands in full.
How to dimension it: profile at the general tolerance, machined features with their own callouts
Put the general profile tolerance in the title block and give every machined feature its own limits and datum reference. The governing standard is ASME Y14.5, Dimensioning and Tolerancing, edition 2018 (reaffirmed 2024), which ASME’s page at asme.org/codes-standards/find-codes-standards/y14-5-dimensioning-tolerancing describes as establishing "symbols, rules, definitions, requirements, defaults, and recommended practices for stating and interpreting GD&T". A drawing does not need a full GD&T scheme to buy a machined feature, but the feature has to be unambiguous.
In practice: a reamed hole as a diameter with limits (a 0.2500 in dowel hole with its own limits, not the title-block tolerance) or a "REAM" note; a hole pattern with a position tolerance to machined datums, not the laser profile; a flatness callout on a milled face; a pocket depth measured from the machined face. Position, perpendicularity and runout callouts are quoted from the print. The how-to for ordering this as one job is laser cut, tapped and machined as one order.
Order of operations, and why it matters
The profile is cut first with every machined hole left undersize, then the datum features are machined, then the remaining features from those datums, then deburr, then finish. Cutting the profile first makes the machining a short second setup on a near-net blank, which is why this route costs less than milling from solid. Machining the datums first is what makes a tight position callout achievable: everything is measured from surfaces the mill made, not from a laser edge.
Finish comes last, and the print should say whether a machined surface is finished or masked; anodize grows a surface, and a reamed hole anodized without a mask may no longer hold its size. The usual parts on this route are 6061 plates and spacers with dowel holes, robotics and automation plates with a flat reference face and a reamed pattern, and 5052 and 6061 aluminum brackets where one edge locates against a machined housing.
How machined features are inspected
Each machined feature is inspected against its own callout and datum on the print. A gauge or checking fixture for your own checks on repeat work is quoted on its own; custom gauges and checking fixtures covers that route.
The laser profile is inspected against the tolerance the quote states for it, separately from the machined features. If a feature cannot be made or inspected as drawn, a tight flatness callout on thin sheet for instance, the quote says so and asks how you want it handled. One plate with two dowel holes is a normal order. If a part doesn’t match the print, it’s remade or credited.
When a fully milled part is the better route
A laser-plus-machining part pays off when most of the geometry is a flat profile. When the machined content takes over, the part belongs on the mill: several faces machined, pockets on both sides, a thickness that has to be held rather than accepted as sheet stock, or plate above what a laser cuts cleanly in that material. CNC milling covers that route, and laser vs waterjet vs CNC walks through the choice for a bracket.
Where a face needs flatness or parallelism tighter than milling holds, or a hardened steel part needs a ground size, the answer is precision grinding after the machining. Where a set of plates and locators has to hold position to each other, it is a fixture question; the custom fixtures hub covers it. The laser-cut parts hub lists the other second operations that ride on the same order.
Questions
Before you send a job.
01 Can a laser-cut hole be used as a dowel hole?
Not as a fit. A laser-cut hole lands inside the profile tolerance the quote states. A dowel hole needs a class of fit, so it is cut undersize and reamed to the limits on the print. Dimension it as a diameter with limits or a "REAM" note.
02 How tight can an edge or a step be held on a laser-cut plate?
A milled edge or step is quoted from the print, separately from the cut edges around it. Give the machined edge its own dimension and make it a datum for anything that lines up with it. Flatness tighter than milling holds is a grinding callout.
03 Do I need full GD&T to order machined features on a laser-cut part?
No. Each machined feature has to be unambiguous: a diameter with limits, a depth from a named face, a position tolerance to named datums where a pattern has to line up. ASME Y14.5 is the reference for the symbols. If a feature is open to interpretation, the quote asks.
04 Why does the profile get cut first and the machining come after?
Because a near-net blank is why this route is cheaper than milling from solid. The laser removes the bulk of the material; the mill only touches the features that need it. Machined datums come before the features that reference them, so a tight position callout is measured from surfaces the mill made, not a cut edge.
05 When should the whole part just be milled instead?
When the machined content takes over: faces machined on both sides, pockets deeper than a shallow step, a held thickness, or plate thicker than a laser cuts cleanly in that material. CNC milling covers that route; send the print either way and the quote picks.
Related
Where to go next.
Laser-cut parts hub
The cut and every second operation, quoted as one order.
View →Tapped and countersunk holes
Threads and countersinks on the same laser-cut part.
View →CNC milling
When the whole part belongs on the mill from the start.
View →Get a quote
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