- Find your source's power and the material, thickness and gas in the chart
- Start from the lower bound of the range for a first quote
- Time a real job and replace the chart value with your own speed
Mild steel, oxygen (m/min)
Each cell gives the Raycus table / the IPG table at that power. The Raycus “3 kW” column is its 3.3 kW source.
| Thickness | 1 kW | 3 kW | 6 kW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mm | 10–16 / 7–9 | 10–16 / 7–12 | 10–16 / 8–12 |
| 2 mm | 5–6 / 5–6 | 5–8 / 5–7 | 5–8 / 5–7.5 |
| 3 mm | 2.5–3.5 / 2.5–3 | 4–4.5 / 3.5–5 | 3–5 / 3.8–5 |
| 6 mm | 1–1.5 / 1.4–1.6 | 1.8–2.2 / 2.4–3 | 2.5–3.5 / 2.6–3.2 |
| 10 mm | 0.5–0.7 / 0.75–0.85 | 1.1–1.3 / 1.2–1.8 | 1–2.1 / 1.8–2.1 |
| 20 mm | — | 0.4–0.6 / 0.6–0.75 | 0.6–0.8 / 0.6–0.75 |
Stainless steel, nitrogen (m/min)
| Thickness | 1 kW | 3 kW | 6 kW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mm | 20–24 / 15–18 | 35–45 / 35–50 | 50–70 / 45–55 |
| 2 mm | 6–7 / 4.5–6 | 12–14 / 15–23 | 30–40 / 20–35 |
| 3 mm | 2–3 / 2–2.4 | 8–9 / 7–11 | 14–20 / 15–20 |
| 6 mm | — | 1.6–2.1 / 2–3.2 | 4–7 / 6–8 |
| 10 mm | — | 0.6–0.8 / 0.7–0.9 | 1.5–2.5 / 1.8–2.2 |
Aluminium, nitrogen (m/min)
| Thickness | 1 kW (Raycus only) | 3 kW | 6 kW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mm | 10–12 | 25–33 / 30–38 | 50–70 / 45–55 |
| 2 mm | 2–3.5 | 10–14 / 12–16 | 25–35 / 20–30 |
| 3 mm | 0.5–1 | 5–7 / 6.5–8 | 15–25 / 13–18 |
| 6 mm | — | 1.5–2.5 / 1.8–3 | 4–6 / 4–6 |
| 10 mm | — | — / 0.4–0.7 | 1–2 / 1–1.9 |
Plasma, for comparison
A Hypertherm Powermax45 XP with air cuts 3 mm mild steel at 3960 mm/min (about 4 m/min) and 10 mm at 780 mm/min at Best Quality, from the manufacturer's own chart — the full row is in the plasma guide.
Why the charts disagree
- No laser maker's own chart was available to us: the tables above are compilations MachineMFG published for Raycus and IPG sources. A third table (an MFSC-3000 data sheet) and a shop's quoting table differ again.
- The fiber core and optics matter: in the IPG table, the 1.5 kW source with a 100 µm core is slower on 1 mm stainless (10–15 m/min) than the 1 kW source with a 50 µm core (15–18 m/min).
- Chart speeds are straight-line speeds. Real parts slow down at corners and small holes: a shop's own quoting table uses 5 m/min for 1 mm mild steel, against 7–16 m/min in the charts.
- Nozzle, gas pressure, focus and the state of the protective window all change the result.
What Zorocut starts from
Zorocut's starter table takes the lower of the Raycus and IPG lower bounds, at the highest power class at or below your machine's — 3.5 m/min for 3 mm mild steel at 3 kW, 12 m/min for 2 mm stainless — and the next thicker row when yours is not listed, so a first quote errs high, never low. Galvanised steel has no published chart: Zorocut uses the stainless nitrogen row as a placeholder and says so. Brass and copper have no starter values; enter your own.
Sources
- MachineMFG, Laser cutting speed chart for 750–6000 W Raycus fiber laser source (archived copy)
- MachineMFG, Fiber laser cutting speed chart 1000–6000 W with IPG laser source (archived copy)
- MachineMFG, 3000 W fiber laser cutting machine parameter tables (archived copy)
- MFSC-3000 (50 μm) cutting data sheet (publisher unknown)
- Aston Precision, Laser Cutting Cost Estimator (feed, pierce and rate tables)
- Hypertherm, Powermax45 XP/65/85/105 Cut Charts Guide 811300MU (cartridge, Duramax torches)
- LaserCalc Pro, cutting speeds quick reference (public tables removed 2026-05-22)
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