# How to Estimate Laser Cutting Cost Per Part > Source: https://netray.co/resources/how-to-estimate-laser-cutting-cost-per-part > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Knowledge Base ## Short answer A working formula for laser cutting cost per part: cut time, pierce time, assist gas, material by nest, machine rate, setup and handling for fab shops. ## Category ai-automation ## Content **Intro:** To estimate laser cutting cost per part, add material cost allocated by nest, cut time (cut length divided by feed rate for the material and thickness), pierce time (pierce count times seconds per pierce), assist gas, a share of setup and programming, part handling, and your loaded machine rate. Charging only by cut inches is the most common mistake: a part with 200 small holes can cost more than a larger part with a simple outline. Here is the build-up fabricators actually use, and the places where it breaks. **Sections:** #### The Cost Formula, Step by Step **Body:** Start with the flat pattern. From the DXF you get total cut length and pierce count. Cut time is cut length divided by the feed rate your laser achieves for that material, thickness and gas, which you should take from your own machine logs and not the brochure. Pierce time is pierce count times seconds per pierce, and thick plate pierces can take several seconds each. Multiply total beam-on time plus rapid moves and sheet load time by your machine rate. Add material, gas and consumables, then divide setup and programming across the lot quantity. Finally add handling: sorting, deburring, and removing micro-joints on small parts. **Bullets:** - Cut time = cut length / feed rate for material and thickness - Pierce time = pierce count x seconds per pierce - Machine cost = (cut + pierce + move + load time) x loaded hourly rate - Material = nest-based share of the sheet, less remnant credit - Setup and programming spread over the lot, then handling and sort time #### What a Loaded Machine Rate Includes **Body:** A fiber laser's hourly rate is not the electricity bill. It should include machine depreciation or lease, preventive maintenance and consumables such as nozzles, lenses and protective windows, operator and shared labor, floor space, software, and a utilization assumption. A machine that is only cutting 50 to 60 percent of its available hours needs a higher rate per cutting hour than one running two shifts, and many shops quote with a rate that assumes utilization they never reach. Recalculate the rate when you add a shift, buy an automation tower, or lose a major customer. A rate set three years ago on a different machine is a common source of quiet underpricing. #### Material, Assist Gas and Thickness Effects **Body:** Assist gas changes both cost and speed. Oxygen cutting of carbon steel is cheaper per hour but leaves an oxide edge that can interfere with powder coat or weld quality. Nitrogen gives a clean edge on stainless, aluminum and often thinner mild steel, but consumption is much higher and the gas bill becomes a meaningful part of the part cost, especially from a bulk liquid tank or generator. Thickness also moves cost nonlinearly: doubling thickness may more than double cut time. Material price should follow the current mill or service center price, and stainless carries alloy surcharges that move with nickel, so a quote built on last quarter's price list can lose money by the time the steel arrives. #### Where Estimates Drift From Reality **Body:** Estimates miss in a few predictable places. Nest efficiency is assumed at 80 percent but small lots nest at 55. Parts with tabs or micro-joints need manual removal that nobody priced. Tolerance-driven slow cutting, or parts needing a second pass, run longer than the feed table says. Scrap and reruns from a bad sheet or a nozzle problem are spread nowhere. The fix is a feedback loop: compare estimated and actual laser minutes, sheets used and handling hours per job, then adjust your rates and utilization assumptions. Shops that never close that loop are guessing with a spreadsheet that looks precise. #### Using AI to Check the Estimate **Body:** AI will not cut faster, but it can catch a bad estimate before it goes out. Connected to your ERP and nesting history, an agent can find past jobs with similar material, thickness, cut length and pierce count and show what they actually cost, then flag when the draft is well below comparable actuals. It can also read the customer print for notes such as edge condition, grain direction or burr requirements that change the process. Running it privately keeps customer drawings and your rate card inside your own network. For a shop with a handful of repeat parts, a good spreadsheet is enough. **Cta:** Send Netray a few completed laser jobs and their original quotes, and we will show how a private AI check compares estimated cost with actual cost from your own ERP data. **Faq:** #### How much does it cost to laser cut a part? **Answer:** There is no single figure. Cost depends on material, thickness, cut length, pierce count, gas, nest efficiency and your machine rate. Shops often see an all-in machine rate in the low hundreds of dollars per hour, but the part price is driven by how long the beam is on and how much material the nest consumes. #### Should I price laser cutting by the inch or by the hour? **Answer:** Hourly pricing built from cut time and pierce time is more accurate. Per-inch pricing is acceptable for quick quotes on simple parts, but it underprices parts with many pierces, tight features or thick material, and overprices simple long cuts. #### How do I account for scrap and remnants in laser quotes? **Answer:** Price material by nest utilization, not part weight. Then decide a remnant rule: either give a partial credit for usable offcuts you actually track and reuse, or treat all offcut as scrap. Crediting remnants nobody tracks inflates margin on paper. ## Related Slugs - gross-margin-analysis-manufacturing - manufacturing-costing-methods-comparison - syteline-costing-variance-investigation - ai-quoting-aerospace-defense-manufacturers ## Search terms how to estimate laser cutting cost, laser cutting cost per part, fiber laser cutting cost calculator, laser cutting hourly rate, sheet metal laser cutting pricing, laser cut part pricing formula, estimating laser cutting time --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json