Tube Cutting

Tube cutting produces straight or profiled tube lengths with controlled cut quality and length tolerance using saws, lasers, or abrasive cutting methods.

Overview

Tube cutting removes tube stock to specific lengths or profiles using saws, laser tube cutting, or abrasive cutting equipment. It handles round, square, and rectangular tubing, and can add features like miters, slots, copes, and holes in a single setup on advanced machines. Cut quality and tolerance depend on method: sawing is economical and flexible, laser tube cutting gives clean edges and tighter control, abrasive cutting handles hard or delicate materials.

Use tube cutting when your design is fundamentally tubular and you need precise lengths, end preps, or cut features ready for welding, bending, or assembly. It works well from prototypes through production, especially where consistent fit-up and repeatable lengths matter. Tradeoffs include cut method selection, higher cost for complex laser profiles, and limits on very short pieces or very thick-walled tubing. Good drawings that call out length, end geometry, and downstream operations (deburr, chamfer, prep for welding) help shops quote and fixture efficiently.

Common Materials

  • Mild steel tube
  • Stainless steel tube
  • Aluminum 6061 tube
  • Aluminum 6063 tube
  • Copper tube
  • Titanium tube

Tolerances

±0.005" to ±0.015" on cut length, depending on process and tube size

Applications

  • Welded tube frames and space frames
  • Automotive exhaust and intake tubing
  • Hydraulic and pneumatic lines
  • Furniture and display tubing
  • Structural handrails and guardrails
  • Bicycle and powersports frames

When to Choose Tube Cutting

Use tube cutting when your part is based on straight tube segments that need specific lengths, miters, or cut features ready for welding or assembly. It suits low to high volumes where length control, repeatability, and clean cut edges are more important than forming or bending the tube shape. Choose it early when your BOM already calls for standard tubing sizes.

vs Tube Bending

Choose tube cutting when you only need straight segments, miters, copes, or joints and do not need continuous curved sections. It’s also better when you want tight control of segment lengths and end geometry for jigged welding, rather than managing bend radii and springback.

vs Tube Forming

Use tube cutting when you are defining length and end geometry, not expanding, swaging, flaring, or reshaping the tube cross-section. Cut parts can then go to separate forming operations if you need features like flares or beads on selected ends.

vs CNC machining

Pick tube cutting when the part is largely standard tubing and the main requirement is to cut to length and add simple cutouts or joints. It is usually faster and more economical than machining bar stock when you don’t need heavy material removal, tight GD&T on complex features, or non-tubular geometry.

vs Flat laser cutting

Choose tube cutting when the material must remain tubular and you need features around the circumference or along the tube length. Tube lasers can cut profiles, holes, and copes directly into the tube, eliminating the need to laser-cut flat sheet and then roll or weld into a tube.

vs Waterjet cutting

Select tube cutting when you need efficient, repeatable cuts on standard tubing with typical tolerances and clean edges, and you don’t require the no-heat-affected-zone benefit of waterjet. Tube cutting processes are generally faster and lower cost for typical structural or mechanical tubing work.

Design Considerations

  • Specify tube OD, wall thickness, material grade, and length tolerance clearly to avoid re-quoting and miscuts
  • Avoid extremely short cut lengths; keep length at least 1–1.5× tube OD unless you discuss special fixturing with the shop
  • Call out required end conditions (square cut, miter angle, cope profile, deburr, chamfer) and which faces are critical to fit-up
  • If using laser tube cutting, dimension slots, holes, and copes with realistic minimum feature sizes (typically ≥ material thickness)
  • Indicate which ends are functional datums for assembly so the shop can fixture and measure from the right side
  • Group similar tube sizes and cut features in your design to allow common setups and reduce per-part cutting cost