Design Guide: Laser Tube Cutting and Tube Bending

This guide is for designers who use laser tube cutting and tube bending to make their ideas a reality. It covers design tips and tricks for cutting parts, including minimums, tolerances, and sizes. The guide also covers important rules for mandrel tube bending, like tolerancing, distance between bends, bend center line radius, and bends to avoid.

Table of Contents Preview

1. Introduction to Tube Manufacturing
   - What is Tube?
   - About Laser Tube Cutting
   - About Tube Bending
   - Tube Bending Methods
2. Xometry’s Tube Manufacturing Standards
   - Laser Tube Cutting
   - Tube Bending
3. Design Guidelines
4. Laser Tube Cutting Design Guidelines
   - Materials
   - Laser Tube Cutting Sizes
   - Minimum Hole Sizes
   - Tabs, Slots, and Joints
   - Weld Seams
   - Normal-to-Surface Cuts
5. Tube Bending Design Guidelines
   - Sizes and Limitations
   - Tolerances and Dimensions
   - Center Line Radius
   - Recommended CLR by Diameter
   - Distance Between Bends
   - Bend Variation and Bend Quantity
   - Bend Shapes to Avoid
6. Design Reference One-Pagers
   - Laser Tube Cutting Design Reference
   - Tube Bending Design Reference
7. Additional Resources
   - Standard Tube Sizes
   - Additional Services at Xometry
   - Online Instant Quoting
   - Live Support