Accuracy is good; tolerance is better. Why you must specify your steel cutting tolerance

We all need a little tolerance. In the steel industry, the amount of tolerance you need for your steel cutting will depend entirely on your project.

While Edcon Steel always tries to be as accurate as possible, this accuracy costs real money in machine setup and quality control, waste or rework.

These costs increase as lower steel cutting tolerances are required by the customer.

Need less tolerance?

If you require more accurate cutting we may be able to achieve this, but you will need to specify – and you should wait until you get written confirmation that we are able to achieve your required tolerance.

There are times our machines and team will not be able to cut to the accuracy you request (outside of +/-2mm).

Please understand that this can happen and we will discuss it with you prior to commencing your order.

If we are unable to cut to your requested accuracy, we may be able to send materials in full lengths or overcut sizes to a processing facility with the correct equipment to get your job completed.

Tolerances and cutting types

One crucial point is that standard tolerance applies only to square or 90-degree cuts; it does not apply to mitre cutting.

We cannot offer a tolerance better than +/- 4mm on any mitre cuts.

Accurate high-tolerance mitre-cutting requires specialised operators and equipment, and we do not have the volume of work to commit to more accurate mitre-cutting services.

Do you need a minimum or maximum cut dimension?

If you need to make sure your material fits between two fixed points (i.e. that it is shorter than the specified dimension), you must specify that when ordering your steel cutting.

For example, if your two fixed points are 1042mm apart, you should request that we cut your steel to a custom size of 1042mm (+0mm and -2mm). This means any piece cut between 1042mm and 1040mm is within tolerance.

NOTE : You may need to give yourself more room and allow a gap to ensure your piece fits between your points.  A gap of 2mm each end or 4mm might help with fitting between your fixed points.  In this example you would cut a sizes of 1042 – 4 = 1038mm.

More than one dimension?

Where cutting sheet or plate, pieces are custom cut to an A x B dimension.

The same +/- 2mm tolerance applies to each cut side and to the ‘squareness’ of the plate.

We measure squareness by comparing the diagonals of a plate or sheet. If the diagonal dimensions taken from opposite corners are the same, then the piece is square.

In Edcon Steel standards, any variation in the diagonal dimension of less than +/- 2mm is cut to tolerance.

A warning on cutting plate or sheet to fit into existing openings

When ordering custom cut plate or sheet to fit into existing openings, please be mindful that the opening may not be square.

Although the piece is cut correctly to the dimensions provided, if the plate is square and the opening is not square, then the piece will not fit.

This is further complicated by tapered or out-of-square sides. Please note that our services are limited to cutting square pieces and we do not have the equipment or experienced personnel to carry out complex guillotining work.