Kerf is the additional material removed by the cutting tool in the machining process. Think of a saw cutting through a piece of wood. The saw cuts through the wood where you need it cut, but it also “pushes” aside some of the wood due to the width of the blade. That is “kerf.” Laser cutter kerf is the width of the laser beam plus the small amount of additional material burned away by the heat. But be it a laser, waterjet, or CNC router, all machining processes have a small amount of kerf.
In short, you do not need to compensate for the kerf in your design with SendCutSend. We take care of it all and account for it on our end. You can be sure that provided your design follows our laser and waterjet cutting guidelines, the kerf won’t affect your design at all. If you want to learn more about kerf and some helpful tips for designing with kerf in mind, read our blog post on kerf in laser cutting.
