Punching guide
How to prepare your DXF file for punching
Punching can do more than cutting: it forms the material instead of just cutting it. Here is what it can do and how to mark it in your drawing to get an automatic quote.
Capabilities
What a punch press can do
Holes, slots and repeated shapes
High precision kept identical on every part of the batch, even with complex geometries.
Cage nuts and threaded inserts
Inserted directly during punching, without a separate operation.
Countersunk or extruded holes
Controlled deformation of the hole (countersinking or extrusion) for countersunk screws or specific fits — a laser only cuts, it cannot form.
Ventilation louvres
Slats raised from the plane of the sheet to let air through, in a single punching operation.
Stiffening ribs and beads
Structural reinforcements formed directly in the panel, including shaped/curved paths, without adding material.
In your CAD
How to prepare the DXF file
Draw the cutting profile (holes, slots, outer contour) as usual. For the three operations above, mark the geometry on a dedicated layer — the online quote recognises it and adds it automatically, with nothing else to specify by hand.
What to draw
Any mark (e.g. a small circle) at each hole to be countersunk or extruded. No precise size needed: it is just a marker.
What happens in the quote
An extra charge in the quote for each marked hole.
What to draw
A closed frame (rectangle or other shape) enclosing each ventilation louvre group as a whole — no need to mark every single slat.
What happens in the quote
An extra charge in the quote proportional to the area enclosed by the frame.
What to draw
The actual path of the rib or bead (lines, arcs or shaped curves) — here the geometry really matters.
What happens in the quote
An extra charge in the quote proportional to the total length of the path.
Note: layer names are not case-sensitive and accept singular/plural (e.g. "svasatura" or "SVASATURE" both work). Keep the Italian layer names shown above. Geometry on these layers is excluded from normal cutting: it only marks the operation and is not cut.
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