Custom Perforated Sheet Metal: Laser Perforation

We make perforated sheet metal by laser cutting — to your size, pattern and material. This is a fundamentally different service from buying standard perforated sheet: instead of adapting to what's in stock, you get exactly the pattern, hole pitch and format your product needs.

How this differs from off-the-shelf perforated sheet

Store-bought perforated sheet is stamped in large batches. Hence its advantage — a low price per square meter — and its drawbacks, familiar to anyone who has tried to build something from such a sheet:

• A fixed set of holes. A few standard diameters and pitches — and that's it. Your own pattern is impossible.
• Standard sheet format. You have to cut it to your size yourself, and the perforation edges end up sliced through the middle of the holes.
• No solid margins. A stamped sheet is perforated all over, so a hole-free border around the perimeter is not an option.
• Simple holes only. Round, square, sometimes oval — no patterns, lettering or gradients.

The laser removes all these limitations: we cut every hole individually, so you define the shape, the layout and the perforation-free zones.

What patterns are possible

• Classic perforation — round holes in a staggered or straight grid, with the pitch you need.
• Geometric patterns — squares, diamonds, hexagons, slots, combinations of shapes.
• Gradient — hole density changes smoothly across the surface: a popular choice for facades and screens.
• Artistic perforation — floral motifs, abstract designs, a logo, lettering, any vector image.
• Combined — a perforated center and a solid border for mounting.

You can send the pattern as a vector file or describe it in words — our engineer will prepare the layout and show you how it will look at your size.

Materials

We perforate mild steel, galvanized steel, aluminum and stainless steel. Stainless is the most common choice for wet areas, food production facilities and facades: it needs no painting and keeps its appearance for years.

Mild steel is cheaper, but after perforation it needs protection — usually powder coating. An important detail: painting must be done after perforation, otherwise the hole edges remain unprotected and are the first to rust.

Where it is used

• Gates, wickets, fences. Perforation gives privacy without turning the yard into a solid box — and doesn't catch the wind.
• Facade cassettes and decorative screens. A pattern on a facade, air-conditioner enclosures, sun-shading panels.
• Ventilation grilles and equipment covers. Wherever airflow is needed together with protection.
• Interiors. Screens, partitions, ceilings, furniture elements, backlit panels.
• Railings and stair flights — perforated decking doesn't collect water and snow.

Technical limits

Laser perforation has physical limits worth knowing before you start designing:

• A hole cannot be smaller than the metal thickness — a 2 mm hole in a 3 mm sheet is not feasible.
• The webs between holes must not be thinner than the sheet thickness, otherwise the metal overheats and deforms.
• Dense perforation over a large area accumulates heat, so a very thin sheet with closely spaced holes may warp — this is solved with a thicker sheet or lower hole density.

We check these points before production and, if the pattern isn't manufacturable, suggest what to change — usually a slightly larger hole or pitch is enough.

How much it costs

The price of perforation depends first of all on the number of holes, not on the sheet area: every hole is a separate laser piercing. So a sheet with sparse, large perforation costs less than the same sheet with small, dense holes, even though the area is the same.

The other factors are the usual ones: material and thickness, overall size, whether painting is needed. Send us the size, the desired pattern and the material via the form — we'll quote within one business day. If you need a ballpark figure sooner, use the online calculator.

Full production cycle

Perforation is rarely the final operation. In our workshop, after laser cutting the sheet goes straight to bending (if flanges or a cassette are needed), frame welding and painting. You get a finished element, not a semi-finished part that still has to be handed off to someone else.

Describe your task in the form below — we'll suggest a pattern and material and quote the cost.