Precision cutting tools are varied and can be used for all kinds of cutting applications. Precision cutting tools can be used to cut all kinds of materials. These tools can be computer directed for controlled accuracy. There is little room for any variation of the cut so these tools will be used for extreme accuracy. Precision cutting tools include such tools as the plasma cutter and laser cutting tools. Oxy-fuel cutting can be used as well as tools that do water jet cutting. Also, the CNC router is listed among the many precision cutting tools.

Plasma cutters are precision cutters. These cutters were first used in 1955. These precision tools use a torch that is called a plasma cutter. It uses electrically heated gas that is forced through a copper alloy nozzle to do the cutting. These precision cutting tools are guided by a digital system that uses digitally tuned servomotors and anti-backlash gear head technology. The plasma precision cutting tools can cut a kerf that is up to .0165 inches wide.

Precision laser cutting tools are highly accurate as well. They can cut with a kerf of only 0.22 inches. A laser beam is focused on the area to be cut. The laser beam is machine guided according to a pre-programmed pattern. Laser precision cutting tools make their cuts extremely fast. Precision cutting tools that use oxy-fuel are used to cut metals containing an oxide. These cutters use a technique to make their cut by heating the metal to 1800 degrees. They then blow pure oxygen where the cut is to be made. This method can cut through this kind of metal with a kerf of .0063 inches.

Water jet precision cutting tools produce the highest precision cuts on any kind of material that isn’t brittle, such as glass or ceramic. Water jet precision cutting tools use a water pressure of over 50,000 pounds per square inch that has had an abrasive added to it. The diameter of the kerf can be between 0.005 and 0.0020 inches wide. The precision cutting tools that use a CNC router are used to cut aluminum, foam, wood and other types of soft materials like that. CNC stands for computer numerical control.