Plasma Cutting Cost Calculator
Estimate what a CNC plasma cutting job will be quoted at by working through the material, the plate thickness, the total cut length and whether the shop has to draw or clean up your file. Rates reflect Australian profile cutting shops in 2026.
Cut speed drops sharply above about 16mm, and consumable wear rises with it.
Add up every profile edge including internal holes, not just the outside perimeter.
Plasma holds roughly plus or minus 0.5mm to 1mm on mild steel under 20mm. If your drawing has tolerances tighter than that, you need laser or waterjet, and the shop should tell you rather than cut it and hope.
Nesting multiple parts on one sheet is where the savings are. Ordering ten brackets at once rather than one at a time typically cuts the per part price by half or better, because setup and sheet handling are shared.
💰 Ways to save
- Supply a clean, production ready DXF with closed polylines, no duplicate or overlapping lines, and text converted to outlines or removed. Shops charge $95 to $140 an hour for file cleanup and drafting, and a messy file routinely burns an hour before a single amp is drawn. Draw it properly once and the same file cuts for free on every reorder.
- Batch your parts and order to a full sheet where you can. A standard 2400 by 1200 mild steel sheet costs the shop the same to handle whether you use forty per cent of it or ninety, and most shops will quote a meaningfully lower per part rate if the nest fills the plate. If you know you will need more of the same bracket in six months, cut them now.
- Ask whether the shop can quote both plasma and laser for your job. Under about 8mm on mild steel, fibre laser is often within ten to twenty per cent of plasma on price while giving a far cleaner edge and tighter tolerance, which can eliminate a separate deburring operation. Above 20mm plasma wins clearly on cost, but in the overlap zone it pays to ask.
- Design out the finishing work. Every deburr, tap and fold is a separate handling operation billed at $85 to $130 an hour. Specifying a slightly larger clearance hole instead of a tapped one, or a bolted joint instead of a folded flange, can remove hundreds of dollars from a small job without changing how the part performs.
How we estimate this
## How Australian shops price CNC plasma cutting in 2026
Pricing reviewed: June 2026.
Pricing reviewed June 2026. Indicative Australian costs, not a quote.
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Understanding plasma cutting costs in Australia
How Australian shops price CNC plasma cutting in 2026
Most profile cutting shops in Australia price plasma work using a machine rate plus material plus setup, then sanity check the result against a per metre figure. Typical machine rates sit between $120 and $180 an hour for a standard air plasma table and $190 to $280 an hour for high definition plasma with a bevel head. Setup and programming is billed at $95 to $140 an hour.
Expressed per metre of cut, a rough guide for mild steel in 2026 is $6 to $9 a metre at 3mm, $9 to $14 a metre at 10mm, $18 to $26 a metre at 20mm and $32 to $48 a metre at 32mm. Stainless runs about fifty per cent higher and aluminium about forty per cent higher, both because of slower cut speeds and higher consumable wear.
Minimum charges and why small jobs feel expensive
Almost every shop has a minimum charge, usually $120 to $250. That covers pulling a sheet off the rack, loading the nest, setting the height control, cutting, and getting the parts off the table. A single 200mm bracket costs the shop nearly as much in handling as ten of them, which is why the first part is always brutal on a per part basis and the tenth is cheap.
If you need one small part, ask the shop when their next mild steel nest is running and whether they can drop your part into the skeleton. Many will do this for a fraction of the minimum charge because the sheet is already loaded and there is waste area to fill.
Thickness drives everything
Cut speed on a 105A plasma system on mild steel is roughly 4,500mm a minute at 3mm, 1,800mm a minute at 10mm, 700mm a minute at 20mm and 250mm a minute at 32mm. That is an eighteenfold difference in machine time per metre between thin and thick plate, and it flows straight into the price.
Consumable cost climbs with thickness too. A set of nozzles and electrodes is $45 to $90 and lasts several hours on thin plate but can be chewed through in under an hour on heavy plate with lots of pierces. Shops recover that through the per metre rate, which is why the thickness steps are not linear.
Edge quality, tolerance and when plasma is the wrong tool
Standard air plasma on mild steel under 20mm holds about plus or minus 0.5mm to 1mm with a slight bevel of two to four degrees on the cut edge and some dross on the underside. High definition plasma tightens that to roughly plus or minus 0.3mm with a cleaner edge, at a machine rate premium of forty to sixty per cent.
If your part needs holes that will be tapped, mating surfaces, or tolerances under 0.3mm, plasma is the wrong process. Fibre laser gives a square, near dross free edge with tolerance around plus or minus 0.1mm on sheet up to about 20mm, and it is genuinely competitive on price under 8mm. Waterjet handles anything but is three to five times the cost per metre and is only worth it for heat sensitive materials, very thick plate or exotic alloys.
Material supply and offcut policy
Shop supplied plate carries a margin of roughly twenty to thirty five per cent over mill price, and in exchange the shop wears the risk of a bad sheet, a warped plate or a nest that fails. Customer supplied plate cuts that margin out of the quote but shifts the risk squarely onto you, and most shops will explicitly refuse to guarantee a cut on material they did not source.
Ask about offcuts. On a job where you have paid for a full sheet, the remnant is legitimately yours, and a large usable drop is worth $80 to $300. Many shops keep it by default unless you ask, and some will credit it back against the job if they can nest it into someone else's work.
Lead times and secondary operations
Standard lead times for plasma profile cutting in Australia are three to ten working days. Same week turnaround is usually available at a fifteen to thirty per cent premium, and genuine same day work commands fifty per cent or more if the shop has to bump a nest.
Secondary operations add both cost and time. Deburring is $85 to $120 an hour and a small batch of brackets is usually half an hour. Press brake folding is $110 to $160 an hour plus tooling setup, which is $60 to $150 per unique fold configuration. Hot dip galvanising is priced per kilogram at roughly $1.90 to $3.20 a kilogram with a minimum batch charge of $180 to $350, and it adds a week to the lead time because it goes to a third party. Quote all of these upfront rather than discovering them after the parts are cut.
Frequently asked questions
How much does CNC plasma cutting cost per metre in Australia?
For mild steel in 2026, roughly $6 to $9 a metre at 3mm, $9 to $14 at 10mm, $18 to $26 at 20mm and $32 to $48 at 32mm. Stainless is about fifty per cent higher and aluminium about forty per cent higher because both cut slower and wear consumables faster.
What is the minimum charge for a plasma cutting job?
Most Australian shops set a minimum of $120 to $250, which covers sheet handling, machine setup and part removal regardless of how small the part is. If you only need one small part, ask whether it can be dropped into the skeleton of an existing nest, which many shops will do far cheaper than the minimum.
How accurate is plasma cutting?
Standard air plasma holds about plus or minus 0.5mm to 1mm on mild steel under 20mm, with a two to four degree bevel on the cut edge. High definition plasma tightens this to roughly plus or minus 0.3mm at a forty to sixty per cent machine rate premium. Anything tighter needs laser or waterjet.
Should I use plasma or laser cutting?
Under about 8mm on mild steel, fibre laser is often within ten to twenty per cent of plasma on price and gives a far cleaner edge, which can remove a separate deburring step. Between 8mm and 20mm it is a genuine toss up. Above 20mm plasma is clearly cheaper per metre.
Can I supply my own steel plate?
Yes, and it removes the twenty to thirty five per cent material margin from the quote. The catch is that most shops will not guarantee the cut on material they did not source, so if the plate is warped or laminated and the nest fails, you buy the plate again. Get the re cut policy in writing.
How long does a plasma cutting job take?
Standard lead time is three to ten working days across most Australian profile cutting shops. Same week turnaround typically costs a fifteen to thirty per cent premium and same day work fifty per cent or more. Add roughly a week if the parts need hot dip galvanising, since that goes to a third party.
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