We never stop updating our in-house metal processing services. As a steel and metal service center, we offer a wide range of first-step processing and fabrication services, customizable to fit your project's exact requirements. It's how we deliver the best overall product, service, and value in the steel processing industry.
What First-Step Processing Means for Your Project
Before your material reaches finishing or fabrication, it usually needs to be cut, sized, or shaped to spec. That's where first-step processing comes in. Boyd Metals stocks, sources, and delivers steel tubing, steel channel, steel sheet, square tubing, and sheet metal, and as a metals service center, we handle the cutting and sizing in-house so you're not managing multiple vendors.
Sawing Services
Sawing is a cost-effective first step for cutting single pieces or full mill bundles down to size.
What it handles:
- Capacity up to 24" square
- CNC-programmable saws for faster cuts with closer tolerances
- Miter cutting capability
- A dedicated cutting saw at every Boyd Metals location
Best for: Straightforward length cuts on bar, tube, and structural shapes where tolerance and turnaround matter more than complex geometry.
Shearing Services
Shearing gives you a fast, precise sheet metal cutting option for sizing sheet and plate without the setup time a torch or laser requires.
What it handles:
- Shearing capacity up to 1/4" thick and 144" long
- Both manually controlled and CNC-controlled shears
- Nesting software to minimize scrap
Best for: Thinner gauge sheet metal jobs that need clean, straight cuts at volume.
Plasma Plate Cutting
Plasma cutting uses an electrically charged high-temperature gas to melt through metal, giving you a quality cut with less slag than torch-based methods.
What it handles:
- Table capacity up to 120" wide and 480" long
- Thickness capacity up to 1-1/2"
- CNC-controlled with over 250 pre-programmed shapes
- Compatible with customer-provided DXF files
- Quality cuts on carbon, aluminum, and stainless steel plate
Best for: Mid-thickness plate where you need a clean cut and faster turnaround than oxy-fuel typically allows, including jobs that call for stacking multiple plates for simultaneous cutting.
HiDef Plasma Cutting
When a project calls for tighter tolerances than standard plasma, HiDef plasma is the step up.
What it handles:
- Table capacity up to 120" wide and 480" long
- Thickness capacity up to 1"
- Tolerances of +/- .0625" possible
- Superior cut quality on carbon, aluminum, and stainless steel plate
Best for: Projects where tolerance and cut quality are the priority, particularly on thinner plate where warping and cleanup time are a concern.
Oxy-Fuel Plate Cutting
For heavy plates beyond plasma's range, oxy-fuel remains the go-to process.
What it handles:
- Table capacity up to 120" wide and 480" long
- Thickness capacity up to 8"
- Multiple torches for large orders
- CNC-controlled with tee-splitting available
- Compatible with customer-provided DXF files
Best for: Thick plate work where oxy-fuel's higher thickness ceiling makes it the more practical choice than plasma.
Plasma or Oxy-Fuel: Which One Fits Your Project
Plasma tops out around 1-1/2" thick and produces less slag, which cuts down on cleanup time. Oxy-fuel reaches up to 8" thick, making it the stronger option once your plate exceeds plasma's range. If your project sits in that overlap zone under 1 1/2", plasma is generally the faster path to a clean part. If you're working with a heavier plate, oxy-fuel is built for that thickness. Estimators weighing turnaround against plate thickness can use this as a starting point, and our team can confirm the best fit for your specific spec.
Materials We Process Across These Services
The service center metals we process across these methods include carbon steel and stainless steel, with plasma and HiDef plasma also handling aluminum plate. If your project involves red metals like copper, brass, or bronze, our team can walk you through which processing method fits that material.
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Ready to let us help you with your next project?
Whether you need sawing, plasma plate cutting, oxy-fuel plate cutting, hi-def plasma laser cutting, or press brake services, now you know our laser cutting machine is just the beginning of our processing services. Contact us today to see how we can help.
