Lian Li Factory Tour: Only Ever Aluminium

Big Frikkin' Laser Cutters

Lian Li's laser cutter handles the larger sheets such as side panels (shown below) and it uses an 8kW IR laser that has to be cooled with Liquid Nitrogen. It also drops out onto the sheet itself providing an inert local atmosphere and quick cooling. This prevents oxdisation and discolouration - without it we were told the edges and local area would be black.


The laser can cut super straight edges or ones with slight perforations, such as pinking shears. The LN2 is fed from a large tank in the room behind it. Literally, very cool. The laser will cut metal up to 1.5cm thick, but nearly all of Lian Li's panels are only a couple of millimeters thick.



Up until this point the sheets are plain, flat and textureless, but we all know Lian Li cases for their brushed aluminium look. It's after cutting that they get passed through the brushing machine. I'm not entirely sure how it works exactly but there's a lot of high-pressure water involved.

As you can see above (and from your own case if you own one) the brushed effect is completely uniform. The general manager showed me an 'NG' part that had a couple of lines down it where the smoothness was slightly visually out - honestly, it had to be held in the right light to see, but he evidently knows what to look for and was tutting with disappointment at the two slight blemishes. Unlike the random samples taken before, every sheet out of the machine is checked.