Are you wondering how you can choose a laser machine for your type of work? in the market you can see machines of different powers and different sizes, with this blog I hope to give you a better idea of how to correctly choose your laser machine. The best choice that best fits your pocket and work applications with laser machine.

To start we must divide the laser machines into three very popular categories in the world of cutting and engraving. It is possible to say that there are other forms and processes of cut, like the plasma, the cut by water jet, or cut with CNC router, but in this case we will only talk about the laser machines.

CO2 tube laser machine

Material Type

The type of material you are going to cut or engrave determines what type of machine you need. There are different types of laser machine, CO2 laser, fiber optic laser and YAG laser. A good way to know what type of laser you need is the following.

Type of CO2 laser can cut: Paper, cardboard, cardboard, fabrics, leathers, foami, rubber, wood, acrylic and different plastics.

Type of CO2 laser can engrave: Cardboard, leather, some fabrics, foami, plastics and rubber, glass, wood, acrylics, coated or anodized metals, fruits, vegetables, among other non-metallic materials.

Work areas

30x40cm/ 40x60cm/ 90x60cm/ 130x90cm/ 130x250cm

Depending on the area of material you want to cut, you can also choose a work area for your machine.

Tube power

The power of the tubes define how deep and how thick they can work on different materials. Then I will leave a list of depth of cut of our tubes on reference materials, acrylic and wood.

40W: Acrylic 5MM Wood 3MM

80W: Acrylic 10MM Wood 5MM

100W: Acrylic 15MM Wood 10MM

130W: Acrylic 20MM Wood 15MM

150W: Acrylic 25MM Wood 15MM

When choosing a laser cutting and engraving, you must take into account what type of material you are going to work, example: if you are going to cut MDF boards of 1.20 x 2.0 or 2.5 meters, then you need a 130x250cm machine. Now, depending on the thickness of the material it is also defined what type of machine you need. If you are going to cut 10MM MDF woods you will need a 130×250 machine with a 150W tube. But if you need to cut paper and make crafts with leathers, you could choose a machine from a 90×60 work area or if you handle large leather feet you could choose the machine 130×90. On the other hand, an 80W tube can be used to cut paper and leather, so you could choose a 90×60 machine with an 80W tube or a 130×90 tube with an 80W tube.

Fiber optic cutting laser

Material Type

This machine can only cut, and is designed to cut metals, this machine can not work on lijero materials such as acrylic or wood.

Type of laser: optical fiber

You can cut metals like: Galvanized steel, stainless steel, carbon steel, brass, copper and sweet sheets.

Work areas

These fiber optic machines have working areas of 130x250cm and 150x300cm

Work areas: 130x90cm/ 130x250cm/ 150x300cm/ 200x400cm

Depending on the area of material you want to cut, you can also choose a work area for your machine.

Fiber laser

These machines offer 1000W 1500W 2000W 3000W 4000W 6000W 8000W and 12000W laser fiber.

1000W :  5MM stainless steel   12MM carbon steel

1500W:  6MM stainless steel  14MM Carbon Steel

2000W: 8MM stainless steel  18MM carbon steel

3000W: 12MM stainless steel  22MM carbon steel

4000W: 14MM stainless steel  25MM carbon steel

This fiber optic machine is exclusive for metallic materials and industrial works, this means that you cannot cut materials such as acrylic or wood or paper among many other materials, it is only dedicated to cutting metal materials.