Should I buy Co2 laser cutting machine or fiber laser cutting machine

In the market of laser cutting machine, there are two kind of machines that are very popular. One is fiber laser cutting machine, and another is Co2 laser cutting machine. Co2 laser cutting machines occupy a mainstream position in the traditional sense, while in recent years fibre optic cutting machines have started to take the market by storm and are becoming increasingly popular. However, do you know the differences between the two kinds of machines? Which machine can meet our needs, and how to choose?

 

The working principle of fiber laser cutting machine: fiber laser cutting machine is a laser cutting machine using fiber laser generator as the light source. Fiber laser cutting machine is a new type of fiber laser, can output high energy density laser beam, and which gathered on the surface of the workpiece, so that the workpiece by the ultra-fine focus spot irradiation area is instantly melted and vaporized, through the CNC mechanical system to move the spot irradiation position to achieve automatic cutting, fast and high precision.

The operating principle of the CO2 laser cutting machine is that the laser power supply drives the laser tube to emit light, which is refracted by several reflective mirrors, so that the light is transmitted to the laser head, and then the focusing mirror installed on the laser head converges the light into a point which can reach a very high temperature, thus sublimating the material into a gas instantly, which is sucked away by the extractor fan, thus achieving the purpose of cutting.

 

The CO2 laser has a wavelength of 10.6um and the fiber laser has a wavelength of 1.06um. The former is more easily absorbed by non-metals and can cut non-metal materials such as wood, acrylic, PP and organic glass with high quality. Fiber laser cutting machine can only cut metal, can not cut fabric, leather, stone and other non-metal, the reason is simple, fiber laser cutting machine wavelength range is not in the absorption range of the above materials, or absorption is not appropriate, can not achieve the ideal cutting effect, at present, the application of fiber laser cutting machine on non-metal cutting advantage is not so obvious.

 

Of course, we have to choose according to the material and the area in which the machine is to be applied.

Fiber laser cutting machine is widely used in electronics, electrical, mechanical hardware, new energy, packaging, solar energy, LED, automotive and other industries. It is good at processing on common metal products in daily life, such as advertising metal letters, kitchenware, environmental protection equipment, etc. Widely used in cutting various metal materials, such as stainless steel, carbon steel, alloy steel, copper, brass, silicon steel, galvanized steel, nickel-titanium alloy, chromium-nickel-iron alloy, titanium alloy, etc.

CO2 laser cutting machine, capable of engraving and cutting various non-metals such as acrylic, duplex, marble, wood, MDF, plywood, textiles, leather, glass, paper, etc. It is widely used in many industries such as handicrafts and gifts, souvenirs, Chinese paper-cutting, advertising boards, garments, furniture and so on.

 

Buying two machines is certainly an option, but two-in-one machine is more advantageous in terms of cost and space occupation. Jinan AccTek Machinery Co., Ltd. produces two types of machine that can cut both metal and non-metal.

1. One is a hybrid cutting machine. The CO2 laser is used as the laser source of the machine, and a laser head capable of cutting metal is added to the standard CO2 laser machine. This mixed metal laser cutting machine can be widely used in the cutting of non-metal materials and metal plates, with smooth cutting edges, no burrs.

The machine can processing the materials in a fast speed, with the features of high precision and high efficiency. Operational speed, laser energy real-time adjustable, and very easy to operate. Most customised machine sizes are 1390/1610/1325/1530, but other sizes can be negotiated if required.

2. The other model is a hybrid model that cuts by combining two laser sources, a fibre laser generator and a carbon dioxide laser tube, on one machine. The cutting of metals and non-metals is achieved by adopting two systems to control the fibre laser cutting head and the carbon dioxide laser cutting head separately.

This CO2 & fiber combo laser cutting machine for metal and non-metal adopts double gantry structure, and its advantage is that it can be equipped with two independent control systems, which control fiber laser and CO2 laser respectively.

So with two heads, the metal materials can be processed by fiber laser head, and the non-metal materials can be processed by the Co2 laser cutting head One machine has more functions and is more cost-effective than buying two independent machines.

 

So as we can see, the choice of model should be made with reference to the actual use, not blindly following the trend. For more information about configuration, or for advice, feel free to contact AccTek.