For anyone new to laser cutting, it’s important to know there are two main types of fibre laser cutter machines.
The more commonly used type across many industries is the CO2 laser cutter, typically used for cutting non-metal material such as card, wood or plastic. The fibre laser cutter is the other, a much more heavy-duty type, perfect for cutting a range of metals for industrial and training applications.
Identifying the type of laser cutter you want all comes down to your needs, budget and the type of industry you’re working in. We’ll explore what it is in more detail below, along with how it works and why you might need one.
What is a fibre laser cutter?
In comparison to a CO2 laser cutter, which uses a CO2 filled tube and fully reflective mirrors to create the beam light, this variety is a type of laser cutter where the laser beam travels through a fibre optic cable, in order cut materials accurately and precisely.
How does it work?
The fibre-optic cable inside the fibre laser cutter is able to concentrate light more accurately than a CO2 laser cutter, as the beam is smaller and straighter than other types of lasers. The high-power laser beam is produced using stimulated radiation and amplified by the fibre optic cable. Such a high-intensity light is thus converted into heat, which can finely melt the surface of the material you’re working with.
Due to the more powerful technology, it is the ideal type of laser cutter if you’re working with stainless steels, brass, aluminium, etc., as opposed to a CO2 laser cutter which is better suited to softer non-metal materials. For example, our entry level 1kw machine can cut through mild steel up to 10mm thick, stainless steel up to 4mm thick, and aluminium up to 3mm thick.
We offer two different sizes of fibre laser cutting machine, including a BFL1390 1300mm x 900mm machine with a fixed machine bed and a BFL2010 2000mm x 1000mm machine with a single removable machine bed.
Machines 1.5KW and above are fitted as standard with auto-focus cutting heads and all of our machines come with a host of powerful features as standard, including 2D CAD/CAM and nesting software, automatic capacitive height sensor and a superior fibre laser source with 100,000 hours life span. All fibre lasers also come with training included and a two year on-site parts and labour warranty.
See our range here to browse more of the features of these machines and find out which one is right for you.