Technological advances make laser machining more practical

Bryce Samson has watched laser machining evolve over the past 30 years into a formidable industrial practice. The director of sales at Oxford, Mass.-based IPG Photonics Corp., which manufactures fiber laser systems, remembers the inefficiency and high maintenance involved with the large, expensive machines of the 1990s.

“They took a lot of hand-holding,” he said.

Troy Wilson similarly recalls the difficulty of laser cutting several decades ago compared with today’s ease of use. “Back in the ’80s, you needed a white lab coat to use the machines,” said Wilson, product manager for the table products division at Cincinnati Inc., a Harrison, Ohio, manufacturer of CO₂ and fiber lasers.

Image courtesy of Cincinnati

The technology of earlier-generation lasers—mostly CO₂ systems—began to mature at about the time that fiber lasers entered the market. CO₂ lasers have continued to receive tweaks that benefit users, and the systems remain popular. However, fiber lasers are increasingly viewed as the future. Users cite fiber lasers’ compact size, high reliability, long life expectancy, fast cutting speed and affordable cost.

Wilson said fiber lasers, which began to be used to cut metal about a decade ago, have reduced the cost of CO₂ machines. This has helped a lot of cash-strapped companies obtain used CO₂ equipment.

“They can get a quality product that makes quality parts at a very reasonable rate,” he said. “Get your foot in the door, get yourself established, make some money, then upgrade to a newer machine.”

If the newer machine is a fiber system, then it should provide much more consistent laser beam quality, Wilson said. Unlike CO₂ systems, fiber systems are not negatively impacted by outside influences, such as temperature and humidity, so a machine can operate for weeks and months with consistent results. Also, a fiber laser consumes significantly less power.

Conversely, CO₂ lasers can cut thicker materials at higher speeds and provide smoother finishes in thicker materials.

Going Small

IPG Photonics released its smallest fiber laser system, the 4’×4′ LaserCube, a few years ago. Samson said the standard sizes for machines are 4’×8′ and 6’×12′. The company wanted to come to market with a product at the low end of the price range to appeal to manufacturers that are considering buying their first laser cutting system. Other targets were companies that already had a machine but wanted a smaller one for small jobs or parts and companies with tight budgets or a lack of manufacturing space for a typical system.

The LaserCube from IPG Photonics at Serra Laser and Waterjet. Image courtesy of Serra Laser and Waterjet

He said the LaserCube has expanded the low end of the market and widened the adoption of laser systems. “It’s becoming more accepted that you don’t have to have a half-million dollars to get a 4’x8′ machine. You can spend less money and still get high-quality, high-speed cutting.”

Although the smaller unit often is used to make small parts, Samson said he has seen manufacturers also use it to process overflow jobs that cannot be promptly handled by a shop’s main machines.

Serra Laser and Waterjet Inc., a job shop in Anaheim, Calif., has 10 laser systems: nine CO₂ lasers and one fiber, a LaserCube.

“Our next machine is going to be a fiber too,” said the company’s president, Glenn Kline, who has been in the laser machining business since 1980. “They’re faster. There’s basically no maintenance on the machine like there is with the CO₂. And it takes a lot less electricity to run them. Our electricity bill right now is about $22,000 a month. The fibers require less than half the electricity of the CO₂s.”

NLight manufactures fiber lasers and components. Image courtesy of nLight

He likes the accuracy of the LaserCube, especially for parts in the 1⁄4″×1⁄4″ range. “The accuracy doesn’t change because there’s no mechanical system that wears out and has inherent inaccuracy,” he said. “Ten years from today, we’ll have the same accuracy.”