What Is The Difference Between Fiber And Carbon Dioxide Laser Marking?

Reliablecounter Team

Laser marking has wide applications in the labeling of products where it is used to provide vital information to the consumer, such as the price of the product, among many other details. To make marking possible, you need a marking machine. There are a lot of laser marking machines on the market that you can go for. The most common are carbon dioxide machines and fiber marking machines. In this article we are going to look at the fiber and carbon dioxide laser marking machines:

 

Fiber machine

It is the most common, and you will find it in most industries. You can use it in a wide range of applications such as:

Medical Devices: Do you have a medical device that requires sterilization? These machines place identification marks that can withstand high temperatures.

Jewelry engraving: since the units are very precise, they are ideal for customizing jewelry such as wedding bands and other pieces you may have.

Laser cutting: here you use the machine to create name cutouts and monograms. It also uses the unit to make design cuts outs.

 

 

Highlights

  • Speed: faster than CO2 lasers in thin materials, since the laser can be absorbed quickly with a slight advance in speed when cutting with Nitrogen (fusion cutting).
  • Cost per piece: less than the CO2 laser depending on sheet thickness.
  • Safety: strict safety precautions must be taken (the machine is completely enclosed) since laser light (1μm) can pass through very narrow openings in the frame of the machine and cause irreparable damage to the retina of the eye .
  • Beam guidance: optical fiber.

 

 

Advantages Of Fiber Lasers.

No moving parts or mirrors.

The fact that it has no moving parts means that your metal laser cutting machine configuration is ready to start working from the start. And, should it be knocked, none of the parts will come out of alignment; resulting in costly production downtime.

 

Lower maintenance costs

The second advantage of the fact that fiber lasers are extremely insensitive, as described above, is that it means that maintenance costs are dramatically lower, as are the operational costs and with the ‘fit and forget’ technology there is no maintenance cycle or servicing to worry about.

 

Electrical efficiency

Another benefit of cost savings is that fiber lasers are much more efficient when it comes to electricity, which means lower operating costs and a more environmentally friendly machine. For example, a 3kW fiber laser uses only one third of the power of a 4kW CO2 laser.

 

Good with thin materials.

Although fiber lasers are good for working with materials of all thicknesses, they are particularly excellent for working with thin materials, including metals. Using the same comparison of lasers as above, the fiber laser is three times faster to cut in a straight line in something like stainless steel with a thickness of 1 mm, and twice as fast if the same material has a thickness of 2 mm.

 

Reflective metals

Fiber lasers can cut reflective materials without having to worry about the reflections that can damage the machine.

 

Co2 Laser Marking

The units are highly efficient in marking serial numbers, date codes and other details of product identification in a wide range of materials. You can use them on wood, rubber, plastics, glass, cardboard and product packaging. Since they use carbon dioxide to place the marks, they are generally inexpensive to handle.

 

 

Highlights

  • Quality: Quality is consistent throughout all thicknesses of material
  • Flexibility: high, suitable for all material thicknesses.
  • Safety: CO2 laser light (10μm) is better absorbed by the machine frame, which reduces the risk of irreparable damage to the retina. Personnel should not look directly at the cutting process through the acrylic pane in the door, as bright plasma also presents a vision risk over a period of time. (Similar to looking at the sun.)
  • Beam guidance: mirror optics.
  • Cutting with Oxygen (flame cutting ): there is no difference in quality or speed shown between the two types of lasers.

 

 

 

Advantages Of CO2 Lasers.

 

Works well with thicker materials.

Fiber lasers can work with thicker materials without problem, but generally a CO2 laser will leave a smoother surface finish.

 

Faster in a straight line

A CO2 laser is faster to cut in a straight line, in addition to having a faster piercing time when you start cutting for the first time.

 

Why Others Choose Fiber Lasers?

One of the reasons why people purchase fiber lasers is the low operating cost and low energy consumption with the use of fiber technology that was important in the companies at the end of the power supply limit in the workshops.

The main reason to buy a fiber machine was the cutting speed of thin materials. In addition, more than seventy percent of fiber laser customers are actually subcontractors the remainders are OEMs or original equipment manufacturers. It is surprising that one can expect OEMs to be much confident about the decision to buy fiber laser machines in which the benefits and drawbacks differ greatly, depending on the product to be cut.

In general, both fiber lasers and CO2 lasers are beneficial and useful. The best laser will depend on your preferred applications.