Fiber laser cutting machine is also one of the most commonly used laser cutting machines. Unlike CO2 laser machine's gas laser tube and light transmission, fiber laser cutting machine uses fiber laser and cable to transmit the laser beam. The wavelength of the fiber laser beam is only 1/10 of the wavelength produced by the CO2 laser. So compared with CO2 laser cutting machine, fiber laser cutting machine has better consistency and reliability, and can process finer patterns. The main difference between CO2 laser cutting machine and fiber laser cutting machine lies in the following aspects.


1. Laser


The CO2 laser engraving machine uses a CO2 laser tube to generate a laser beam. The working medium is mainly CO2, and O2, He, Xe, etc. are auxiliary gases. The CO2 laser beam is reflected by the reflection and focusing lens and focused to the laser cutting head. Fiber laser cutters generate laser beams through multiple diode pumps. The laser beam is then transmitted to the laser cutting head through a flexible fiber optic cable.


2. Processing materials


The beam wavelength of the CO2 laser is 10.64um, which is more easily absorbed by non-metallic materials. However, fiber lasers have a beam wavelength of 1.064um, which is 10 times shorter. Due to this smaller focal length, the fiber laser cutter is almost 100 times more powerful than a CO2 laser cutter of the same power output. So fiber laser cutting machine is very suitable for cutting metal materials.


CO2 laser engraving machine can cut and engrave metal materials with low efficiency. Therefore, CO2 laser machines are mainly used for cutting and engraving of non-metallic materials. For example, wood, acrylic, paper, leather, fabric, etc.


Fiber laser cutting machine, also known as metal laser cutting machine, is mainly aimed at metal materials. Such as stainless steel, carbon steel, galvanized steel, copper, aluminum, etc.


3. Production cost


CO2 acrylic laser cutting machine consumes a lot of gas when working. But its photoelectric conversion rate is only 8% to 10%. The fiber laser cutting machine consumes less in the process of processing, and the photoelectric conversion rate can reach 25%-30%. So fiber laser cutting machine is more energy efficient than CO2 laser cutting machine.


 laser cutter


4. Maintenance cost


The structure of the CO2 laser tube is complex, and the optical lens is fragile and expensive. Replacing these consumables costs a lot. So the maintenance cost of CO2 laser cutting machine is very high.


Fiber laser cutting is basically maintenance-free and has few wearing parts. It withstands harsh working environments and is highly resistant to dust, shock, shock, humidity and temperature. Therefore, the maintenance cost of fiber laser cutting machine is lower.


5. Cutting efficiency


When the CO2 laser engraving machine is processed, the beam divergence is large, which is not suitable for large-scale processing. Although the kerf is relatively small, the processing speed is very slow when processing thick plates.


Fiber laser cutting machine is characterized by high laser beam density, high intensity, high brightness and high conversion rate. For thin plate processing, the cutting speed of fiber laser cutting machine is 2-3 times higher than that of CO2 laser cutting machine with the same power.