CO2 Vs. Fibre Laser Cutters: Differences, Pros & Cons

CO2 Laser vs. Fibre Laser Cutters

For those unfamiliar with laser cutters, it can be confusing to understand the differences between CO2 vs Fibre laser cutters.

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In this article, we explain how each one works and the core differences between the two technologies,  allowing you to make a more informed choice on which is best for you based on your needs.

CO2 vs. Fibre Laser Cutters: What&#;s The Difference?

The difference between a CO2 laser and a fibre laser cutter is simply how the laser beam is generated and directed towards the target material. This defines what materials they can work with, due to the differences in laser wavelength and power.

These two technologies are considered the 2 main types of machines and are generally much more practical, flexible and effective when compared to traditional methods of cutting.

Both machines can engrave or mark a wide range of materials, however, fibre lasers are designed to work with metals whereas CO2 lasers are compatible with a wider range of materials.

Laser cutting machines offer countless benefits over traditional cutting methods, such as computerised programming, zero material surface contact and very negligible cutting forces.

This ultimately provides the user with:

• Precision & quality
• Accuracy
• Repeatability

CO2 Laser Cutters: Everything You Need To Know

CO2 Laser Cutters are extremely popular thanks to being cost-effective and highly accurate.

They are a particularly well-suited tool for cutting and engraving an array of materials, from card and leather to wood and plastics.

However, they will not cut metals without a high-power tube (typically around 150W) and the use of an assist gas such as oxygen.

Many sectors favour CO2 machines; education, industry, small business and even home use due to their lower cost yet exceptional quality.

This flexible range of machines suits all budgets, from professional desktop machines such as our LS desktop laser cutter, to industry-level flatbeds.

How Do CO2 Laser Cutters Work?

CO2 laser cutters work by passing electricity through a CO2 filled tube to create light. At one end of the tube is a fully reflective mirror and lenses, and the other end holds a translucent mirror.

The difference between CO2 and fibre ultimately comes down to the wavelength of  the laser which dictates compatible materials. &#;How Its Made&#; give a detailed walk-through of how laser cutters are manufactured.

Similar to how the sun&#;s rays can be focused and intensified using a magnifying glass, this increases the intensity of light as it flows through the gas-filled tube.

The light finally passes through the partially reflective mirror when it becomes powerful enough. From here it is guided by another series of mirrors and high quality lenses towards the material which the intense laser heat vapourises, leaving a precise and smooth finish.

What Materials Can CO2 Lasers Cut & Engrave?

From small desktop machines to freestanding flatbeds, CO2 laser cutters can be used in many environments and for almost infinite purposes such as:

Material Engrave Cut Acrylic Yes Yes Anodized Aluminium Yes No Ceramics Yes No Cloth Yes Yes Corlam Yes Yes Cork Yes Yes Fiberglass Yes No Glass Yes No Granite Yes No Leather Yes Yes Marble Yes No Matboard Yes Yes Melamine Yes Yes Mylar Yes Yes Paper Yes Yes Painted Metals Yes No Plastic Yes Yes Pressboard Yes Yes Rubber Yes Yes Tile Yes No Twill Yes Yes Wood Yes Yes Wood Veneer Yes Yes Bare Metal * No Brass * No Stainless Steel * No Titanium * No

*When coated with a metal marking such as Marksolid.

What Can CO2 Laser Cutters Be Used For?

The flexibility of CO2 machines is extensive with a wide range of applications. Here are just a few of the areas businesses use them for:

• Engraving barcodes
• 3-D models
• Portraits
• Cutting fabrics
• Personalising cases
• Automotive components
• Electronics
• Signage

What Are The Advantages of CO2 Lasers?

Safety

All of our cabinet-type CO2 machines are Class 1 devices, meaning no laser radiation escapes the enclosure during normal operating conditions.

This is the recommended category of laser devices for schools and education.

Every machine is supplied with a standard fume-to-atmosphere fume extractor to ensure no harmful gases are released in your work area. We also have a range of standalone fume filters available for when extracting the fumes directly outside is not suitable.

You can find out more about the different types of fume filters here.

Versatility

Take a look at the table above to see just how many materials this laser can work with.

Precision

The fine response of these CO2 laser cutters enables incredibly precise cutting and engraving. Note: the precision of a CO2 laser tube can be greatly affected by the tubes temperature.

If you&#;re using your machine in a warm area, or using it extensively, you may need a more robust option for temperature control than relying on ambient water temperature. Check out this article about laser cutter chillers to learn more about laser cutter temperature management.

Disadvantages of CO2

CO2 mirrors can sometimes become misaligned meaning they have to be adjusted. We offer training for this so that machine owners can carry out these adjustments themselves.

CO2 cutters can sometimes struggle to engrave highly reflective materials, such as reflective metals, so a marking compound needs to be applied first.

Fibre Laser Cutters: Everything You Need To Know

Fibre laser cutters are dedicated metal cutting machines that offer unparalleled speed, accuracy, energy efficiency and repeatability.

They are typically suited to cutting mild and stainless steels, as well as non-ferrous metals. Powered by Fibre optic laser sources of 500W+, these machines can be configured to cut incredibly thick metals.

How Do Fibre Laser Cutters Work?

Fibre laser cutters work in a similar way to CO2 cutters, however, the light is directed through a fiber optic cable to intensify the beam before being aligned to the material being cut.

The power source largely dictates its strength. This is what results in a more powerful fiber laser beam compared to a CO2 source.

You can learn more about what a fiber laser cutter is here.

What Are Fibre Laser Cutters Used For?

Fibre Laser machines are the titans of laser cutting, performing to an extremely high standard whilst maintaining the utmost precision.

Continuous production at speed doesn&#;t hinder them, with some of the most lucrative and innovative industries in the world being heavily reliant on fibre lasers, including:

• Aerospace
• Electronics
• Medical
• Automotive
• Homeware
• Jewellery
• Solar

The uses and variety of materials fiber laser cutters can work with are vast, from cutting automotive and aerospace parts. Workable materials for a fibre laser include:

• Aluminium
• Brass
• Copper
• Mild Steel
• Stainless Steel

Thanks to their high output power, these machines can cut incredibly thick metals. Learn more about what materials fiber lasers can cut here.

Our HPC range of machines of up to 25 kW allows for cutting an incredible thickness of up to 25mm mild and stainless steels and up to 15mm aluminium with much lower operational costs than CO2 lasers.

Check out this article for an in-depth look at cutting thickness and speed.

Advantages of Fiber Laser Cutting

• Speed &#; Powerful Fiber laser machines can work in just a fraction of the time that a CO2 laser can thanks to their much more powerful power source.

• Maintenance &#; No mirror or lens cleaning, nor beam alignment meaning maintenance costs are much lower.
• Energy Efficiency & Operating Cost &#; 2-3 times more energy efficient than CO2 lasers with considerably less power consumption and lower running costs.

Disadvantages of Fiber Laser Cutting

The main disadvantage of fiber laser cutting is the initial upfront cost.

The exceptional engineering and high-grade components that make this machine so effective and efficient do come at more of an expense than CO2 machines.

As well as for cutting, a fiber laser cutter is often frequently used in much lower powers such as 30-50W for engraving onto uncoated metals. Unlike a CO2 engraving machine, a fibre engraver requires no ceramic marking compound to be applied to the component first.

The compact design of the fiber laser source means the machine can be much smaller than those using CO2. The requirements can be tailored to suit your needs.

HPC Laser builds fibre laser engravers the size of desktop computer units, to fibre cutters the size of a large room.

CO2 Vs. Fibre: Which Machine Is Right For You?

Ultimately, your operational requirements decide how to choose a laser cutter.

If you&#;re looking to engrave and cut non-metals such as acrylic, wood, card, leather and fabrics a CO2 Laser is perfect.

There&#;s a reason this is such a widely used piece of equipment, its exceptional precision allows the most detailed engraving and can even reproduce photographic images.

You will probably own several items that these machines have made or been used on (maybe without even knowing it).

Industrial fiber laser cutters are an incredibly powerful piece of equipment, more appropriate for heavy-duty metal cutting than a CO2 laser could not provide.

If you need a machine to cleanly, accurately and very consistently cut metals, a fibre laser is ideal for you.

It excels at working with more rigid materials, hence its use in the aerospace and automotive sectors.

When considering engraving, fibre machines can also be used for perfectly marking minute details on materials that some CO2 machines cannot.

If you&#;re still unsure which best suits your needs or would like to know more, please don&#;t hesitate to get in touch with the team on +44 (0) or us at .

We offer all our potential clients impartial, honest and practical advice when considering which machine and laser power is best suited to your needs.

We also offer free-of-charge bookable machine demonstrations at our showroom in West Yorkshire where you can spend around 90 minutes with one of our engineers to get the best advice face-to-face.

We understand that laser-cutting machines represent a significant investment, that&#;s why we offer:

• Delivery
• Installation
• Commissioning
• Onsite training
• Expert service engineers
• Lifetime and technical support

Our large range of machines can cater for all budgets and can be customised for specific applications.

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Diode Laser Engravers vs CO2 Laser Engravers vs Fiber Laser Engravers: Which Laser to Choose? 

1. Materials the Lasers Can Cut and Engrave

The decision to select a type of laser depends on the materials you want to engrave and cut and what the laser machine can do. First of all, if a laser can cut certain materials, it can also engrave them. But if a laser is engraving certain materials, it is not necessary it will be able to cut them. For cutting, high power is needed compared to engraving.

a. Materials Compatible with Dioder Laser Engravers

If you want a laser machine for crafting or starting a small business, a diode laser is a suitable option as it can cut and engrave a wide range of materials we commonly use. Diode laser machines can easily cut wood, plywood, acrylic(opaque), cardboard, paper, and leather. These are the common materials that almost all laser diode machines can cut according to their power.

The materials that can be engraved by a diode laser engraver are wood, plywood, acrylic, paper, leather, metals, glass, ceramics, and a few more materials.

Engraving

Cutting

Wood

Wood

Plywood

Plywood

MDF

MDF

Leather

Felt

Paper

Leather

Some opaque acrylic

Paper

Dark glass

Some dark acrylic

Stone/Ceramic/Jade/Marble/Shale/Cement/Brick

Plated metal/Coated metal

Fabric

b. Materials Compatible with CO2 Laser Engravers

CO2 laser machines are better than diode laser machines in terms of cutting materials. They can cut and engrave a broader range of materials. And due to its 10,640nm wavelength being absorbed the majority of non-metals, CO2 laser engravers can work on almost all non-metals.

A CO2 laser can cut wood, plywood, MDF, acrylic (all colors), foam, paper, cardboard, leather, plastics, fabric, and rubber. The materials that a CO2 laser can engrave are acrylic (all colors), wood, plywood, MDF, leather, plastic, fabric, rubber, brick, ceramics, bone, and coated metals.

Engraving

Cutting

Acrylic (all colors)/Plastic

Acrylic (all colors)/Plastic

Wood/Plywood

Wood/Plywood

MDF

MDF

Leather

Fabric

Paper

Leather

Glass

Paper

Rubber

Foam

Stone/Ceramic/Jade/Marble/Shale/Cement/Brick

Rubber

Plated metal/Coated metal

Fabric

c. Fiber Laser Engravers

Fiber laser machines can cut and engrave most metals and some non-metals. It cuts and marks metals that other laser machines cannot do. They can engrave and cut aluminum, brass, copper, ceramics, tungsten, chrome, painted metal, fiberglass, carbon fiber, nickel, silver, gold, stainless steel, plastics, etc.

2. Laser Power

Beginners need to understand a few things while considering the power of a laser machine. There are three types of power ratings mentioned for laser machines. The three types are laser optical/output power, laser electric power, and machine power. 

Machine power refers to the input power of the machines. It does not represent the power of a laser. The second one is the laser electric power, which is the input electrical energy taken by the laser module. The power is related to the laser module, but it does not represent the ability of the laser to engrave and cut an object. However, it can be used to understand the electricity consumption of the laser module.

The most important power is the laser optical/output power. It is the power that shows the ability to cut and engrave materials. The laser coming out of the module has optical power, and buyers need to see this power to understand what a laser machine can do.

The machine power rating is always the highest, and then comes the laser electrical power, and finally the laser optical power. For instance, a diode laser machine has an optical power of 10W, electric power of 40W, and machine power of 60W. Beginners get confused between laser electrical power and optical power. Some companies also scam people by telling them the electrical power instead of optical power. Thus, you always need to see the optical power of the machine for comparison.

a. Optical Power of Diode Laser Engravers

Diode lasers have the lowest optical power compared to other types of laser engravers. They are typically 5-40W. However, they can cut and engrave all materials we have discussed. Even this low power is suitable for small businesses. If the power is low, then there will be more passes required to cut or engrave the materials.

xTool has introduced the world's most powerful diode laser module with 40W optical power. The module is very powerful, which can cut up to 18mm wood in one pass. It does the job quickly and with high precision. It increases the efficiency of engraving and cutting of a diode laser engraver.

b.  Optical Power of CO2 Laser Engravers

CO2 laser engravers are more powerful than diode lasers. They can cut more objects as the laser beams provide more heat energy. The optical power of CO2 lasers ranges from 40W to 300W, making the machine are excellent for cutting and engraving more materials.

c.  Optical Power of Fiber Laser Engravers

Most fiber laser engravers available on the market are industry-grade, so these laser machines typically have an optical power over 1,000 watts. Some industrial fiber lasers can reach over 10,000 watts. They can cut metals, so you can assume how powerful they are.

For small business, desktop fiber laser engravers are also available. For example, the xTool F1 Ultra boasts a 20W fiber laser module that can perform deep engraving on all metals and even cut thin metal sheets.

3. Speed

One of the key factors influencing laser cutting/engraving speed is optical power. The higher the power, the faster the speed. Thus, fiber lasers typically boast the highest speeds. 

Another crucial factor is the laser scanning system. Traditional XY-axis machines move the entire laser module back and forth across the material. This mechanical movement limits speed. In contrast, Galvo systems utilize mirrors to direct the laser beam, allowing for much faster and more precise movements.  For example, both the xTool S1 and xTool F1 are a diode laser machine. However, the F1 with its Galvo system achieves a significantly higher speed (4,000mm/s) compared to the S1's XY-axis system (600mm/s).

4. Price

If you're a DIY enthusiast or just launching your small business, a desktop diode laser engraver is an attractive option due to its affordability. Typically, desktop diode lasers range from $700 to $2,500, making them a budget-friendly entry point into the world of laser cutting and engraving.

However, as your small business flourishes and your needs evolve, you might consider upgrading to a CO2 or fiber laser engraver for wider material compatibility, improved efficiency, thicker cutting and deeper engraving.

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