Shedding Light on Laser Selection...

Galvo Lasers

A galvo is not really a different type of laser, but a different way of moving the laser. The galvo laser has moving mirrors in it and the beam is moved around simply by moving the x-direction mirror and the y-direction mirror. This is much faster compared to moving the entire laser head like in CO2, diode, and RF lasers. One can purchase a CO2 or Fiber galvo laser. Galvo lasers can engrave at speeds in the thousands of mm/s.

Fiber Lasers

Fiber lasers pass the laser light through fiber optic cables to create a very narrow beam. Narrow beams concentrate the power into a small area and allow very fine engraves. This concentrated power also allows fiber lasers to engrave many kinds of metals and even cut some thin metals in the higher wattage range. The laser source does not move back and forth like diode, CO2, and RF lasers, so speeds can be faster. They are good for marking metal flasks, tumblers, dog tags, etc. Fiber lasers with MOPA technology can change their frequency to make different color engraves on metal.

Some common brands that offer consumer fiber lasers: Cloudray, OMTech, Gweike, Raycus, JPT

Benefits:

Very fast, marks metal, fine engraves, generally not water cooled

Drawbacks:

More expensive than CO2 and often have a small engrave work area ($3,500 to $10,000)

Some common galvo laser companies are: Trotec, Epilog, XTool, Full Spectrum, BesCutter

Benefits:

Incredibly high speeds, different abilities depending on whether it is a CO2 or fiber Galvo

Drawbacks: Price is higher than fiber ($5,000 to $25,000)

Uv Lasers

Light is made up of particles called photons. Each color of photons have a different amount of energy. Going from red to orange to yellow to green to blue to violet, the amount of energy increases. So, ultraviolet has more energy per photos than any of the visible colors. Therefore, a low power beam can cut just as well as a higher powered beam of a different color. Using a low power beam to cut and engrave leaves much less char afterwards. Low power beams can also be focused down to a smaller point, making the beam even more concentrated power. Because the beam is so small, they’re often used for marking small objects such as electronic components, pharmaceutical capsules, etc.

Some common UV laser companies are: StyleCNC, JPT, Full Spectrum, Barch Laser

Benefits:

Low power but can still do the work of other more powerful lasers, fine beam allows for precise engraving, little char, can engrave on more materials than other lasers

Drawbacks:

Like fiber lasers, they typically have a smaller engrave area and are more expensive than CO2 or diode lasers ($5,500 to $25,000), lower price UV lasers can be slow