Today, when it comes to cutting metal there’s actually over 100 different types of metals you could process. Depending on what industry you are in you probably have at least one or more types of metal you need to laser cut. FIBER or GAS (commonly CO2) laser represent the two most common processes for processing metal whether it be ferrous or non-ferrous metals. YAG or crystal laser technology has been used in the past primarily for thick metal cutting, but it is more expensive and offers a significantly shorter service life compared to CO2 and fiber laser processing.
The majority of sheet metal cutting applications – especially under 5mm – are primarily processed using fiber cutting systems. Alternatively, the downside and upside with CO2 is that it is really only able to process stainless steel, but it can also process organic materials like wood, acrylic, leather, fabric, stone, etc.
Fiber laser beams offer a metal friendly wavelength that metal absorbs more efficiently. The smaller spot size and excellent beam profile make it ideal for cutting most any metals. Most notably, compared to CO2, fiber has a straight line speed that’s 2-3x faster when cutting thin sheet metal at 5mm or less.
As far as operating costs, fiber needs only about 1/3 the operating power compared to CO2. Also, fiber offers lower down time, less ongoing maintenance translates to increased productivity.
For this reason fiber has been quickly displacing the traditional CO2 laser in most metal cutting applications.