Plasma or Laser?

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pete4477
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Plasma or Laser?

Post by pete4477 »

I have been in the metal fabrication business my entire adult life and am working on getting a home shop started. I am well versed when it comes to plasma and waterjets, but I know very little about lasers. Does anyone have experience with the cheap Chinese made laser tables in the 150-250 watt range?
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rdj357
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Re: Plasma or Laser?

Post by rdj357 »

I have a Chinese 90 watt but it is not designed or set up for cutting metal. I can mark metal with thermal marking spray but cutting is limited to wood, acrylic, and the like. If you're wanting a serious metal cutting laser you'll be in the 300+ watt range for light sheetmetal and the 3kw+ range for any serious cutting. Plasma is still my go to for metal cutting, the laser price is just out of reach for a small business shop.
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Re: Plasma or Laser?

Post by Bobkovacs »

You can get into plasma for under $10k- laser will be easily $75k or more
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Re: Plasma or Laser?

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A 5 x 10 cnc table with a 45 Amp air plasma will cost around $20k (with height control and good software, etc.), and will be able to cut 1/2" steel with good speed and quality. a 5 x 10 cnc Laser cutting table with the ability to cut 1/2" steel (at least a 2.5 kW laser) will set you back over $350k.

A 150 to 250 watt laser can cut vinyl, cloth, etc. It can etch wood and plastics, however will not be able to cut metals.

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pete4477
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Re: Plasma or Laser?

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Re: Plasma or Laser?

Post by rdj357 »

pete4477 wrote:What about something like this?
https://m.ebay.com/itm/250W-1325-CNC-CO ... Ciid%253A2
The maximum thickness metal that will cut is 28 gauge. Is that as thick as you want to cut?
pete4477
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Re: Plasma or Laser?

Post by pete4477 »

rdj357 wrote:
pete4477 wrote:What about something like this?
https://m.ebay.com/itm/250W-1325-CNC-CO ... Ciid%253A2
The maximum thickness metal that will cut is 28 gauge. Is that as thick as you want to cut?
They advertise 2.5 mm. I believe that is 13 gauge.
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rdj357
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Re: Plasma or Laser?

Post by rdj357 »

pete4477 wrote:
rdj357 wrote:
pete4477 wrote:What about something like this?
https://m.ebay.com/itm/250W-1325-CNC-CO ... Ciid%253A2
The maximum thickness metal that will cut is 28 gauge. Is that as thick as you want to cut?
They advertise 2.5 mm. I believe that is 13 gauge.
Sorry, you're right - I guess I shouldn't do metric conversions and read gauge charts after a few vodka drinks.... 13 gauge (where do you even buy that!?) would be possible, it looks like the higher wattage machines they make could get you to 12 gauge. Cutting with CO2 laser and oxygen would be painfully slow compared to the plasma process. Also worthy of note is the fact that the glass tubes have a 10,000 hour lifespan. That's not usage time, that's life span. Sometimes they go a little longer but with heavy use which metal cutting would put on them, it's more probably to be 8,000 hours which is right at a year. Those tubes will be $1,500 to $2,000 each so figure $3-4,000 per year for tube replacement.
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Re: Plasma or Laser?

Post by jimcolt »

2mm (which is about 14 gauge) cuts at 25 mm (1 inch) per minute. With an air plasma at 45 amps you can cut 14 gauge at 320 inches per minute. Expect to use a lot of either oxygen or nitrogen. Replacement lenses and mirrors are extremely costly.....and likely not even available in a few years.

I think laser technology will continue to progress at a rapid rate. In 5 years there will be a fairly decent laser technology that will probably sell in the $50k range for cutting up to 1/4", and will produce about 1200 watts of cutting power (and still will use high flow nitrogen for stainless, oxygen or air for mild steel. The machines referenced here are best suited (250 to 300 watts) for cutting fabrics, engraving plastics and other materials. Not nearly enough power to productively cut or engrave metals. Jim Colt Hypertherm
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