wrote in message
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I've been looking at 40 and 80 watt CO2 laser engraver/cutters lately.
Prices have come way down and one machine I looked at with a 40 watt
laser was less than 3000.00 bux. There are even cheaper ones but they
were a little too basic for me. The price for a new tube is $300.00
which translates to about 30 cents an hour operating cost for just the
tube. But what I am really interested in is what CO2 can realistically
cut and engrave. Not what the website says but real world experience.
I know I'll be able to engrave black anodized aluminum and black
acetal plastic, two materials which I would be engraving and have paid
for engraving in the past. But titanium engraving would be nice. And
cutting thin metal sheet and maybe thin plastic sheet. And laser
sintering Saturn 5 boosters. Well, maybe not Saturn 5 boosters. But is
40 watts even capable of cutting thin metal at any kind of decent feed
rate? And how thin is thin? When it comes to that, what kind of feed
rates when engraving black anodized aluminum or black plastics?
Thanks,
Eric

I am sorry I can not give you much practical advice on marking and cutting,
but as an optical engineer I designed a CO2 laser system in this power range
for other material processing purposes, and I have heard a bit about their
use for marking and cutting. From what I understand, marking reflective
materials with lower powered CO2 lasers need it to first be sprayed with a
special coating that absorbs the laser energy and bonds to the metal. I
think 40W might be practical to cut thin plastics but not metal.

Have you looked at fiber laser systems? They are much easier to maintain.
The technology is advancing very quickly and will probably end up mostly
replacing CO2 systems. A Q-switched fiber laser is very good at marking
reflective materials. At lower powers, each type have advantages. Here's a
table of what each can mark, maybe you have seen a similar one.
http://www.ulsinc.com/products/pls6mw/