The evolution of laser cutting machines
The laser cutting machines have grown in popularity over the past decade, with many businesses finding new uses for this technology. Laser cutters are now popping up in schools and homes as prices for these machines fall. Well, that’s how things look on the face of it, however, advanced laser cutting machines are of course going to be very expensive with innovative features, so whilst some entry-level machines are now affordable and here to stay, you can still invest in high-end laser cutters that are built to the highest standard, with unrivalled speed and performance capabilities. Before we move on to discuss all of the different types of laser cutters available today, we want to highlight the fact that these machines are becoming more accessible to consumers because they are now easier to use than ever before, improving on existing technology by portability and usability. The evolution of the laser cutter UK is not only towards greater affordability but also better quality. But how did we get here? Let’s take a look at some significant changes which have taken place since the first crude ‘laser scribes’ emerged decades ago.
Early Beginnings – 1960s-1980s
The first reported use of lasers for industrial manufacturing was in 1964, at a General Motors facility in Detroit which used lasers to machine aluminium engine cradles from curved sheets of metal. In 1967, English engineer and laser physicist Carlos Ives designed what is believed to be the first ‘laser scribe’, built from a modified 35 W CO2 laser for engraving plastics. He presented his work at the SPIE conference in Boston that year and received an award for his development, In 1969, Ives was contacted by John D. Corbett, who requested his assistance with a large project: marking missile parts with serial numbers and identification codes through the use of lasers. The two men established LASERTEC in 1976, providing state-of-art technology for laser processing. In 1979, Corbett sold LASERTEC to Ametek for £1 million.
The lasers of that time were very low-powered compared to today’s models, marking metal was a tedious task and engraving plastics did not have good results. New technology was needed in order to achieve high-quality marking of metals and other materials. The CO2 laser showed better results on light materials such as aluminium alloys, but the process was still too slow for mass production. Because of this drawback, several manufacturers developed different technologies to meet market demands for rapid manufacturing systems based on engraving machines capable of processing metals at an industrial level. Manufacturers tried using higher power YAG (Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) lasers, however, the process was still slow and required different stages of manual labour in order to produce high-quality results.
A new type of laser processing machine, called laser cutting machines, appeared in the early ’80s. During the next 15 years, significant progress was made in this area; lasers were operated at higher power (30-120 kW), with greater efficiency and reduced dimensions (thanks to fibre optics). New types of generators like IPG (Ion Pumped) and DPSS (Diode Pumped Solid State) also contributed to shortening the pulse duration time improving the interaction with materials. With the increased demand for improved rapid manufacturing systems based on engraving machines, several manufacturers started developing their own technologies for high productivity applications. The continuous improvement in the laser systems allowed to increase the speed of lines until reaching 1500 inches/min. In this context, in 2008 a new technology was introduced: Fiber Laser Power. By using fibre lasers, the “footprint” becomes smaller improving efficiency and gaining greater flexibility in terms of moving parts that can be integrated into a machine. The rapid development in solid-state laser technologies led to the introduction of fibre lasers for engraving machines and marking applications due to their significant advantages compared to traditional CO2 lasers.