Speed is one of the biggest reasons manufacturers invest in modern laser cutting machines. Faster cutting means higher output, shorter lead occasions, and lower cost per part. But laser cutting speed shouldn’t be a single fixed number. It depends on materials type, thickness, laser power, and machine design.
Understanding how fast modern systems really are helps businesses choose the suitable equipment and set realistic production expectations.
Typical Cutting Speeds by Laser Type
There are two foremost categories of commercial laser cutters: CO2 lasers and fiber lasers. Every has totally different speed capabilities.
Fiber laser cutting machines are at the moment the fastest option for many metal applications. When cutting thin sheet metal similar to 1 mm mild steel, high energy fiber lasers can reach speeds of 20 to forty meters per minute. For even thinner supplies like 0.5 mm stainless metal, speeds can exceed 50 meters per minute in ideally suited conditions.
CO2 laser cutting machines are still utilized in many workshops, especially for non metal materials. On thin metals, they are generally slower than fiber lasers, often working at 10 to 20 meters per minute depending on energy and setup.
Fiber technology wins in speed because its wavelength is absorbed more efficiently by metal, permitting faster energy transfer and quicker melting.
The Position of Laser Power in Cutting Speed
Laser power has a direct impact on how fast a machine can cut. Entry level industrial machines typically start around 1 to 2 kilowatts. High end systems now attain 20 kilowatts and beyond.
Higher power allows:
Faster cutting on the same thickness
Cutting thicker supplies at practical speeds
Better edge quality at higher feed rates
For instance, a 3 kW fiber laser would possibly minimize three mm gentle steel at round 6 to eight meters per minute. A 12 kW system can reduce the same material at 18 to 25 meters per minute with proper help gas and focus settings.
Nevertheless, speed does not increase linearly with power. Machine dynamics, beam quality, and materials properties also play major roles.
How Materials Thickness Changes Everything
Thickness is likely one of the biggest limiting factors in laser cutting speed.
Thin sheet metal may be minimize extremely fast because the laser only must melt a small cross section. As thickness increases, more energy is required to totally penetrate the material, and cutting speed drops significantly.
Typical examples for delicate metal with a modern fiber laser:
1 mm thickness: 25 to 40 m per minute
three mm thickness: 10 to 20 m per minute
10 mm thickness: 1 to 3 m per minute
20 mm thickness: often below 1 m per minute
So while marketing often highlights very high speeds, these numbers usually apply to thin materials.
Acceleration, Positioning, and Real Production Speed
Cutting speed is only part of the story. Modern laser cutting machines are also extremely fast in non cutting movements.
High end systems can achieve acceleration rates above 2G and rapid positioning speeds over a hundred and fifty meters per minute. This means the cutting head moves very quickly between features, holes, and parts.
In real production, this reduces cycle time dramatically, especially for parts with many small details. Nesting software additionally optimizes tool paths to minimize journey distance and idle time.
In consequence, a machine that lists a most cutting speed of 30 meters per minute may deliver a a lot higher overall parts per hour rate than an older system with similar raw cutting speed but slower motion control.
Assist Gas and Its Impact on Speed
Laser cutting uses help gases resembling oxygen, nitrogen, or compressed air. The choice of gas affects both edge quality and cutting speed.
Oxygen adds an exothermic response when cutting carbon metal, which can improve speed on thicker materials
Nitrogen is used for clean, oxidation free edges on stainless steel and aluminum, though typically at slightly lower speeds
Compressed air is a cost effective option for thin materials at moderate speeds
Modern machines with high pressure gas systems can preserve faster, more stable cuts across a wider range of materials.
Automation Makes Fast Even Faster
At the moment’s laser cutting machines are rarely standalone units. Many are integrated with automated loading and unloading systems, materials towers, and part sorting solutions.
While the laser might cut at 30 meters per minute, automation ensures the machine spends more time cutting and less time waiting for operators. This boosts general throughput far past what cutting speed alone suggests.
Modern laser cutting machines aren’t just fast in terms of beam speed. They’re engineered for high acceleration, clever motion control, and seamless automation, making them a number of the most productive tools in metal fabrication.
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