Laser cutting is an everyday method for manufacturing metal and non-metal parts. The 4 billion dollar industry is responsible for producing cars, ships, machines, furniture etc.<\/p>\n
The constant evolution has brought us a wide range of laser cutters suitable for a variety of materials<\/a>. Today, we can choose between CO2 and fibre lasers but the technology has its roots in the beginning of the last century.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The shortened form is a necessity because of its mainstream presence. Metal cutting is one of the use cases that has gained a lot of ground. Although many see it as a new technology, laser cutting history dates back a hundred years.<\/p>\n Of course, it is the genius Albert Einstein, who is behind the idea that makes production faster. In 1917, he laid out the theoretical foundations to make the laser possible in his paper On the Quantum Theory of Radiation.<\/p>\n Other scientists further innovated on Einstein’s ideas. Different advancements in the first half of the century made contemporary technology possible. In mid-century, development picked up speed.<\/p>\n The first pulsing laser prototype dates back to 1960. Soon afterwards came the first gas laser capable of continuous operation.\u00a0In the 60s, laser cutting was seen as a solution. The problem to match the solution was still missing. It didn’t take long for people to realise the potential applications in different industries.<\/p>\n This led to the inception of the first production laser cutting machines in 1965. Western Electric, the company responsible for making these machines, used them to cut holes in diamond dies.<\/p>\n 50 years after Einstein’s paper, in 1967, gas-jet laser cutting machines were used for cutting 1 mm thick metal sheets. The capabilities demonstrated raised the heads of many. Laser cutting was by far the technology with the smaller cutting kerf<\/a>.<\/p>\n Among the raised heads was the aerospace industry. They started using industrial lasers for cutting materials including titanium and ceramics in the 70s. This was a big step towards the contemporary use case, as lasers before were mainly able to cut non-metals.<\/p>\n The advantages of laser cutting<\/a>\u00a0have m<\/span>ade it the dominant technology for metal cutting. Some of the main aspects behind the success are speed, efficiency, accuracy and several use cases, namely cutting, welding<\/a>, laser engraving, marking<\/a>, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n There are 2 main types of laser machines – carbon dioxide and fibre. The working principles of the two differ from each other, bringing in distinguishable differences. For example, CO2 lasers are cheaper while fibre lasers beat them in efficiency, being a more recent innovation.<\/p>\n The preference, though, comes down to the materials that need to be cut.<\/p>\n Laser Cutting History<\/h2>\n
How Does a Laser Cutter Cut?<\/h2>\n
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