In this article, we will help you decide which machine is best suited for your tasks, what to look for when buying a machine, and consider specific examples. We will limit ourselves to only CO2 laser machines and will not take into account markers and laser machines for metal, we will analyze them later.

How to choose a laser machine?

So, you want to buy a machine like those listed here virmer.com. First of all, you need to decide what you will do. What product will you produce or what service will you provide? And further, based on this, you will understand what material you will process.

When you understand the material, understand what size and thickness it will be, you will be able to understand what working field you need and then deal with the machine equipment. Also, do not forget about the room in which you work. Well, of course, look at your budget.

When you decide on all these points, it will be possible to choose a specific model of a laser machine.

And now in more detail on each item.

For what purposes will you use laser equipment?

This is the very first basic question that you need to answer yourself, for what purposes do you choose a CNC laser machine, what product will you produce on it or what service will you provide.

Material

When you understand what you want to do, it becomes clear from what you will do it. And most materials have their standard sizes. For example, one of the most common formats:

• plywood sheet – 1525/1525 mm,
• plexiglass 2050/3050 mm,
• PET 2050/1250 mm,
• monolithic polycarbonate 2050/3050 mm,
• rubber 700/700 mm,
• two-layer plastics 700/700 mm,
• paronite 1500/700 mm,
• fabrics 1500 mm wide.

Working field

CO2 laser CNC machines are conventionally divided into desktop, medium format and wide format.

• Desktop – with a working area up to 600/400 mm, ideal for working in a garage or workshop. But also suitable for production. They take up little space, but at the same time, productivity allows you to make large batches of products.
• Medium format – with a working area from 600/900 mm to 1600/1000 mm – the most common format on the market. Such machines are used both in workshops and in industries of various sizes.
• Large-format – with a table up to 2000/3000 mm are usually used for the production of a large number of units of production or the manufacture of large products.

Depth of table lowering

The depth of the lowering of the table determines how thick the material you can process.

There are tables that rise and fall, and there are fixed tables. Here again, it all depends on what you’re doing, because if you’re only cutting and engraving flat materials, you don’t really need this feature.

Adjustable table can be automated or manual.

Automated is convenient to choose if you often work with materials of different thicknesses.

If you take a medium or wide-format machine with an adjustable table, then we recommend that you immediately exclude the option when the table lowering drive works on belts.

Belts tend to stretch. Secondly, they have a tooth of 1.5-2 mm. And if something gets under it, it will simply be licked. Thus, the tooth jumps off, the table on one side does not fall synchronously with the second side, and it warps.