Can a fiber laser cut carbon fiber?

[Neville Stewart]

Well, can it?

[Dan Hintz]

Yes... but that's not the question you really want to ask.

You likely want to know how thick of a piece can be cut, as well as the edge quality.

A 1um fiber will give a better edge than a 10um CO2, but your best edge will come from something closer to a green or UV laser. But it's a trade-off... you generally can't cut very thick pieces at those smaller wavelengths.

[Neville Stewart]

Indeed Dan, that was the underlying question : ). I have a friend who builds carbon bike frames and asked about cutting a carbon logo for the down tube.

[Jack Clague]

You also need to find out if its a carbon composite, most carbon is layer upon layer of sheeting pressed together with an epoxy, you might want to find out what epoxy is used as well as it may not be suitable to laser.

[Dan Hintz]

Indeed Dan, that was the underlying question : ). I have a friend who builds carbon bike frames and asked about cutting a carbon logo for the down tube.


I'd consider waterjet... not quite a s high-res as a laser, but still pretty good. And you can cut multiple pieces in one pass by stacking, something not readily doable with a laser.