b'FIBER ON FIBERFiber lasers are an option for machining carbon fiber-reinforced polymer.By Yesenia Duran quickly and, accordingly, cheaply than be-fore. But those are not the only perks.M achine shops dont have to be ex- Pulsed fiber lasers offer numerous ad-perts with fiber laser cutting technol- vantages compared with traditional fabri-ogy to know that if they can cut a 6.35 mmcation methods, such as mechanical cut-(0.25") plate with a 4-kW laser, they can cutting, stamping and electrical discharge faster with an 8-kW laser power source, letmachining, said Thomas Schreiner, prod-alone a 12-kW or 15-kW fiber laser cuttinguct line manager for Coherent Munich machine. GmbH & Co. KG, Gilching, Germany. (Co-The main benefit of high-powered fiberherent Inc. is in Santa Clara, California.) laser technology is decreased processThe laser can be extremely spatially selec-time for laser cutting. Thats often why ative. It can be focused to a spot diameter shop buys a high-powered laser cuttingmuch smaller than the width of a mechan-machine to replace two or even three oldical blade or saw, enabling the creation of lasers. Parts can come off a laser bed morefiner details with greater precision.38JULY 2020 LaserMachining.indd 38 6/16/20 11:12 AM'