Laser cutting can be applied to varieties of materials, such as textile, leather, plastic, wood, foam, and many others. Invented in the early 1970s, laser cutting has been widely used to precisely process different shapes of objects out of flat sheets for 50 years. Many factories use the laser cutter to make advertising boards, art crafts, gifts, souvenirs, construction toys, architectural models, and daily articles out of wood. Today, I want to discuss the use of the CO2 laser cutter on flat wood mainly.

What Is Laser?

Before getting into the details of laser cutting on wood, it’s essential to understand the principle of the laser cutter. For non-metal applications, the CO2 laser cutter is widely used. With a special carbon dioxide-filled tube inside the cutter, a fine laser beam can be generated and delivered on the flat sheet of materials and realize deep, precise cuts by channeling the movable laser head with optical components (focus lens, reflection mirrors, collimators, and many others). Due to the fact that laser cutting is a non-contact type of thermal processing, sometimes smoke may be generated. Thus, laser cutters are usually equipped with extra fans and fume exhaust systems to achieve better processing results.

Applying Laser on Wood

Many advertising companies, art craft retailers, or other wood processing factories will add laser equipment to the business for the many advantages to laser cutting wood over other materials like metal and acrylic.

Wood can be easily worked on laser and its tenacity makes it suitable to apply to many applications. With enough thickness, wood can be as strong as metal. Especially MDF (medium density fiberboard), with chemical sealants on the surface, is an excellent raw material for fine products. It brings together all the good features of wood and solves the common moisture-related issues. Other wood types such as HDF, multiplex, plywood, chipboard, natural wood, precious woods, solid timber, cork, and veneers are also suitable for laser processing.

Besides cutting, you can also create additional value on wood products through laser engraving. Unlike milling cutters, the engraving as a decorative element can be achieved within seconds by using the laser engraver. The laser engraving is actually desirable for many applications.

Goldenlaser is a company with more than 20 years of experience providing laser solutions. And we have been devoted to the research of laser equipment to provide different methods for different materials processing. Please contact us if you are looking for wood laser processing solutions.