CO₂ vs Fiber Laser: Which One Do You Need?

Most shops shopping for their first laser end up choosing between two sources: CO₂ and fiber. Both are used in professional shops, and we sell both. They are good at different materials, and the material you work with most should decide which one you buy.

How each one works

A CO₂ laser makes its beam in a sealed tube filled with a gas mixture containing carbon dioxide. The beam is infrared, at about 10,600 nanometres. Suitable non-metals such as wood, acrylic, paper, leather and laser-safe rubber absorb that wavelength well and can be cut and engraved. Glass can be surface-engraved. CO₂ lasers also remove some metal coatings and mark coated metals, but they do not cut glass, and engraving-class CO₂ machines such as the Epilog Fusion range do not cut bare metal.

A fiber laser makes its beam in an optical fibre doped with ytterbium. Its wavelength is about 1,064 nanometres, roughly a tenth of CO₂’s. Metals absorb it far better, so fiber is the tool for marking bare metal directly.

So the question is which wavelength your material absorbs.

Quick comparison

	CO₂	Fiber
Wavelength	About 10,600 nm	About 1,064 nm
Best on	Wood, acrylic, Rowmark plastics, leatherette, rubber, glass, stone, paper, fabric	Stainless, steel, aluminum, brass, titanium, some engineering plastics
Cuts	Wood, acrylic and other non-metals	Thin metal, on high-power fiber cutting systems
Bare metal	Only with a marking compound such as CerMark	Marks directly
Typical users	Engraving shops, sign makers, schools, makerspaces, awards	Part marking, serial numbers, barcodes, industrial ID

What CO₂ does best

CO₂ is the usual choice for:

• Wood and MDF: engraving, cutting and inlay work
• Acrylic: clean cut edges with a polished look, for signs, displays and awards
• Two-ply engraving plastics such as Rowmark LaserMAX, for nameplates and lamacoids
• Leatherette and leather: engraving and cutting
• Rubber: stamps and gaskets
• Fabric and felt: cutting with sealed edges
• Glass and stone: a frosted or lightened surface mark
• Anodized aluminum: a CO₂ laser marks it directly and bleaches the dye to white

For engraving shops, sign makers, schools, makerspaces and awards retailers, CO₂ is almost always the right first machine. Most Epilog and Kern systems are CO₂.

What fiber does best

Fiber is the choice when you mark bare metal with no coating or compound:

• Stainless steel: serial numbers, equipment labels, traceability codes
• Steel and tool steel: part numbers and logos
• Aluminum, brass and copper: nameplates and components
• Titanium: medical and aerospace parts
• Some engineering plastics: many take a fiber or UV mark, but test first and check the Safety Data Sheet

If the job is a Data Matrix code, a serial number or a permanent mark on a metal part, you want fiber.

Both Epilog and Kern also sell fiber. Epilog offers MOPA fiber on the Fusion Ascent 12 and 24, the Fusion Galvo G100 for fast marking, and dual-source CO₂ plus fiber on the Fusion Pro. Kern’s FiberCELL is a high-power fiber system for cutting metal. Tykma Electrox specializes in industrial marking with fiber, MOPA, UV and CO₂ sources, from enclosed workstations to heads built into production lines.

The grey areas

Metal on a CO₂ laser. A marking compound such as CerMark lets a CO₂ laser mark bare metal. You coat the part, mark it at high power and slow speed, then wash off the excess. The laser fuses the compound to the metal, leaving a dark, durable mark. It works well for occasional work and short runs. For daily production marking, a fiber laser saves the coating and cleaning steps.

Anodized aluminum. Both work. CO₂ bleaches the anodizing to white. Fiber does the same job faster and with finer detail. If you mark aluminum all day, choose fiber. If it’s occasional and you already own a CO₂ machine, CO₂ is fine.

Plastics on fiber. Some engineering plastics mark well with fiber or UV, which is common for part numbers on moulded parts. For general plastic engraving, such as Rowmark sheet and acrylic, CO₂ is still the better tool.

When you need both

Some shops need both: an awards shop that also marks stainless tumblers and plaques, or a fabricator who cuts acrylic displays and marks steel equipment tags.

Epilog’s Fusion Pro offers dual-source configurations: a CO₂ tube and a fiber source in one machine, sharing the motion system and work area. You pick the source in the print driver, with no hardware changeover. A dual-source machine costs more than a single-source one, but it can save the floor space and second set of maintenance that two machines need.

Kern can also combine sources on its large-format platforms. Ask us about the current options.

A simple way to decide

1. What will you process most of the time? Mostly non-metals: CO₂. Mostly bare metal: fiber. A real split: dual-source, or two machines.
2. Do you need to mark bare metal without a compound? Then you need fiber.
3. Is this personalization or part identification? Engraving and personalization shops mostly run CO₂. Traceability marking is mostly fiber.
4. How many parts, how often? High-volume marking with fixtures, automation and variable data is what dedicated marking systems like the Tykma Minilase and Zetalase are built for.

Talk it through with us

We sell CO₂, fiber and dual-source systems, so we’d rather get the source right than sell you a second machine later. Send us your materials and volumes and we’ll recommend a setup. You can also bring or send parts to test at our Delta or Mississauga showroom (by appointment).

See also: Epilog Fusion Pro vs Fusion Ascent, or try the Product Finder for a guided recommendation.