Customers who plan to buy a laser engraving machine often think about firstly how much money a laser engraver will cost.
Usually, for standard specifications, small size laser engraving and cutting machine like 300*500 mm size costs about $1999~$2400, 900*600 mm size costs about$2899~$4699, and 1300*900 mm size costs about $3699~$5399. Bigger size, higher cost; Higher laser power, higher cost. While if you need to work with metals cutting, a fiber laser cutting machine will be the best choice and professional solution.
Compared to laser engraving machine, fiber lasers are more technology-integrated and advanced when processing thin metal materials, which rightly caters to the rapid development of metal products manufacturing industries. A set of fiber laser cutting system usually costs $25,000 to $65,000 according to different working table size and configurations. No matter how much money you spend on a laser engraving machine or a fiber laser system,you should focus on what benefits and profits you will get from your investment. Also, the invisible cost like maintenance cost, the added value of the machine like longer working lifespan both have an intimate relationship with the machine quality and work efficiency.
The following 5 aspects will detail how much a laser engraving and cutting machine will cost in your business to guide you operate a laser business properly.
1. Brand and Price Comparison
2. Cost Comparison Between CO2 Laser and Fiber Laser
3. Cost of Running a Laser Engraving and Cutting Machine
4. Training Cost of Operating a Laser Engraving Business
5. Effective Ways to Market Your Laser Engraving Business
Nowadays laser engraving and cutting machines are widely used in the industrial manufacturing and commercial activities. Why?Because they could be used in various industries, workshops & stores, or at home for hobby use. Laser engraving machine is safe to operate, and could be used to process all the non-metal materials, like acrylic, wood, MDF, leather,fabric, cloth, glass cups and so on. It almost could engrave on all the materials which you could use. Laser engraving machine even could work on apple, pumpkin, magic bean, calabash and some other agricultural products.
Selecting the most suitable laser engraving machine is not a simple thing especially when you have limited budgets. You are never recommended to sacrifice the quality and work performance by ordering cheap things. Instead, this article aims to tell you how much a laser engraving machine cost to help you choose the most economical laser equipment with cost-effective work efficiency. Also, if you want to know more about the machine models and their applications of laser engraving machine for establishing or upgrading your laser business, please check our website, by which you will gain professional details about laser machines.
Laser engraving machine plays an essential part in all walks of life,and questions that our customers frequently asked include: how much will a laser engraving machine cost? Is it very expensive or cost-effective? What factors will influence the cost of the laser engraving machine? To be frank, if you plan to import a laser engraver from China, there will be many suppliers who will offer you extremely lower prices than market price and guarantee you their products can work well. It’s obviously unbelievable that cheap machines have satisfying applications and little after-sales problems. Hence we remind you not to be blinded by the so called lower price. Otherwise, you will pay more money and time on what you buy due to the bad functions, frequent maintenance and short work life of the laser machine. We have many customers who bought very cheap machine and suffered from it before, then they turned to us for choosing the best suitable laser engraving machines that also meet their business requirement and budgets.
As a professional laser and fiber laser equipment manufacturer and exporter with 18-year manufacturing experience and 10-year exporting experience, we are committed to provide high quality and high efficient laser engraving and cutting systems for worldwide customers. When selecting a laser engraving and cutting machine, most customers are likely to search famous laser engraving machine manufacturer or brand to get high quality equipment even with super high prices. While for those who pay more attention to product price, they tend to find cheap products without brand and quality assurance. These two conditions are the two extremes in laser engraver procurement. Bigger brands usually mean higher price and quality, while cheap products usually mean unsure quality and service. The word “you will get what you pay for” is the best way to describe the situation.
One. Brand and Price Comparison
MORN LASER, a rapidly developing laser equipment manufacturer, has been working hard for more than 18 years to manufacturing highly cost-effective laser machines with splendid efficiency,convenience and safety. We are proud that our laser engraving and cutting machines and fiber laser cutting machines have been exported to more than 135 countries where our fellow users make profits and upgrade their business with our products. Positive and thumbs-up feedback is constantly sent to us from many corners of the world. However, we are never satisfied with the achievements we got in the past, and we concentrate on further innovations and progresses on the way we move forward. By understanding customers’ real work needs and financial plans, we have managed to develop high precise and fast speed laser engravers and laser cutters, with economical prices of course.
For example, small size laser cutting machine like 300*500 mm size costs about $1999~$2400,900*600 mm size costs about $2899~$4699, and 1300*900 mm size costs about$3699~5399. Bigger size, higher cost; Higher laser power, higher cost. What is needed most is high-qualified machines, not only a lower price. When we search some goods from the market, especially in the foreign market, we should not only put focus on the machine price, but also pay more attention to the machine quality and the after-sale service, which makes more sense. If you are looking for a tool that can broaden your business boundaries, laser engraving machines have a range of possibilities. Buying your first laser engraving machine can be a daunting challenge, especially if you have budget minds. Let this article guide you on the way.
Two. Cost Comparison Between CO2 Laser and Fiber Laser
As mentioned, CO2 laser engraving and cutting machine has superior versatility when processing non-metal materials,while fiber laser cutting machine and fiber laser marking machine are more professional in metal parts manufacturing. Pricing and costs of laser cutting machines vary greatly depending on the model, type and power of laser. If you plan to cut metal or other thick materials, you’ll need a higher watt laser than if you wanted to cut thinner materials, like cloth. However, the higher the laser's wattage is, the higher the price will be. It’s up to you to balance cost and practicality.
If you are running a business of manufacturing metal part or mould, a fiber laser cutting machine will be better choice for you. As laser cutting with fiber lasers is more energy efficient, accurate and economical for most high-end industries, fiber laser cutter has become a popular cutting tool in modern industrial activities. Fiber laser machines make more accurate cuts than traditional CO2 lasers, and have a longer lifespan. Fiber lasers tend to be more expensive than traditional lasers, but last longer and require less maintenance and replacement parts. Fiber lasers usually cost around $25,000 to$65,000 as per different specifications and configurations. If you are not ready in budget to get a fiber laser cutting system for your work, you could also choose to rent one to finish your work. But this will not be along-lasting solution, unless you just need a short period of cutting work. You are still recommended to select your own fiber lasers if you are engaged in metals products professing at a large scale.
Three. Cost of Running a Laser Engraving and Cutting Machine
The cost of running a laser engraving and cutting machine mainly includes the investment on the set of laser equipment,daily consumption of energy and consumables, maintenance fees and labor cost,amid which each aspect has close relation with the quality and performance of the whole machine. If you are producing products that requires accurate,precise and neat cutting or engraving, then investing in your own laser equipment will be an economical business.
It is obvious that laser cutting machine tend to run at a higher cost than laser engraving machine due to power consumption and consumables. Laser cutting requires higher power than laser engraving, which leads to more energy consumption and consumables accordingly.Taking consumables as an example, cutting is a faster process than engraving,but engraving uses less power than cutting, so there are different benefits to both. It is estimated that the CO2 laser cutting machine uses about 50 penceper hour compared to the CO2 laser engraving machine which uses 25 pence per hour. Moreover, when selecting a cutting machine, you also have to factor in maintenance costs. During the machine selection, you should pay more attention to the quality and function of the machine. Do not order a cheap machine that has bad work ability and unpredictable maintenance frequencies. All these means great time and money cost. Usually, your machine’s daily maintenance generally shouldn’t take longer than 15 minutes and weekly cleaning should apply. The frequency of cleaning should depend on what materials you are working with. And at times the mirrors and lenses will need a careful clean whilst the machine may also need realignment. This task won’t affect your company’s production arrangement as this can be done after working hours.
With all these costs taken in to consideration, investing in your own laser machine system seems to be a very cost-effective choice as the low running costs and minor maintenance work required will make it possible to produce a large range of products for your business and will help increase your company’s profits in the future.
Four. Training Cost of Operating a Laser Engraving Business
Laser engraving and cutting system operators should master the operating methods and safety rules during operation. You have to read the User’s Manual carefully and remember the dos and don’ts especially if you are a beginner of laser business. Also, you can ask help from laser professionals or people who have relevant experience on how to operate the laser machine and start laser engraving business. The training cost only takes a small part among all in vestment of time and money.
Actually, it’s not difficult to receive training. You’ll need some computer experience and knowledge to run the software. As far as if you can be accomplished with photographs or typing or using your computer, your laser is very secondary in the learning curve.However, before starting your own laser engraving business, try to understand all the materials and products you will work with by trial engraving until you achieve the satisfying engraving results. The versatile laser engravers and cutters are capable of processing a wide range of non-metal materials, such as paper, wood, plastics, rubber, acrylic, glass, cloth, ceramics and so on.Beside, we also provide a mix cutting laser machine that could work on metal cutting. This model can be considered if precision is not highly required in your industries. If not, fiber laser cutting machine for metals is still the perfect solution for metal materials processing.
Five. Effective Ways to Market Your Laser Engraving Business
Once you have get started with your laser engraving business, the prior question you will confront is how to launch your business into market. There are many different ways. Firstly, you could spend a whole seminar day on that, thinking and discussing your plans. What materials and what products should be produced to manufacture objects that meet the favor and need of your local customers. If you win their preferences, you win the market. After you have a clear market investigation, it’s time to focus on your products production. A laser engraver can do engraving and cutting work as long as its power allows. Choose a quality laser machine as a good helper, and manufacture the products with high quality standard. For instance, what precision and work speed you want to work with, how many products you plan to produce, what is the daily budget, and so on. These factors have an essential influence on your work efficiency and profits. Then you should promote your product to customers and market. Do not use cold callings to attract customer who will be troubled by marketing callings. Many marketing and promotional way can be achieved by advertisements and online communications if you know some basic marketing methods. If you have regular customers after a period of time,do maintain the good relation with them by communicating your new laser engraved products and new applications or whatever they are interested in.Their positive feedback and recommendation will be the best promotion for your business. This kind of operation, of course, requires time and energy cost, and even money paid on giveaways and samples. But if you get your way, you will get more than what you have invested.
If you have any questions on choosing a proper laser solution (laser engraving, laser cutting, fiber laser cutting,fiber laser marking), or on staring a laser business, please contact us now.Our engineers and technical sales team will provide customized recommendations and laser solutions for you. In addition, free samples and factory audits are also available if needed.
Article Source: How Much Does a Laser Engraving Machine Cost?
You should decide whether your materials involve steel tubes, for which we could configure an extra fiber laser tube cutting device for the laser equipment. Also, if your materials contain highly reflective metals, such as silver, aluminum, red copper, etc, we would recommend you nLIGHT laser source which is perfectly suitable for reflective materials processing.
In order to achieve perfect cutting effect and work efficiency, the thickness of material has to be matched with the wattage of fiber laser cutting machine. Also your intended productivity per day will help you choose the most productive wattage which has direct influence on cutting speed. Still, please note that different metals that have the same thickness require different wattage.