According to your overall business needs and objectives, it may be confusing to determine the type of engraving machine that is most suitable for you. Laser machine or CNC router? Well, like many small business owners, you are most likely to look for something that maximizes your profits while ensuring accuracy and efficiency. There are so many machine options on the market, how do you know where to start?

CNC engraving machine and laser engraving machine are computer engraving machine, CNC engraving machine refers to CNC router, CNC wiring machine, CNC engraving machine or CNC engraving machine, laser engraving machine refers to laser engraving machine, both need a computer to control engraving. After typesetting in advance through the computer, the prepared picture file or path diagram is imported into the machine. First, you need to design the engraving file, and then open the file through the software, start CNC programming, control system received control command, engraving machine began to work. CNC is the abbreviation of computer digital control, is a kind of automatic machine tool equipped with program control system. The control system can use the control code or other symbolic instructions to process the program logically and decode it, so that the machine can move and process parts.

Different working principles

Laser engraving machine is a kind of equipment that uses laser thermal energy to engrave materials. The laser is emitted by the laser and focused into a high power density laser beam through the optical path system. The light energy of the laser beam causes chemical and physical changes of the surface material to engrave marks, or the light energy burns part of the material to display the patterns and texts to be etched. CNC engraving machine relies on the high-speed rotary engraving head driven by the motor spindle. The cutting tool configured according to the processing material can cut the processing material fixed on the main table, and can engrave various planar or three-dimensional designs designed in the computer. Relief graphics and text can realize automatic engraving operation.

Different mechanical structures

Laser engraving machines can be divided into different types of special machines according to their specific uses. The structure of these special machines is roughly the same. For example, the laser source emits laser, and the numerical control system controls the stepper motor. Through the optical elements such as the laser head, mirror and lens, the focus moves on the X, y and Z axes of the machine tool, thereby ablating the materials used for engraving. The structure of CNC engraving machine is relatively simple. It is controlled by the computer numerical control system so that the engraving machine can automatically select the appropriate engraving tools to engrave on the X, y and Z axes of the machine tool. In addition, the tools of the laser engraving machine are a complete set of optical components. The cutting tools of CNC engraving machine are engraving knives of various entities.

Different machining accuracy

The diameter of the laser beam is only 0.01 mm. The laser beam can smoothly and brightly carve and cut narrow and fine parts. However, CNC tools are powerless. Because the diameter of CNC tools is 20 times larger than that of laser beams, the machining accuracy of CNC engraving machines is not as good as that of laser engraving machines. The accuracy of laser engraving is higher than that of tool engraving, because the diameter of laser engraving source is very small, and the tool engraving itself has a certain knife width. Therefore, in addition to the quality of the machine itself, the accuracy requirements of the tool are also included.

Different carving materials 

Laser engraving is difficult to achieve deep engraving on metal materials, and can only engrave coatings on metal surfaces. Tool engraving machine can achieve a certain depth of engraving, even cutting. The ability of laser engraving photos is very good. You can directly engrave photos in JPG format, but tool engraving cannot do this. 

Different processing efficiency 

Fast laser speed, 2.5 times as fast as CNC engraving machine. Because laser engraving and polishing can be completed once, CNC needs to be completed twice. In addition, the energy consumption of laser engraving machine is lower than that of CNC engraving machine.

Other differences

Laser engraving machine is noise-free, pollution-free and efficient; The CNC engraving machine is noisy and pollutes the environment. In plastic engraving, laser engraving may produce toxic gas. A specific air purification system is required to discharge the exhaust gas into the air, and the tool engraving machine will not pollute the air. The laser engraving machine is non-contact processing, and does not need to fix the workpiece; The CNC engraving machine is a contact type processing, and the workpiece needs to be fixed. Laser engraving machine can process soft materials, such as cloth, leather, film, etc.; The CNC engraving machine cannot process because it cannot fix the workpiece. Laser engraving machine is more effective in engraving non-metallic thin materials and some high melting point materials, but it can only be used for plane engraving. Although the shape of the CNC engraving machine has certain limitations, it can make three-dimensional products such as relief.

Final Thoughts

If you already have a CNC router, the laser machine can help you complete other work tasks in the workshop. The two machines tend to complement each other and make up for each other's shortcomings. For example, a laser can cut to a thousandth of an inch and carve on things as small as a grain of rice. Think about all the low-cost, high profit products you can offer!