Comparison of a different types of lasers and different wavelength

Differences between Endurance lasers and different laser wavelengths.

Diode laser

2.1 -> 3.5 watt -> 5.6. watt – 8 -> 8.5 watt. More power & more cutting and engraving abilities
10 watt “Invincible” -> 10 watt Delux : has an air nozzle, bigger focusing ring, laser box instead of a laser control board.
10 watt Delux -> 10 watt Plus : has a TEC cooling with an external heatsink, air compressor.

8.5 watt -> 8.5 watt PRO: has a metal laser box ver 2.0 with MO2 and a smaller heatsink. (Additional accessories in the package)
10 watt “Invincible” -> 10 watt PRO: has a metal laser box ver 2.0 with MO2 and polished shining aluminum housing. (Additional accessories in the package)
10 watt Plus -> 10 watt PRO PLUS : has a metal laser box ver 2.0 with MO2, a ver 2.0 air nozzle, double TEC cooling with a turbine fan. (Additional accessories in the package)

15 watt DIY DUOS -> 15 watt DUOS has a more advanced electronics and metal enclosure for the laser and it has a double TEC cooling system

Diode laser	445 nm wavelength	Key abilities	Key features	Limitations	Key video footage	Endurance lasers model
	2.1 watt	Engraves on soft materials like wood, plywood, MDF, leather, acrylic, etc. Cuts thin soft materials 1-2 mm	Affordable laser module for any 3D printer / CNC router for laser engraving purposes.	Works only with soft materials	Watch	Open
	3.5 watt	Engraves on stone. Cuts 2-3 mm of soft materials	Engraves on stone, rock, mirror, glass	Not powerful enough to cut thick wood/plywood	Watch	Open
	5.6 watt	Engraves on painted metals. Cuts 2-3 mm of soft materials faster.	Engraves on painted metals.	Does not engrave pure metallic surfaces	Watch	Open
	8 watt	Engraves on anodized aluminum and special laser marking metals. Cuts 3-4 mm of soft materials	Engraves on anodized aluminum	Does not cut more than 5 mm of wood /plywood with clean edges	Watch	Open
	8.5 watt	Engraves on anodized aluminum and special laser marking metals. Cuts 3-4 mm of soft materials	Engraves on anodized aluminum		Watch	Open
	10 watt	Engraves on all metallic surfaces with special engraving paste. Cuts 3-5 mm of soft materials	Universal tool for cutting and engraving	Requires an air assist for perfect wood/plywood cutting. Does not engrave metals in depth	Watch	Open
	10 watt+	Engraves on all metallic surfaces with special engraving paste. Cuts 3-8 mm of soft materials with accurate cutting edges.	Ultra-accurate laser cutting of a soft materials	Does not cut thicker than 8 mm of wood/plywood	Watch	Open
	20 watt	Fast and accurate engraving on all metallic surfaces with special engraving paste. (for engraving purposes mostly)	Dual laser module for fast and accurate metal engraving	It does not engrave metals in depth.	Watch	Open
	15 watt DUOS	Cutting thick and high-density wood and plywood cuts MDF and thick leather.	DUOS laser has 2 combined laser beams together	Processes all soft materials and engrave on all types of metal (with marking paste)	Watch	Open
	8.5 watt PRO	Engraving on all materials. Cutting soft materials up to 5 mm	Has a laser box ver 2.0 with Mo2 PCB. Very light and portable.	Quite nosy due to turbine cooling	Watch	Open
	10 watt PRO	Engraving on all materials. Cutting soft materials up to 5 mm	Has a laser box ver 2.0 with Mo2 PCB. Shining and ultra-stylish design	Has not air nozzle and air assist	Watch
	10 watt+ PRO	Engraving on all materials. Cutting soft materials up to 8 mm with clean edges	Has a laser box ver 2.0 with Mo2 PCB. Max power out of a diode laser. Ultra accurate laser cutting	Can not do the metal cutting	Watch

Diode array	808 nm wavelength	Key abilities	Key features	Limitations	Key video footage	Endurance lasers model
	15 watt	Engraves on soft materials	High power concentration	Small focusing of a laser beam is not possible at the moment	Watch	Open
	25 watt				Watch
	30 watt				Watch
	85 watt	Weed cutting. Not accurate laser engraving and laser cutting	High-power			Open
DPSS	1064 nm wavelength	Key abilities	Key features	Limitations	Key video footage	Endurance lasers model
	10 watt	Deep metal cutting. Cuts up to 1 mm of a steel and stainless steel	Metal cutting and metal engraving	Is not good for cutting soft materials like wood, plywood, etc.	Watch	Open
	20 watt	Faster metal engraving and cutting up to 1-2 of steel and stainless steel			–	n/a
	75 watt	Extremely fast metal engraving. Cutting up to 2-5 of steel and stainless steel, copper, brass, aluminum			–	R&D stage

DPSS	532 nm wavelength	Key abilities	Key features	Limitations	Key video footage	Endurance lasers model
DPSS	4.5 watt	Better metal engraving and accurate glass engraving	Processes transparent glass.	n/a	Watch	Open

Co2	10.6 um wavelength	Key abilities	Key features	Limitations	Key video footage	Endurance lasers model
	40 watt	Cuts 3-5 mm soft materials. Good for rubber engraving (seals and stamps)	Ability to cut soft materials quite quickly	Does not engrave on metal even with paste	–	Custom development
	80 watt	Cuts 5-10 mm soft materials. Engrave on rock / stone.	Cuts white and transparent materials like glass and acrylic. Universal tool for engraving and cutting	Can not be used outside the engraving/cutting machine.	Watch	Custom development
	150 watt	Cuts up to 15 mm of soft materials. Cuts metal up to 1.5 mm with an oxygen		Can not be used outside the engraving/cutting machine.	–	Custom development
	300 watt	Metal cutting with an oxygen up to 3 mm, cuts acrylic up to 30 mm, plywood and wood up to 20 mm		Quite big and bulky. Is not good for engraving.	–	Custom development

Metal cutting parameters with Co2 lasers: 500 watt / 1000 watt/ 2000 watt

The key difference between diode, CO2 and fiber lasers.

Let’s start with diode lasers.

Diode lasers

The basis of a solid-state diode laser (SSDL) is a laser diode. Laser diodes can have various values of the emission wavelength. Most of them have 405 nm – 808 nm. The laser diodes usually have TO3, TO5, TO9, TO18 housing.
What makes them different is their sizes.

A laser diode needs a laser driver.

A good laser driver is a vital component for the laser lifetime.

These diodes are very sensitive to the initial voltage and current.

The power management system helps to control voltage jumps, current stabilizations, and prevent harm from the laser diode.

Every type of diode needs its type of driver. For example, the driver from NUBM44 or NUBM47 will not work for the M140 diode. A high-quality laser driver can stabilize current and maintain constant values of the current and voltage going directly to the diode.

Controlling the diode laser temperature is very important. The diode laser wavelength is also strongly influenced by temperature and the wavelength of the diode laser is affected by the driving current. Therefore, the varied power of the diode can cause a varying laser wavelength. High power usage for endurance lasers is at 70 degrees Celsius. What happens during high temperature is high power consumption and the temperature goes up, while laser power goes down. A laser diode’s maximum operating temperature is 70 degrees Celsius. Do not run at 70, but instead run at a maximum temperature of 60 degrees Celsius or below to prevent power loss during continuous usage. Endurance lasers include a temperature sensor for you when you order any endurance laser.

All of the Endurance protective housing for the diode is assisted with more durable heat sinks to draw excessive heat accumulation.

A fake laser will disappoint in temperature regulation. They work briefly and shortly become unusable and cannot engrave anything. The sellers of fake lasers will go out of their way to market their product but hide the fine details that matter. You can be attracted to an advertisement for a Chinese high-power laser but the high-power laser will not have true output power. Many innocent customers can be easily misled by fake lasers. Do your research and make a smart investment.

Endurance lasers have tried and true temperature control which plays a role in all of the factors mentioned above.

Another important thing is the cooling of the laser diode. As a rule, laser diodes are installed in copper modules like this.

But this copper module is yet unable to effectively give off the heat generated by the diode if the power of the diode exceeds 0.5 watts (500 mW).

It requires an additional heatsink.

The copper laser module can be inserted into a heatsink like this.

Testing and measuring laser power using a calorimeter

Special aluminum laser heatsink by Endurance production

But even inside a copper laser module inserted into a better heatsink, the diode can still generate too much heat, that is why additional air cooling with, let’s say, a regular fan of 40 x 40 mm or 50 x 50 mm in size, is needed to solve the problem.

Cooling of the laser diodes is very important. The cooler the module the longer the lifetime of the laser, the higher the laser power.

The cooler the laser diode the more powerful it is.

When all the basic components

1. Laser diode
2. Laser driver
3. Laser copper housing
4. Additional heatsink

are assembled together, it is necessary to choose an optimal focus mechanism for the laser.

LENSES

The lenses for lasers are vital to good operation. A focused laser beams light is formed using mirrors or lenses. Focusing is a key part of the diode laser’s proper operation. Diode lasers use several interchangeable optical lenses that allow for special usage such as G2, G7, G8 lenses.

Diode laser lenses are meant to work at particular ranges with your machine. They do not work like laser pointers and cannot shine the same way pointed across a room. You will not burn anything. Do not try this though because even if the laser power is very very low on a distance across a room, there is still some power being output and you may inadvertently put a hole in anything that crosses the beam of light.

Different lenses mean: Each lens has its optimal range of focus or focal point. Using the focusing ring on your diode to get the finest dot the range for using each of the lenses are as follows:

All lenses are made of glass. They have transmission, absorption, and reflection coefficients. A G7 will have more absorption or reflection and it will not output as much power as a G2

Most lasers can operate with 2 types of lenses:
A 3 element long focal lens

or high-quality G2 short focal lens.

The difference between these 2 types of lenses is the focal range. A 3 element lens can have the focus range of 2-10 cm while the focal range of the G2 lens is 2-10 mm (10 times less than the 3 element lens focal range).

The g2 lens is the most effective and more efficient than other lenses. The G2 lens is used for cutting and accurate engraving. The G2 lens also has the shortest laser beam spot and short focal length. For laser cutting, we recommend a short focal length.

The final thing to do after the laser focusing mechanism selection is to encase the entire laser module.
The laser housing should be compatible with 3D printers and CNC machines otherwise the laser will not work with them. Endurance laser modules do not require additional mounting and fastening tools to be installed.

One may ask, what is so cool about diode lasers compared to fiber lasers and CO2 lasers.
The key advantage of a diode (solid-state) laser module is its small size and weight (about 200 grams or about ½’’). Its small size makes it possible to install the laser-like this almost on any 3D printer or CNC machine.

The diode laser does not require any additional power supply source (12V and 7-8 amps power is max what it needs). This is another important advantage of the diode laser.

The small size and compatibility of the Endurance diode lasers with most 3D printers or XY plotters make the diode lasers a great tool for laser enthusiasts, hobbyists, and makers.

Skeptics might say that CO2 40W laser tubes have the same price as 8 watt or 10 watt diode lasers.
But a high-quality CO2 tube with 40W-60W output will be more expensive rather than what people think considering a purchase on Aliexpress or eBay.

Laser control board with the laser module

3D perspective

Another disadvantage of these tubes is their fragility and big size. You cannot install any of them on a 3D printer or CNC machine.
CO2 tubes are compatible only with special plotters that also require special power drivers. Besides, it is important to bear in mind that the power consumption of a CO2 laser machine is much greater than that of a diode laser machine.

As for fiber lasers, they simply do not have separate modules that can be attached to a current chassis. A 10 watt – 20 watt fiber laser machine will probably cost something like 10-15K USD which is dozens of times higher than the price of a diode laser machine.
Of course, fiber laser machines have a lot of advantages in comparison with CO2 and diode laser machines.

Maintenance of Endurance lasers

A fiber laser is very powerful and a standard industrial fiber laser will have a significantly longer life span than other types of Co2 and diode lasers. The Fiber laser will permanently engrave on metals that other lasers cannot such as stainless steel, titanium, copper, aluminum, and other metals. On a Co2 laser, cutting is better on a wide application of materials over a fiber laser however engraving on metals requires expensive CO2 lasers. This is a piece of expensive industrial equipment, not affordable to beginners and intermediately experienced tech guys.