2022 Best Budget Laser Cutting Machines, Affordable Laser Cutters for Sale at Cost Price

What Is A Laser Cutting Machine?

Laser cutting machine is a type of automatic laser system with CNC controller, which adopts CO2 or FIBER laser beam to cut metals (steel, copper, brass, aluminum, titanium, gold, silver, alloy, iron), acrylic, rubber, wood, plywood, MDF, plastic, leather, paper, foam, textile, fabric into 2D/3D shapes and profiles.

Laser cutter is an automated laser beam cutting tool kit for metals, metalloids, and nonmetals, which is composed of machine frame, CNC controller, laser generator, power supply, laser tube, laser head, lens, mirror, water chiller, stepper motor or servo motor, gas cylinder, air compressor, gas storage tank, air cooling filer, dryer, dust extractor, CNC laser software and computer numerical controlled system.

Laser cutting system is an organized collection of laser parts that are integrated to accomplish precision cuts for industrial manufacturing, commercial use, school education, small business, home business, small shop, and home shop. It is a flexible cutting system compared to manual and mechanical cutting tools. It can cut a variety of materials in varying thicknesses and there is no limit to the shapes you can get. It is fast to program and any changes can be applied at any stage of manufacturing at almost no additional cost and time. It features with high precision, excellent trimming quality and no deformation of parts. It is the best solution for modularization and automation in the manufacturing cycle.

What Are Laser Cutters Used For?

Laser cutters are the most common automatic cutting tools used in a wide range of applications inlcluding personalization (customization), digital printing, medical technology, fab labs, education, architectural models, smart phones and laptops, computers & electronics, toys, watches, arts & crafts, awards, trophies, rubber stamps, packaging design, die cut, mold making, signs making, displays making, giveaways, electronics industry, automotive industry, signage, mechanical engineering, ball bearing, jewelry making, fashion & apparel fabrics, stencils, paper cards, car floor mats & liners, textile and garment industry, bar code serial numbers, watches, machining industry, data plates industry, packaging industry.

What Materials Can be Cut with Laser Cutting Systems?

Fiber laser cutting systems are able to cut variety of metal materials (sheet metals, metal tube, metal profile, 3D curved metals and irregular metals) of carbon steel, stainless steel, mild steel, tool steel, spring steel, galvanized steel, aluminum, copper, gold, silver, alloy, titanium, iron, brass, manganese, chromium, nickel, cobalt, lead, and more metals.

CO2 laser cutting systems are able to cut variety of thin metal and non-metal materials of wood, MDF, plywood, chipboard, acrylic, plastic, PMMA, leather, fabric, cardboard, paper, rubber, depron foam, woodleather, wood paper, EPM, gator foam, polyester (PES), polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PUR), neoprene, textile, bamboo, ivory, carbon fibers, beryllium oxide, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinyl butyrale (PVB), polytetrafluoroethylenes (PTFE / Teflon), phenolic or epoxy resins, and any materials with halogens (fluorine, astatine, iodine, chlorine, bromine).

How Much Does A Laser Cutter Cost?

If you're looking to start your business with an used or new laser cutter to make money, you may wonder how does it cost? and what is the average cost in your area? The best budget laser cutter costs from about $2,600 to $300,000, excluding the price of shipping, tax rates, customs clearance, service, and technical support. Costs depend on the brand and type, and whether you want any extra features, including personalized design, custom table size, laser generator and power, rotary attachment, controller, software, parts, accessories, upgrades, setup, debugging, and other special features. Here are the average costs list in 2022.

A fiber laser cutting machine costs from $8,800.00 to 260,000.00. A CO2 laser cutter costs from $2,600.00 to 68,800. A mixed hybrid laser cutting system costs from $6,800 to $32,500.

From entry-level to high-end or eco-friendly types, the costs vary depending on the types you choose.

An entry-level laser cutter is priced anywhere from $2,600 to $8,800 with 80W CO2 glass laser tube for beginners, enthusiast, hobby, home use, small business, while some high-end laser cutting machines are as expensive as 279,000.00 with 12000W IPG fiber laser power supply for industrial metal fabrication.

A cheap laser cutting machine is priced from $3,000 to $10,800 with CO2 laser powers of 80W, 100W, 130W, 150W, 180W for plywood, MDF, bamboo, fabric, leather, acrylic, fabric, and foam.

An affordable laser sheet metal cutter cost starts from $6,800 with 300W laser power, while some precision laser metal cutters are priced from $19,800 to $568,000 with laser fiber laser powers of 1000W, 1500W, 2000W, 3000W, 4000W, 6000W, 8000W, 10000W, 12000W, 15000W, 20000W, 30000W, 40000W.

A professional laser tube cutting machine cost starts around $50,000 with CNC controller for any types of metal tubing.

All-in-one sheet metal and tube laser cutters for sale from $42,500 to $116,000 for dual-purpose commercial use with automotion.

An automatic 5 axis laser cutting robot has a price range from $49,000 to $83,500 for flexible 3D dynamic metal cut of multi-angle and multi-dimensional in industrial manufacturing.

Technical Parameters

Brand	STYLECNC
Laser Types	Fiber Laser, CO2 Laser
Laser Powers	80W, 100W, 130W, 150W, 180W, 300W, 1000W, 1500W, 2000W, 3000W, 4000W, 6000W, 8000W, 10000W, 12000W, 15000W, 20000W, 30000W, 40000W
Table Sizes	2' x 3', 2' x 4', 4' x 4', 4' x 8', 5' x 10', 6' x 12'
Axis	3 Axis, 4th Axis (Rotary Axis), 4 Axis, 5 Axis
Cutting Materials	Metals (Stainless Steel, Carbon Steel, Tool Steel, Galvanized Steel, Spring Steel, Copper, Brass, Aluminum, Gold, Silver, Iron, Titanium, Chromium, Alloy, Manganese, Cobalt, Nickel, Lead), Wood, MDF, Plywood, Chipboard, Acrylic, Plastic, Fabric, Leather, Jeans, Paper, Cardborad, ABS, PE, EPM, PES, PVB, PUR, PVC, PTFE, PMMA.
Applications	Industrial Manufacturing, School Education, Small Businesses, Home Business, Small Shop, Home Shop, Hobbyists.
Price Range	$2,600.00 - $300,000.00

How Many Types of Laser Cutting Machines?

Laser cutters are identified into laser metal cutters, laser wood cutters, laser fabric cutters, laser leather cutters, laser paper cutters, laser acrylic cutters, laser plastic cutters, laser foam cutters, laser paper cutters based on materials to be cut. Laser cutting machines are classified into fiber laser machines and CO2 laser machines based on laser sources. Laser cutting systems are defined into handheld, portable, mini, small, tabletop, benchtop, and desktop laser cutting systems, 2x3 laser cutter tables, 2x4 laser cutter tables, 4x4 laser cutting tables, 4x8 laser cutting tables, 5x10 laser cutting tables based on table sizes. Before buying, take some measurements of your workshop space to ensure that it will fit, and buy the right cutting table. Laser cutter kits are divided into 3 axis types, 4th axis (rotary axis) types, 4 axis types, 5 axis types, flatbed laser cutters, laser tube cutters, home types, hobby types, laser die cutters, laser profile cutters, industrial laser cutting machines based on applications.

Is A Laser Cutter Worth It?

A CO2 laser cutter is suitable for customers with low investment cost, which is priced from $3,000 to $16,000. It features with low investment cost, less consumption of wearing parts and short payback period. However, while considering the price, the value it can bring is more important. In other words, it depends on whether the performance and advantages are worth the investment.

A laser cutter is easy to operate with automation, which is used to DIY crafts, gifts, and artworks. It will assist you to start custom business on Amazon or sell personalized laser-cut gifts on Etsy to make money, a laser cutter is worth it.

However, can an expensive fiber laser cutter be used to make money? Many companies or individuals may hesitate when purchasing it. A fiber laser machine is worth $20,000 to $160,000. When can the cost be recovered and how much profit can it bring in a year?

If the unit price is the standard market price, and the business volume is sufficient, the cost can be recovered quickly. Some companies only cut for their own parts, which make the processing volume relatively small, so the cost recovery will be slow. Let's take external processing as an example. At present, the average profit of external laser processing is between 50% and 60%. If the average cost of entrusted processing is $50,000 a month, then the annual cost is $600,000. If we own a fiber laser machine, the cost is about $25,000 ($50,000 * 0.5) excluding the cost of one month and the same processing volume. According to this calculation, we can save $300,000 in cutting costs in one year. In this way, a 1000W fiber laser machine can recover the cost in about a year.

A machine has a service life. It is impossible to use it all the time without cost. A fiber laser generator can be used for 100,000 hours. You can calculate the cost after use and before use. Remove the cost and calculate the profit change after using the fiber laser cutting machine.

Pros & Cons

Laser cutting is one of the thermal cutting methods, which can do vaporization cutting, fusion cutting, oxygen cutting, dicing and controlled fracture. It has replaced the traditional mechanical cutters with invisible laser beams. It has advantages of high speed, high precision, high quality, low machining cost, automatic typesetting, smooth cut edges for any shapes and designs. It is an upgrade to traditional cutting tools. In addition to the advantages, it also has its own shortcomings and limitations.

Pros

The mechanical part of the cutting head has no contact with the part, and it will not scratch the surface of the part during operation.

The cutting speed is fast, the slit is smooth and flat, generally no subsequent cutting is required.

The heat affected zone is small, the sheet deformation is small, which is used for precision fine cutting.

Low cost of use without consumables, which is beneficial for makers to reduce manufacturing costs.

The slit has no mechanical stress, no shear burr. It is high precision, good repeatability, does not damage the surface of the material with smooth cut edge.

Using a computerized numerical control (CNC) unit that accepts cutting data from a computer-aided design (CAD) workstation.

Working with CNC programming, which can cut any plan, and the whole large format part without molding.

Cons

Since it is thermal cutting, in the process of multi-layer cutting, the edge part is easy to stick, which has a great impact on the cutting quality.

Due to the short wavelength of the laser, it is easy to cause damage to human eyes. Users can choose to wear special protective glasses to reduce injuries.

Due to the thin incision of the fiber laser, the gas consumption is large (especially when cutting with nitrogen).

Since the CO2 laser tube is made of glass, improper handling will cause it to break.