FRC Fiber Laser Cutters

What are Fiber Laser Cutters?

Laser Cutter: Instead of spinning a physical bit to chip away material, it focuses a high-powered beam of light down to a microscopic point to vaporize through the material and a high pressure stream of air to push through it.
Why Fiber?: There are different types of lasers. A Fiber laser produces a high-density light beam that specializes in cutting right through hard metals—especially the aluminum sheets commonly used to build robots.
Game-Changer: Imagine cutting an entire launcher out of aluminum in under 30 minutes—with zero broken bits, zero hold down screws, double-sided tape or tabs, and parts that are nearly ready to assemble right out of the machine.

What Fiber Laser Cutters Aren’t

They aren’t traditional CO2 Lasers: Standard CO2 lasers are great for wood and plastic, but reflective metals act like a mirror to them. Trying to cut aluminum on a CO2 laser bounces the beam right back into the glass tube, likely damaging it.
They aren’t low-power Hobby Diodes: While 20W–40W diode lasers can engrave or mark steel, they lack the intense density and high-pressure gas assist required to cleanly slice structural aluminum sheets.
They aren’t Plasma Cutters: Plasma cutters leave heavily melted, jagged, and oxidized edges that require a lot of clean up. Fiber lasers leave clean, factory edges with near zero post-processing.

Our Fiber Laser Cutters

To scale our manufacturing capacity and accelerate mechanism prototyping during the 6-week build sprint, we operate two distinct machines in the 1200-watt power class:

xTool MetalFab: A highly automated, compact metal cutting station optimized for quick work-holding and part layouts.
- Retail: $15.5k | We Paid: $13.3k
- Fiber Only = Metal Only
Gweike M3 Ultra: A large-format hybrid platform capable of handling large raw sheets of multiple material types.
- Retail: $14k | We Paid: $12.8k
- Fiber + CO2 = Metal, Wood, Plastic, SRPP

Our shop is equipped with an 80 gallon, 130+ psi Air Compressor that we use for both machines.

Both machines are attached to our whole shop dust collection for fume exhaustion to the outside.

xTool MetalFab

Gweike M3 Ultra in our shop

xTool MetalFab (1200W)

Links: xTool MetalFab Product Page | xTool Referral Link
Work Envelope: 24“ x 24“ cutting bed.
Fiber: To Cut Aluminum up to 5mm (3/16“) thick. We have done limited ¼” and it works well enough but it’s not advertised to that thickness.
Smart Visual Alignment: Features a high-resolution 16MP camera matrix. Instead of manually setting your X/Y home coordinates on a corner like a CNC router, you drop an irregular scrap of metal anywhere on the bed, and you can use the cameras to precisely place your parts on it.
Ease of Use: Uses xTool Creative Space software, meaning rookie students can safely set up and run parts without knowing CAM and it walks you through each step (software feels like using Bambu Slicer).

xTool MetalFab Software & Media

User Focused Software with easy step-by-step guide and easy defaults.
The built-in nesting doesn’t work well in our experience.
Computer connects to machine over USB.

Photo & Video Gallery

Checking a test cut with calipers — 1.750"

Checking a test cut with calipers — 1.125"

Gweike M3 Ultra (1200W)

Links: Gweike M-Series Product Page
Work Envelope: Massive 54“ x 36“ bed (able to cut full FRC Belly Pans).
Fiber: To Cut Aluminum up to 5mm (3/16“) thick.
CO2: To cut SRPP sheets, or wood prototyping plates.
No Cameras: Lacks any cameras for alignment, so you are manually setting the start point and using the frame feature to ensure the cut will be on the sheet.
More Complicated Setup: Requires wiring in your own plug to bare cables for both the laser box and the CNC machine. Both can share a 220v plug (Amazon 220V Splitter).

Gweike M3 Ultra Software & Media

More industrial software with no step-by-step guide; some settings are only in file names.
Gives more control over cutting perimeters.
Built-in nesting is usable but requires a USB key to always be in the computer.
Computer must connect to machine over direct ethernet connection (not network).

Photo & Video Gallery

Head-to-Head Comparison

Feature	xTool MetalFab (1200W)	Gweike M3 Ultra (1200W)
Price	Retail $15.5k \| We Paid $13.3k	Retail $14k \| We Paid $12.8k
Work Area	24“ x 24“	54“ x 36“
Pass-Thru	Allows longer sheets	Allows full 4’x8’ sheets
Footprint	Small footprint	Very large footprint 6’x7’+
Delivery	Pallet Jack only for delivery	Needs a forklift for delivery
Laser Type	Fiber Only	Hybrid: Fiber + CO2
Alignment	Easy Camera Alignment	No cameras
Usability	Very Beginner-friendly (software based on hobby laser software)	Translated Chinese Industrial Software (easier to forget steps)
Exhaust	8” Exhaust	6” Exhaust

Our Experience

Our Experience with the xTool MetalFab

The process is very easy. Our team members use the xTool fully on their own after training with little guidance from coaches.
We had the laser module (box on the side of the machine) randomly stop working after about 2.5 months of use. We had to work with support to get them to send us a new one after we paid them a $4k deposit that we got refunded once we shipped back the broken one. Took about 1.5 weeks to get the replacement.

Our Experience with the Gweike M3 Ultra

Currently we have coaches help run this machine during every cut. Our goal is to have team members doing it solo next year but we need to create more documentation for the process.
We have had some calibration issues with needing to realign the CO2 laser multiple times and the steps are a little off right now, so parts are coming off ever so slightly small (~0.02“ over 8 inches or so right now) both those can be adjusted.
Eventually it is supposed to be compatible with lightburn software and that will make it much better but the software is useable as is.
Gweike has a slightly nicer pierce cleanup routine that cleans the metal after it pierces to avoid the nozzle touching the metal swarf which causes the machine to pause.
Support for the Gweike is done thru WhatsApp groups where they add you and several of their support and engineers to the same group. This can be convenient but it is a little odd.

Materials and Thicknesses

Thin aluminum cuts so fast. 0.04/0.06/0.09/0.125 all cut great on both machines. All 5052 so we can bend it.
We imported $1000 worth of 5mm 7075 from China and all of our thick plate was made from that on this years robots.
We’ve managed to cut up to ¼“ 6061 on the xTool, but that seems like the upper limit. 7075 seems to leave a better finish than 6061, and you could probably also cut ¼“ 7075 on it, though we have never done that. We don’t have different settings for 6061 or 7075 on the Gweike. The xTool has presets for both, so we just use the preset, but otherwise both basically cut using the same settings.

Aluminum Sourcing & Details

Prices vary quickly with aluminum so don’t assume you can get the same prices.

Thick Plate (5mm 7075): We purchased 5mm “7075” from an Alibaba supplier in China (Henan GFSY Supplier Vendor Page). They shipped them as 600x900mm (2’x3’) sheets so they work in our xTool through the built-in passthrough brushes. Total with shipping/tax: $972.00 for 14x “7075” T6 aluminum plate, 5mm600900mm.
Thinner Aluminum: We purchase 5052 sheet from a local supplier cut to 4’x3’ so they fit in the Gweike as whole sheets. For the xTool we cut those sheets down normally with an M12 Nibbler. We also have a large amount of donated 6061 1/16” that is in 5x10’ sheets that we use the nibbler to cut down for either machine.

Workholding

xTool sliding sheet clamps

Gweike standard slat bed

xTool MetalFab: Sliding Sheet Clamps make it very easy to secure small and odd size scraps to cut.
Gweike M3 Ultra: Standard Slat Bed — sheets aren’t always flat or even. Small or odd sizes don’t lay across the slats evenly.

Catch Trays

xTool catch tray

Gweike catch tray

Both machines have catch trays below the beds where cut parts will fall down into.
On the xTool it’s much further away which gives the laser more time to defocus so it doesn’t damage the bottom bed as much. The xTool also has an easy to remove drawer to pull the parts out or clean out scrap.
On the Gweike it is much closer so it does damage the bottom more often.
We have sand in the bottom of both machines, but the air assist can blow the sand away. We are investigating going to rocks or another material.

Post Processing

We basically just have to knock out all the cutouts. The xTool tolerances are set up tighter for us so we sometimes have to use a punch to knock them out, while the Gweike cuts are slightly looser and we can normally just bang the part over our aluminum recycling bin to get most of the cutouts out.
We normally do a very light sanding and/or deburring but the burrs aren’t very large most of the time.
We also wipe with acetone and powder coat most of our parts, but that’s fully optional.

Our Shop Setup

Our 80-gallon, 130+ psi air compressor and dryer

Our shop dust collector

Air Compressor & Dryer: Quincy QT-5 HP 80-Gallon Two-Stage Air Compressor (80 gallon, 130+ psi).
Dust Collection System: Donaldson Cyclone Dust Collector attached to whole shop for fume exhaustion to the outside.

Tips

[!TIP] You have to play with cut heights for both machines to keep them cutting well with your specific material. Too close and you get nozzle contact warnings and the machines pause. Too far away and they don’t cut all the way through. Both will pause if they touch metal, and the xTool will fully cancel the job sometimes so you have to be careful to avoid that.

Other Stuff & Experiments

A tube-cut test piece

A laser-cut carbon fiber sheet

Tube Cutting: The Gweike has an edge detection feature that allows you to find the corner of material and an adjustable Z-bed; with that you can cut tube. It’s awkward and we wouldn’t want to do it a lot, but it’s an option. We used it to make our metal Hub this year (2026) for our practice field. You have to cut each side, so you have to be careful with alignment.
Carbon Fiber: Both machines will cut Carbon Fiber with their fiber lasers, but it’s pretty sketchy and not something we’d do often.

Facebook Groups for Support

Both machines have active Facebook groups that help with questions and they also sometimes have machines for sale, etc.

Other Fiber Laser Cutters in this Price Range

We haven’t used or tested any of these machines.

Historically, cutting metal with a laser meant a $100,000+ industrial machine requiring dedicated 3-phase voltage. A new under-$20k tier has emerged utilizing efficient, localized power that uses single phase 220v.

Langmuir Apollo Laser Cutter — Retail: $20k+ | 4’x8’ Cutting Area, 1500W.
SFX Laser SFX-1390FC — $13.8k+ | Fiber 1500W / CO2 130/150/180W | 3ft x 4.25ft (900x1300mm). (They quoted us $13.8k shipped to our school; not sure what price they will give everyone else).
SFX Laser SFX-2030 — $9.8k | Fiber Laser Power: 1200W | Working Area: 200*300mm.
Senfeng Tools D Series Laser Welder and CNC Cutter — ~$11k | Fiber Laser Power: 1200W | 2ft x 2ft (600mm).
Senfeng Tools F900 Laser Welder and CNC Cutter — Hybrid Fiber + CO2 like the Gweike, with about the same size cutting area, but available with a 2000W fiber laser instead of 1200W.
DeskLite Cutter — ~$3-6k | 800W Air-Cooled Laser | 300 × 300 mm.
Chinese Import Lasers: There are a host of lasers you can import directly from China that don’t have consumer facing product pages.
Kickstarter Lasers: It seems like every few months a new laser comes out on Kickstarter. We expect there to be even more new models in the coming years from other CO2 laser brands (OMTech, Thunder, etc.).

Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)

What kind of maintenance do these machines require? Do you have to clean / replace the bed or optics?

We aren’t great on maintenance for any of our machines. We have replaced the CO2 lens on the Gweike cause our first got a hole in it after its alignment got super off one day. We have also replaced the protective lens in the xTool once (maybe twice) and clean it if we think the cuts are getting worse. We clean the nozzles with a wire brush. I don’t remember replacing either nozzle.

Do you have any special safety concerns / procedures for these higher power lasers?

Not really, they have both just been working well.

Do they come with UL stamps, or just CE?

We don’t know.

What’s your usage split between the two?

We use both regularly, currently students use the xTool more and coaches use the Gweike more. We have had them both cutting at the same time a good amount. Gweike can process SRPP so we will use it for that and have aluminum going on the xTool, etc. Gweike cuts all the belly pans since its bed is bigger.

How difficult is it to cut ¼“ thick aluminum on the xTool? Is that actually a viable/recommended option?

We don’t know, we did it once, seemed easy enough. We own very little ¼” and don’t plan to ever run it regularly. It’s 20% heavier than 5mm/0.2” and more expensive.

What nozzle type are offered / have you found work best on each?

xTool has nozzles we haven’t done much testing, we just use the default 3mm cutting nozzle. The save gas nozzle doesn’t seem useful for us and made worse cuts the one time we tried it.

You haven’t found a need for assist gas on either (aside from compressed air)?

Never tried anything else, don’t plan to it’s expensive and we’re happy with our cuts.

Do you know what CFM usage you are seeing for other teams that may have smaller compressors?

We don’t know.

What do you do for bearing holes in plates? Model on size/oversize etc? Post processing needed for proper press fit?

Just bearing size. Everything comes out close enough for us. We use compensation setting for SRPP/Plastic on the Gweike but don’t for aluminum. We rarely care that much about “proper press fit” we are powdering anyway and normally add some form of bearing retention. Sometimes we have to deburr after powder, sometimes we need to press in with the arbor press.

Can you share who you bought your aluminum from in China? What was that process like with aluminum tariffs etc?

On the 2nd materials slide now. No reason to believe that company is any better than any others just gave us the best deal at the time and seemed semi-reputable. Do your own research and contact multiple vendors is the best option.

I have a question about operating costs for the xTool: I understand you need to constantly exert high pressure of an inert gas like pressurized N2 or CO2 to displace oxygen. How long would a typical Size 300 AirGas tank last in terms of time and number of cuts?

We’ve never used anything but our compressor for air and never plan to since it’s working for what we need and don’t need to get any school approval for O2 or N2 tanks.

Also, what’s the typical power consumption to run the machine (Watts)? Trying to figure out constraints or hazards with having this in my personal garage.

No idea.

What is the accuracy of the lasers? If I ask one to cut a 1.125“ hole in 3mm thick aluminum, how good does a bearing feel in it?

We know it’s adjustable on the Gweike as we have had to calibrate its steps and probably should do it again. The xTool comes out within 0.001” most of the time, and its probably able to be adjusted we just haven’t done it.

How bad is the taper effect on thick material?

We don’t notice it, and don’t have a nice way to measure it.

Was the ¼” 6061 cut on both machines, or just one?

We have only done that on the xTool, but both lasers have the same power rating, so we have no reason to believe the Gweike couldn’t do it if we wanted.

Have you experimented with cutting steel? We would like to share a laser cutter with our Auto Shop and they want to cut steel. It definitely doesn’t need to be 3/16” thick.

Nope, we did cut some thin steel as part of the bring up process for the xTool as that’s part of the instructions and they ship it with the machine. Steel should be easier than aluminum but at thicker sizes you probably want N2/O2 to avoid oxidation, I think but honestly not sure we haven’t looked into it.

Has 3847 spent design effort trying to use more 1/8” or 3/16” material? If so, where have you guys found it to be suitable to replace ¼” plate?

We were already using more 3/16” in the past. We don’t plan to use ¼” for anything ever again unless there is a very good reason.

Have you used the laser welder or cleaning features?

No and we don’t ever plan to.

What’s the footprint of the Gweike M3 Ultra?

86“ x 67“ for the CNC, plus you need a 1ft+ behind it for the exhaust, etc. 25“x14” for the laser box that needs to be on the side of it.