Affordable Laser Tube Cutting

A Bay Area startup, 3D Fab Light (San Francisco, CA), has launched FabLight, a new product line of laser cutters that combine an XY gantry for cutting sheets with a rotary device for cutting square, round, and rectangular tubes. These machines are designed to maximize performance and flexibility in a compact footprint. The base model starts at an affordable price of $59,900. “Our plan is to make high performance metal laser cutting available to a much broader audience. Our goal is to design for lower cost without compromising performance,” said Matthew Bye, the chief executive officer of 3D Fab Light.

The FabLight comes in three power levels of 1,500 W, 3,000 W, or 4,500 W pulsed. No installation is required: the machine uses only a standard 110V, 20A outlet and clean, dry shop air. No chiller is required since the lasers are air cooled, and no outside venting is required since exhaust goes through a HEPA filter. It needs no consumables or maintenance, and costs less than $0.25 an hour to run. “We made it fully enclosed, Class I, to fit into any fabrication environment,” added Joel Rosenberg, the vice president of the company. To keep the footprint small, the FabLight uses a drawer for loading sheets and tubes. The bed fits cut-down versions of standard sized stock. For sheets, the bed can handle up to 25 in x 50 in (635 mm x 1,270 mm). It fits tubes between 0.5 in and 2 in diameter (13 mm to 51 mm). The fiber laser cuts steel, stainless, aluminum, copper, brass, bronze, and titanium.

Software is also a key part of the cutting strategy. “We’re creating software that makes the idea-to-part workflow painless,” noted Bye. The design software is included, with unlimited seats that can be distributed widely, including to customers. Software upgrades are also free. “As a Bay Area startup, it makes sense for us to be both a hardware and software company,” said Rosenberg.

3D FabLight, 701 Alabama Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, 415-870-3335, jrosenberg@3dfablight.com, 3dfablight.com.