Speed: 80% Faster Cutting With Fiber Laser

Operating Cost: Lower Energy, Fewer Consumables

Cut Quality: Precision That Eliminates Secondary Operations

When Plasma Still Makes Sense

Ready to Compare in Person?

(778) 473-0071

If your shop still runs plasma, you already know the tradeoffs: thick dross, wide kerfs, and parts that need grinding before they ship. Fiber laser changes the equation. A 12kW fiber laser cuts 10mm mild steel at roughly 4,500 mm/min compared to about 2,500 mm/min for plasma. That gap widens on thinner material, where fiber laser feed rates exceed 10,000 mm/min. With 1.5G acceleration and 140 m/min rapid traverse on Vantix systems, the throughput difference compounds across a full production shift.

For most job shops, switching from plasma to fiber laser means finishing the same job in half the time or doubling output with the same crew.

Plasma torches burn through consumables: tips, electrodes, shields, and swirl rings adding up to $3,000-$8,000 per year on a busy table. Fiber lasers have no torch consumables. Energy consumption is meaningfully lower. When you factor in grinding and finishing plasma-cut edges, the total cost-per-part shifts significantly in laser's favour.

1. Fiber laser: ±0.03mm positioning accuracy, 0.1-0.3mm kerf width
2. Plasma: 1.5-3mm kerf width, wider heat-affected zone
3. Laser-cut edges are often weld-ready off the table; plasma edges almost always need grinding

Plasma is not obsolete. For very thick plate work above 2 inches on mild steel, plasma remains cost-effective when edge quality requirements are forgiving. Field work and site cutting where portability matters also favours plasma. Shops with very low volume may not justify the capital investment, even with financing.

• Many shops keep a plasma unit for rough field work while laser handles production volume
• The two technologies coexist well — the question is which one carries the load
• Vantix offers $0 down financing with terms from 24 to 84 months

Book a Showroom Demo

See it cut your materials at our Lumby, BC showroom.

No obligation. No pressure. Just precision.

^{Request a Custom Quote}

_{vantixlasercanada.com/contact}