Welding with light is nothing new. Automakers from Ford to Volvo to Toyota have made laser welding a serious part of their production lines since the 80s and 90s. Since then, lasers have only gotten smaller, more powerful, and, crucially, cheaper. It was only a matter of time before they found their way into more hands. Literally.
But when the first truly functional and portable hand-operated laser welding system showed up on the market in 2020, many weren’t sure what to make of it. Squeezing a trigger to melt steel with photons seemed like something out of a sci-fi lab rather than a practical approach to real-world welding.
Fast forward to today. With dozens of handheld laser welding machines on the market and tens of thousands of users worldwide, it’s safe to say that it’s not going anywhere. Now that laser welding has had 5 years under the hood, let’s take a look at the tech’s journey so far and where it’s headed next.
Healthy Skepticism and Early Winners
In the words of one presenter at FABTECH this year, “Lasers have been an emerging technology for 50 years.” Snark aside, he has a point: despite an incredible host of benefits, laser alternatives to traditional technologies are often misunderstood and unevenly adopted.
Cost is still an issue for some, of course. But even this concern is becoming less of a factor as laser equipment costs continue to decrease across the board. So, what’s the problem?
No matter how promising, new processes always represent risk. For big manufacturers with automated production lines, taking risks is often part of staying competitive. For smaller operations, or manual applications, the urgency isn’t always there.
Once welding is involved, things get even stickier. Especially when something promises to be the first true welding revolution in 70 years. That’s bound to raise some eyebrows. And justifiably so.
Laser welding invites welders to reconsider what they take for granted about welding.
But, as with any new technology, some early adopters were excited to give it a chance. One early high-profile application is SpaceX’s Starship, particularly the rocket’s nose cone.
Rex Alexandre, now the President of the Handheld Laser Institute, recalls his time as a Senior Welding Engineer at SpaceX. “Early on, I was begging the other engineers to let me use handheld laser welding for months. When leadership responded negatively to heavy distortion on the nose cone, it became obvious that arc welding alone wasn’t working. The next morning, those same engineers were waiting for me at my desk – and this time they were asking me to use the handheld lasers to solve their problem.”
Alexandre later went on to develop the handheld laser welding program for SpaceX’s Starship. The aerospace giant is a big example of early success with the process, having since deployed over one hundred handheld laser welding machines at the time of writing.
But early successes were not limited to massive fabricators and space-faring vehicles. Apollo Machine, a roughly 300-person machine shop in Alberta, has used laser welding successfully for years, even relying on it for heavy duty repair work in the field.
According to Apollo R&D Manager Doug Hamre, “Laser welding has let us take on more business. We now have customers coming to us when conventional welding isn’t working.” Continuing, Hamre says, “At this point, I’m basically working with laser welding full time.”
Walking Leads to Running
Of course, there have been some bumps along the way. Early handheld laser welders were limited in power, penetration, and did not work with wire, increasing the operator skill required and limiting them to specific autogenous applications.
On top of that, while early laser welding enclosures and PPE were functional and safe, the options were initially limited. Nothing’s perfect on the first go around, after all. But, after years of real-world feedback, laser welding safety equipment is easier to use and more accessible than ever.
Laser welding PPE, which is easier to find than ever, is very similar to arc welding PPE (with a few differences).
While handheld laser welding is not yet part of everyday fabrication today, you can find it everywhere from one-person metal art studios to job shops and large production floors.
Architectural fabricator Fathom + Form is one small company that has been pleased with the addition to the shop’s toolkit. Preston Johnston, the Los Angeles area shop’s founder, has found the process invaluable for aesthetically critical joints, saying, “Once the powder coating goes on, it looks just like a formed piece of metal. That’s amazing for us.”
Los Angeles-based Fathom + Form uses laser welding to build ritzy doors, windows, and other architectural elements for demanding clients.
As for materials, stainless steel and aluminum have become routine with new applications for structural and galvanized steels, titanium, and copper emerging every day. Sheet metal and other thin materials are still laser welding’s bread and butter, but some have been using it for metal meshes, deep penetration welds, and structural work as well.
Strength in Numbers
With increasing capabilities and more safety options than ever, much of the early skepticism has faded, replaced instead with curiosity.
Welders and industry leaders have now begun to shift their focus to weld strength. It’s one thing to stick two pieces of metal together – it’s another for mission-critical welds to hold up to thousands of pounds of force.
Fortunately, laser welding has not disappointed in this category. Between comparably sized MIG, TIG, and laser welds, the latter frequently comes out on top in both bend and tensile tests.
Cross-sectional analysis reveals a key difference between arc welds and laser welds: laser welds owe their considerable strength to significantly deeper weld penetration.
But making sure engineers and welders understand that laser is legit is an ongoing process. Data has proven to be a big deal, in particular. Not everyone is ready to believe in the process without some numbers to back it up.
That’s why equipment providers, organizations, and even users have started to conduct research in earnest. One recent study conducted by automotive industry leaders found that, even without filler wire, manual laser welding produced the highest joint strengths among non-adhesive auto repair processes like resistance spot welding, baking, plugging, and riveting.
The Handheld Laser Institute has been hard at work as well, according to Alexandre. “We have hit over 12,000 pounds of force per inch of tensile strength with a 1/16” leg length fillet weld on ¼” stainless steel. Our testing has consistently shown that handheld laser fillet welds can match the performance of arc welds with leg lengths up to three times their size.”
Where Things Are Headed
With rising interest in the welding world’s brightest newcomer, it’s natural to wonder what’s next. Could these machines really have a home in every shop?
One inherent barrier left to address is laser’s learning curve. Often touted as being easy to learn, laser welding does indeed demand less dexterity – but it’s still a new process. And it takes a little getting used to.
“I have been welding for more than 20 years,” says Jonah Wicklund, who runs LightWELD demos at IPG Photonics. “That actually made it harder for me to wrap my head around laser at first. But now it’s second nature. I use it in my own garage.”
Wicklund urges other welders not to think of laser welding as a replacement, but as another tool in the toolbox. “It’s not better for everything. I still use MIG and TIG. It’s about knowing which tool’s right for the job.”
Another barrier surrounds industries that must weld to code. Humans have been arc welding for a century and current welding codes reflect that. With lasers added to the mix, it may be necessary to rethink concepts that have long been taken for granted.
For example, a laser fillet weld might achieve full penetration but if it doesn’t have a 1/8” leg length it may not be code compliant. That’s a dealbreaker for some projects.
Sweeping code revisions may prove to be an ongoing process, but progress is well underway. Handheld laser welding is now included in ASME BPVC Section IX in its 2023 revision, and the Canadian Welding Bureau issued an overarching position statement accepting the technology in 2024. Engineering documents like laser Weld Procedure Specifications (WPS) and Procedure Qualification Records (PQR) can be written to structural codes such as AWS D1.6. Formal records like this can do a lot to make skeptics feel comfortable.
New equipment and techniques are helping as well. For example, emerging wire configurations and techniques are making it possible for laser welds to achieve their notoriously excellent quality while emulating arc welds in ways that welders and designers are more familiar with.
We’re living through an exciting period in welding history as this new process continues to surprise the welding world. While laser welding has some ground to cover before it’s an everyday go-to, it has come a long way in the first half of the 2020s. Whether you use it to differentiate yourself now or choose to wait for the dust to settle, laser is here to stay – and it’s becoming harder to ignore.
Getting Started With LightWELD
Considering handheld laser welding? We’re here to help – whether you want to get hands-on with LightWELD or learn more about what laser welding can do, we make getting started easy.
Click here to get started. We’ll take it from there.
