A Manufacturing With Light Perspective September 23, 2026 I only began paying close attention to handheld laser welding a few months ago, when I started Manufacturing With Light. Now it’s clear that a lot had been happening while I wasn’t paying attention. I feel a little like I walked into a movie during the second … Read more
September 15, 2026 This is an opinion shaped by my background in controls, software, motion, and automation on laser manufacturing systems. I’m not a welding engineer. But years spent working around automated laser cutting and welding taught me one thing pretty clearly: a good laser weld normally came from developing a process, not simply choosing … Read more
Handheld laser welding is getting faster, easier to use, and more capable. But in my view, its long-term future depends on treating it like what it is: a real welding process requiring trained and qualified people. It is hard not to pay attention to handheld laser welding when you are trying to launch a newsletter … Read more
A practical, easy-to-understand guide for U.S. manufacturers and fabrication shops considering handheld laser welding. It covers safety, equipment selection, setup, process basics, materials, joint design, fume control, qualification, quality, and practical steps for getting started—supported by reliable industry, government, manufacturer, and peer-reviewed sources.
A look at four developments in laser manufacturing that caught my attention this week — from precision motion for medical-device manufacturing to very-high-power cutting, semiconductor processing, and an interesting new approach to machining sapphire. Precision Motion Targets Medical Tube Laser Cutting Aerotech’s new LaserTurn280 motion platform is designed for cylindrical laser processing applications such as … Read more
What You Need to Know About Handheld Laser Welding is a practical, safety-focused guide for shop owners, welders, supervisors, students, and anyone considering this rapidly growing technology. It explains how handheld laser welding works, what equipment and controls are required, how to develop a repeatable welding process, and why training, ventilation, documentation, and laser safety … Read more
Modern motion controllers are amazing. In laser processing, advanced algorithms can smooth corners, reduce vibration, improve path following, synchronize laser firing, and help squeeze more performance out of a machine. Features such as input shaping, look-ahead, contour smoothing, and frequency-response-based tuning are real tools that can make a good machine much better [1][2][3][4]. But they … Read more
I will admit that I am confused. You probably will be too if you read this article. But it’s an important topic that deserves to be discussed. Please read the full article. And please chime in. I have helped build industrial laser systems containing Class 4 lasers. To make the completed machines Class I, or … Read more