Estimating Power Output Without A Laser Power Meter

1 min read·Updated Jul 2026
Quick
answer

How to estimate your CO2 laser's power output using the included acrylic square to find the fastest single-pass cut speed at 95% power.

Applies toAll machinesTopicGeneral

You will need the 50mmx50mmx6mm acrylic square that comes in the toolbox:

50mmx50mmx6mm acrylic square from toolbox

Keep the laser power at 95% and you want to determine the fastest you can cut through in one pass.

A decent starting speed can be found if you aren't sure where to begin. For instance (assuming a 60w machine):

According to their published parameters chart for the 60w units, 5mm cuts at 9mm/sec at 90%. So 5mm or 6mm/sec (remember, 95% power always) may be a good starting point.

Parameters chart for 60w unit

You can find the material library for each wattage here (it's the pdf, not the lightburn file):

  • 40 Watt Materials Libraries
  • 60 Watt Materials Libraries
  • 80 Watt Materials Libraries
  • 100 Watt Materials Libraries
  • 130 Watt Materials Libraries

And, you could probably overlap the circles (horizontally only) if you needed extra play room:

Overlapping circles diagram

Email the speed determined in the test to [email protected] or, if you already have a ticket open, just reply to the last ticket response with the speed value.

Speed test result example

Still stuck?

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