Understand the machine before you buy it.
A plain-language lesson in how our machines work: the physics, the process steps, the settings that matter, and what you can expect to get out of each one. Read it like a short course, then enquire about the exact model.
How a laser turns light into heat
Every Monoline machine uses the same idea. A fiber laser makes an invisible beam at a wavelength of 1064 nm. When that beam is focused to a tiny spot on metal, the metal absorbs the light and the energy becomes heat in a very small place. What happens next depends on three things.
Power
How much light energy arrives each second, in watts. More power melts more metal, or melts it deeper.
Spot size
Power divided by spot area is the power density. A small spot concentrates the same watts into a much hotter point, which is why a laser can cut or weld where a flame cannot.
Time on the spot
Speed decides how long the beam rests on each point. Fast and short: only the surface is changed. Slow and long: the metal melts and flows.
Same laser, many different jobs
| Process | What the beam does | What you get | Our machines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marking | Heats or removes a few microns of surface | Permanent text, QR and data-matrix codes | SPM Laser Marking Machine |
| Welding | Melts both edges of a joint so they fuse | A narrow, strong seam with little distortion | OptiWeld Vision, Laser Welding Robot |
| Cladding | Melts powder plus a thin skin of the base metal | A bonded, wear- or corrosion-resistant layer | NEOClad |
| 3D printing (SLM) | Melts one thin powder layer at a time | A dense metal part built from a 3D file | DeskMLR H1, M140C, M220, M300, M420, M800 |
| Hardening | Heats the steel surface without melting it, then self-quenches | A hard, wear-resistant surface with little distortion | Laser Hardening |
| Grooving | Removes thin layers of metal with short pulses, pass by pass | Precise narrow grooves, lines and textures | Laser Grooving |
| Cleaning | Vaporises rust, paint or oxide from the surface | Clean, dry bare metal with no abrasive | Laser Cleaning Machine |
| Glass cutting | Draws a line of tiny modifications inside the glass | Clean-edged glass shapes | Laser Glass Cutting |
| Glass decoating | Removes a thin coating from glass | Clear glass areas on coated sheets | Laser Glass Decoating |
Metal 3D printing with SLM
SLM stands for Selective Laser Melting. Think of it as printing with metal flour and a laser instead of ink. The part is built from the bottom up, one layer at a time, straight from your 3D file. No mould, no cutting tool.
- Prepare the file. Your CAD model is sliced into layers (20–150 µm thick, about the width of a human hair or less). Software lays out the parts on the plate, adds thin support structures and plans the laser path. Our MonoSlice software automates this.
- Spread powder. A flexible soft blade (the recoater) sweeps a thin, even layer of metal powder across the build plate. An even layer matters: it sets the density and surface of the finished part.
- Melt the layer. The laser scans the cross-section of the part. The powder melts into a tiny liquid pool and freezes again in milliseconds, fused to the layer beneath. Nitrogen or argon gas keeps oxygen away so the metal does not oxidise.
- Lower and repeat. The plate drops by one layer thickness and the cycle repeats. Thousands of layers later the part is finished, buried in loose powder that is filtered and reused.
- Finish. Parts are stress-relieved by heat treatment, cut off the plate, supports are removed, and sealing or fitting faces are machined or polished.
Why more lasers?
Printing time is mostly laser-on-powder time. A machine with 8 lasers (MLR-M420) scans different areas of the same layer at once, so it forms up to 240 cm³ of metal per hour, while the dual-laser MLR-M300 reaches up to 100 cm³ per hour. The lasers overlap their zones so the joins are invisible (we call this seamless stitching).
What is a bidirectional recoater?
A basic recoater only spreads powder in one direction and returns empty. Bidirectional recoating spreads on the way out and the way back. Over thousands of layers that saves hours: on the MLR-M800, 15 seconds saved per layer adds up to about 41 hours across 10,000 layers.
Settings that decide quality
- Laser power and scan speed: together set how much energy goes into the metal.
- Hatch spacing: the gap between neighbouring scan lines. Too wide leaves gaps, too narrow overheats.
- Layer thickness: thin layers give finer detail and smoother surfaces, thick layers print faster.
- Scan strategy: the pattern and order of the lines, which controls internal stress and warping.
Printable materials
Depending on the model: stainless steel, tool steel, titanium alloy, pure titanium, superalloy, aluminium alloy, copper alloy, cobalt-chromium alloy and high-entropy alloy. Each material has its own tested parameter set, so ask us which models support your alloy.
What this means for you
Complex shapes you cannot machine: lattices, internal cooling channels, lightweight brackets, dental and medical parts, low-volume parts and prototypes with no tooling cost.
Very high volumes of simple shapes. Casting or machining is cheaper there. Printed parts also need heat treatment and finishing.
Surfaces come out slightly rough straight from the machine. Critical fits and sealing faces are normally machined or polished afterwards.
Robotic laser welding
A focused laser joins metal with a narrow, deep weld and very little heat spread into the surrounding part. On a robot arm it repeats the same weld thousands of times with steady quality.
- Position. The robot (or gantry) moves the weld head to the seam. Fixtures hold the parts so the joint gap stays small, because a laser spot is tiny and cannot bridge big gaps.
- Melt. The beam heats the joint. At lower power density the metal melts by conduction and the weld is wide and shallow. At high power density the metal vaporises slightly and opens a narrow channel called a keyhole. The beam travels down the keyhole, so the weld becomes deep and narrow.
- Follow the seam. The robot moves at constant speed (up to 10 m/min on OptiWeld Vision, depending on material). An optional vision system (Keyence or HIKROBOT) can find and follow seams that vary from part to part. Wobble or scanner heads move the beam side to side to widen the seam when the fit-up is loose.
- Protect and cool. Shielding gas (argon, nitrogen or helium) stops the molten metal reacting with air. A water chiller keeps the laser and optics at steady temperature.
- Inspect. Clean welds need little grinding. Real-time monitoring records weld quality and laser settings, so every part has data behind it.
Why choose laser over conventional welding
- Very narrow heat-affected zone, so parts stay flat and in tolerance.
- Fast travel speed and repeatable results suit production lines.
- Works on stainless and mild steel, aluminium, copper, titanium and nickel alloys.
- Butt, lap, fillet, edge and T-joints.
What to prepare for a good weld
- Tight, repeatable joint fit-up and clean surfaces.
- A fixture that holds the part in the same place each time.
- The right shielding gas for the material.
- A test weld on your own part before you decide. We are happy to run one.
Which welding machine?
An enclosed automatic welding cell with XYZ motion and optional vision, for repeatable production welds. 1.5–3 kW, up to 10 m/min, water cooled, Class 1 safety enclosure.
A 6- or 7-axis robot arm for complex 3D joints. No-code programming by hand guidance or drag-and-drop, preset recipes for materials and joint types, 1–3 kW.
Laser cladding
Cladding adds a new, harder metal skin onto the surface of a part. It is used to harden new parts and to rebuild worn shafts, rollers and moulds so they can go back into service instead of being scrapped.
- Feed. A nozzle blows metal powder (typically 20–300 µm) into the laser spot. Feed rate is controlled to better than ±1%, up to 150–200 g/min.
- Fuse. The laser melts the powder and only a very thin skin of the base metal. The two mix just enough to bond, which is called low dilution. That keeps the new layer hard and pure.
- Build. The head moves while the part rotates or the table moves. Neighbouring tracks overlap so they form a dense, continuous layer of 0.1–1.5 mm per pass. Extra passes build thicker coatings.
- Machine. The layer is ground or turned back to the final size. Because the bond is metallurgical, the layer does not peel the way plating or sprayed coatings can.
Cladding compared with other methods
- Plating or thermal spray: a mechanical bond that can chip or peel. Cladding is fused to the base metal.
- Arc weld overlay: more heat and distortion, thicker and rougher layers. Cladding is thinner, more precise and distorts less.
- Thin controlled layers save powder and machining time.
Choosing the powder
The powder decides the result. Choose by duty: wear resistance, heat resistance or corrosion resistance. Common families are nickel-, cobalt- and iron-based alloys, sometimes with hard carbide particles. Tell us the part, the failure you are trying to fix and the working conditions, and we will recommend a powder.
NEOClad at a glance
| Laser power | 6, 8, 10 or 12 kW (fiber or disc) |
|---|---|
| Layer per pass | 0.1–1.5 mm |
| Workpiece length | up to 6000 mm |
| Rotary table load | 2–15 tons |
| Robot | 6-axis, 25–30 kg payload, on a CNC gantry |
| Cooling | Integrated chiller |
| Conditions | Tropicalised for up to 48 °C ambient |
Laser marking
A pulsed fiber laser and a fast scanner head draw permanent marks on metal. Marks cannot rub off, which makes them ideal for traceability: serial numbers, batch codes, barcodes, QR and data-matrix codes.
- Hold the part. A part-specific fixture (for example for cylinder blocks or crankcases) puts every part in exactly the same place.
- Mark. Two small mirrors in the scanner head steer the beam across the marking area at high speed. Pulses either remove a few microns (engraving), change the surface colour without removing metal (annealing), or lightly roughen it (etching).
- Verify and record. Vision can correct the mark position, and the machine connects to IoT, databases and SAP so each code is stored against the part.
Specifications: 20–200 W fiber laser, 1064 nm, marking area 100×100 to 300×300 mm or custom, about 100,000 hours laser life, dust-proof design for harsh die-casting environments, light curtains and dual-hand safety.
Laser hardening
Laser hardening makes the surface of a steel part much harder without coating it or changing its shape. Only the area that wears is treated, and the rest of the part stays tough.
- Heat the surface. The beam sweeps over the steel and raises the top layer above its transformation temperature, roughly 800–1000 °C depending on the steel. The metal does not melt. Only the surface changes its internal structure.
- Control the temperature. A pyrometer or camera reads the surface temperature and the laser power adjusts in real time. Too cool and the steel does not harden. Too hot and the surface starts to melt.
- Self-quench. The beam moves on and the cold bulk of the part pulls the heat away within a second. This rapid cooling locks the surface into a very hard structure called martensite. No oil, water or polymer quench is needed.
- Overlap and finish. Neighbouring tracks overlap to cover a wider area. Because distortion is very small, most parts need little or no grinding afterwards.
Laser hardening compared with other methods
- Furnace or induction hardening: heats the whole part or a wide zone, so parts can warp and need straightening. Laser heats only the exact area you choose.
- Cladding or plating: adds a new layer. Hardening changes the existing steel, so nothing can peel off and dimensions barely change.
- No quench liquid to buy, clean up or dispose of.
What to check before you choose it
- The steel needs enough carbon, usually about 0.3% or more. Typical examples are medium-carbon steels, tool steels and cast irons.
- Hardness depends on the steel. Treated depth is usually a fraction of a millimetre up to about 1.5 mm, which suits wear faces, not deep case hardening.
- Surface finish and any coating on the part affect how well it absorbs the beam.
- Share the steel grade and the wear problem and we will confirm if it is the right fit.
What this means for you
Dies and moulds, cutting edges, gear teeth, guide rails, cylinder bores, shafts and bearing seats where only one zone wears.
Low-carbon steels, aluminium and parts that need a deep hardened case. Cladding or conventional hardening is a better route there.
A hard, wear-resistant surface with very little distortion, ready to use or after a light finishing pass.
Laser grooving
Laser grooving cuts narrow, precise channels into a surface with a beam instead of a tool. Because nothing touches the part, it works on very hard or very thin materials and leaves no tool wear or cutting force.
- Define the groove. You supply the pattern: a line, a grid, a ring or a texture. Its width, depth and position are set in the marking software.
- Remove material. A pulsed fiber laser fires short, powerful pulses. Each pulse vaporises a tiny amount of metal, so a groove forms with very little heat spreading into the part.
- Repeat to depth. One pass removes only microns, so the scanner repeats the pattern until the groove reaches the target depth. More passes mean a deeper groove.
- Clean and check. Extraction removes fine debris. A light clean or polish removes any residue, and vision can check the groove position.
Where laser grooving is used
- Oil and lubricant grooves on bearing faces, seals and cylinder surfaces.
- Surface textures that hold lubricant and reduce friction.
- Scribing and dicing lines in thin or hard materials, and scale lines on measuring parts.
- Weakening lines for tear-off or break-away parts.
Settings that decide the groove
- Pulse energy and frequency: set how much metal each pulse removes.
- Scan speed and line spacing: set groove width and smoothness.
- Number of passes: sets depth.
- Focus position: stays correct only if the part is held at a repeatable height.
What this means for you
Fine, precise grooves in hardened steel, stainless steel and other hard metals where a cutting tool would wear out or break.
Wide, deep channels. Milling or machining removes bulk metal much faster than a laser.
Grooves are narrow and sharply defined. Very deep grooves take many passes, and the walls may need a light clean.
Laser surface cleaning
Laser cleaning removes rust, paint, oxide, oil and residue from a surface using light alone. There is no abrasive, no chemical and no water, and the metal underneath is left undamaged.
- Aim the beam. A pulsed fiber laser is guided by hand (handheld head) or by a robot or gantry. The scanner sweeps the beam in a line or pattern, so one pass cleans a strip several millimetres to centimetres wide.
- Contaminant absorbs. Rust, paint and oxide absorb the laser pulse much more strongly than clean bare metal. Each short pulse heats the dirt layer in an instant.
- Layer lifts off. The dirt vaporises or breaks away as fine dust and fumes. Once it is gone, the bare metal reflects more of the beam, and the cleaning effect stops by itself.
- Extract. A fume extractor captures the debris. The surface is dry and ready for welding, coating, bonding or inspection straight away.
Compared with other cleaning methods
- Sand or grit blasting: wears the base metal and leaves used abrasive to dispose of. Laser removes only the unwanted layer.
- Chemical stripping and acid baths: need handling, neutralising and waste treatment. Laser leaves only dry dust, which the extractor collects.
- Wire brushing and grinding: slow, uneven, and can smear contamination into the surface.
Where it is used
- Rust and paint removal on steel structures, rails, ships and machinery.
- Cleaning before and after welding, so welds are free of oxide, oil and soot.
- Mould and tyre-tool cleaning without taking the tool out of service for long.
- Surface preparation before coating, bonding, cladding or painting.
What this means for you
Targeted cleaning of welds, joints, moulds and delicate or hard-to-reach areas, where precision and zero chemical waste matter.
Very large areas with thick coatings. Blasting can be faster per square metre, though it brings its own mess and wear.
A dry, clean surface with no abrasive or chemical residue. Settings are chosen so the base metal is not damaged or melted.
Laser glass cutting
Glass is hard to cut cleanly with a blade. A laser can separate it without touching it, giving smooth edges, tight tolerances and almost no chips or micro-cracks.
- Hold the sheet. The glass sits flat on a vacuum or support table. Flatness and a repeatable position matter, because the focus must land at the right depth.
- Focus inside the glass. Plain glass is transparent to a 1064 nm beam, so the light passes through it. Very short, powerful pulses (picosecond class) focus inside the sheet, where the energy gets high enough to be absorbed only at that point.
- Draw the cut line. Each pulse leaves a tiny modified spot, and the scanner or table strings them into a continuous line along your shape. Little heat spreads outward, so the surrounding glass is not stressed.
- Separate. The sheet is then parted along the line by gentle pressure, a thermal step or built-in stress. Edges come out smooth and usually need little or no grinding.
Another route uses a CO₂ laser to heat a narrow line and then cool it, so a controlled crack follows the path. The right method depends on the glass type and thickness.
Why laser instead of a wheel or a saw
- No contact, so no tool wear and no mechanical force on thin or brittle glass.
- Cleaner edges with fewer chips and micro-cracks, which makes the glass stronger.
- Curves, holes and internal cut-outs without dedicated tooling.
- Little glass dust, so less cleaning afterwards.
What affects the result
- Glass type and thickness: thin display glass and thick safety glass need different setups.
- Pulse length and energy: shorter pulses mean less heat and cleaner edges.
- Pre-stress: some glass, such as tempered glass, behaves differently, so share the type with us.
- Fixturing: a stable, flat table keeps the focus at the right depth.
Laser glass decoating
Many glass sheets carry an ultra-thin coating, such as low-emissivity (low-E), mirror or conductive layers. Decoating removes that coating from chosen areas without damaging the glass beneath.
- Select the area. You define where the coating must go: a border around the edge, a window for a sensor or camera, a line that separates conductive areas, or a logo.
- Coating absorbs. The coating is only nanometres to a few microns thick and absorbs the laser light well. The glass beneath barely absorbs it, so the beam is aimed at the coating, from either the coated or the glass side.
- Coating lifts off. A short pulse heats the coating so fast that it vaporises or flakes away. The scanner places overlapping pulses side by side to clear a whole area cleanly.
- Extract and check. Extraction carries off the fine debris. The cleared area is transparent glass, ready for sealing, bonding or printing.
Where it is used
- Edge deletion on low-E architectural glass, so sealant bonds to glass in insulating units and the coating is protected from moisture.
- Clear windows in mirrors and coated panels for cameras, sensors and displays.
- Patterning conductive coatings on glass for electronics and thin-film solar panels.
- Decorative marks and logos on coated glass.
Compared with grinding or chemical removal
- Mechanical grinding wears the glass, creates dust and can scratch it. Laser leaves the glass surface intact.
- Chemical etching needs masks and waste handling. Laser needs neither and works dry.
- Patterns come straight from a file, so changing the shape needs no new tooling.
What to prepare
Type, thickness and which side is coated. Different coatings need different pulse settings.
Share a drawing of the border width or pattern, and the tolerance you need on its edge.
We can run a test piece on your glass so you can check the edge quality and the cleared area yourself.
The fiber laser source, and why it can be repaired
Welding, cladding, hardening, cleaning and marking machines all depend on a laser source. Knowing what is inside explains why component-level repair can cost much less than replacement.
How it works
Banks of pump diodes make light at a different wavelength. A combiner merges it into a special optical fibre doped with ytterbium. The doped fibre amplifies the light between two fibre gratings that act as mirrors, and the result leaves as a very clean beam at 1064 nm through a delivery fibre and a QBH connector. Because the beam travels inside a fibre, the machine stays compact and the beam quality (M²) is excellent.
What usually fails, and what we repair
- Pump diode modules and optical modules.
- Power boards, control units and communication modules.
- Beam combiners, QBH interfaces, focus lenses and cooling systems.
We repair sources up to 20 kW from IPG, Raycus, Max, JPT, BWT and other brands, and calibrate power after every repair. Typical saving over a new source is 40–70%.
Which Monoline machine fits you?
Answer two quick questions. You will get a starting suggestion and a direct enquiry link.
Before you decide
How do I know which process is right for my part?
Start from the problem. Need a complex shape in metal: 3D printing. Need to join parts: welding. Need a harder or rebuilt surface: cladding. Need traceability: marking. Need a harder steel surface with no coating: hardening. Need fine grooves or textures: grooving. Need to remove rust, paint or oxide: cleaning. Need to cut glass or strip its coating: laser glass cutting or decoating. Send us a drawing or photo and we will tell you honestly if a machine, or a service run, is the better route.
What power supply and space do the machines need?
It depends on the model. For example the MLR-M300 needs 4 kW at AC 380 V, the MLR-M420 needs 10 kW at AC 380 V and the MLR-M800 needs 25 kW at AC 380 V. Welding and cladding systems use a 3-phase 380–415 V supply and a chiller. Exact footprints and utilities are in each product's specification and in your quotation.
Do you install the machine and train my team?
Yes. Delivery, installation and training are confirmed in your quotation, and our service centre in Ahmedabad supports you after the sale.
Can I see a test part before I buy?
Yes, please ask. Send your part or material and we can discuss a sample run so you can judge the result yourself.
Which materials can the 3D printers use?
Stainless steel, tool steel, titanium alloys, superalloys, aluminium, copper alloys and cobalt-chromium, depending on the model. Check the model's specification table or ask us about your alloy.
Is laser equipment safe to operate?
Our welding and cladding systems use Class 1 enclosures with interlocks, emergency stops and laser-safe viewing windows. Marking machines add light curtains and dual-hand interlocks. Operators are trained on safe use.
Ready to talk about your part?
Tell us the part, the material and the quantity. We reply within one working day.
Ready for your next manufacturing project?
Tell us what you want to make or repair. We reply within one working day.
Laser welding, laser cladding and metal 3D printing machines, plus fiber laser source repair. Built in Ahmedabad, India.
Products & Services
Laser Welding Machines Laser Source Repair Laser Cladding Machines Metal 3D Printers Laser Marking & Custom Machines Machine SoftwareContact
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
View on Google Maps ↗
Business Hours
Monday – Saturday
9:30 AM – 6:30 PM
© 2026 Monoline Laser and Robotics Machinery Pvt. Ltd.