November 5, 2020 - IPG Photonics Corporation, Oxford, Massachusetts, announced the launch of LightWELD, a new handheld laser welding system. The LightWELD product line enables fabricators to benefit from the greater flexibility, precision and ease of use enabled by laser-based solutions over traditional welding products.

Designed and built with patented and patent pending IPG fiber laser technologies, LightWELD represents a paradigm shift from all other handheld laser welders available due to its extremely small size and weight, and unique air-cooling. This groundbreaking portability is realized from the same continuous innovations by IPG that increased laser output powers and decreased form factors year-over-year. Compared with traditional MIG and TIG welders, LightWELD enables dramatically faster welding, is easier to learn and operate, and provides consistent, high-quality results across a wide range of materials and thicknesses with low heat input and aesthetic finishes with minimal or no filler wire.

“The LightWELD handheld laser welding system is another example of revolutionary fiber laser innovation for which IPG is renowned,” said Trevor Ness, SVP Worldwide Sales. “This is the first truly functional and portable laser welder that brings superior laser technology to the hand welding market for the first time in history.”

Simple controls, including 74 stored preset and user-defined process parameters, allow novice welders to be trained and welding in a matter of hours, reducing labor costs while increasing quality, consistency and productivity. Experienced users of traditional welding methods such as MIG and TIG will benefit from the more rapid and flexible processing capabilities of LightWELD, which welds thick, thin and reflective metals with minimal distortion, deformation, undercut or burn-through.

Unlike traditional methods, welding fixtures are simpler or not needed, metals do not need to be pre-brushed or ground completely clean, and even novices can reliably weld materials with dissimilar thicknesses and high/low electrical conductivity. In addition, the heat-affected zone is minimized, as is the need for traditional post-processing grinding or polishing that increases productivity, reduces scrap and the cost-per-part.   

Laser power up to 1500 watts is easily adjusted with intuitive controls that can quickly dial in optimum weld settings for various materials and thicknesses. Select stored modes provide up to 2500 watts of high peak power for even greater welding capability.

LightWELD comes standard with wobble welding that provides up to 5 millimeters of additional weld width, increasing capability while providing highly aesthetic seams. Other standard features include a 5-meter delivery cable enabling increased part access, connections for gas and external connectivity, multi-level sensors and interlocks for operator safety, and a laser-welding gun with wobble/scan capabilities that supports wire feeder and welding tip configurations that optimally match joint types.

LightWELD further enhances IPG’s corporate sustainability programs as it is designed to enable a more environmentally friendly welding process offering low electric consumption, low noise operation, and reduction of consumables, clean up and scrap disposal.