Would a laser glass cutter be a better investment than TLC equipment?
Mechanical scribing has been the proven method of glass singulation for countless years. A laser glass cutting system can range in price from US$250,000 to well over US$1.75M. Until lasers are more highly developed for technical glass cutting applications, especially for laminated or circular or curvilinear parts, mechanical scribing has several advantages. TLC’s equipment can scribe over an existing scribe line. A laser must re-propagate the fissure each time a line is crossed. TLC’s equipment can cut tight radius circles. Lasers are limited to wider arcs. TLC’s equipment provides fast, clean and dry scribe operation. A laser requires coolant gases and liquid in some cases, adding an additional cleaning process to production time and expense.
