--- title: "30W vs 50W vs 100W Fiber Laser: Which Wattage Does a Gun Shop Actually Need?" description: 30W, 50W, or 100W fiber laser for a gun shop? What wattage changes, who each fits, ATF serial depth, and our real Edge 50W presets. --- # San Antonio Laser Open main menu Close main menu # 30W vs 50W vs 100W Fiber Laser: Which Wattage Does a Gun Shop Actually Need? [Shane Mohr](https://go.salasers.com/blog/author/shane-mohr) [Share this blog post on Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=I+found+this+interesting+blog+post&url=https://go.salasers.com/blog/30w-vs-50w-vs-100w-fiber-laser-which-wattage-does-a-gun-shop-actually-need) [Share this blog post on Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://go.salasers.com/blog/30w-vs-50w-vs-100w-fiber-laser-which-wattage-does-a-gun-shop-actually-need) [Share this blog post on LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://go.salasers.com/blog/30w-vs-50w-vs-100w-fiber-laser-which-wattage-does-a-gun-shop-actually-need) **Short answer:** Most gun shops are best served by a 50W fiber laser. A 30W handles everything a gun shop marks, including ATF-depth serial numbers: in our shop, an Edge 30W reaches .003" on a 1/16"-tall serial in steel in 20 passes, about 2 minutes. What wattage changes is how fast you get to depth, not which materials you can mark. Pick 30W for occasional serial and cosmetic work, 50W for daily serials and mixed production, and 100W for high-volume deep engraving. ## What Wattage Actually Changes (and What It Doesn't) A 30W, 50W, and 100W fiber laser all mark the same materials: steel, stainless, aluminum, anodized parts, brass, titanium, Cerakoted surfaces, and most gun polymers. Moving up in power doesn't unlock new materials. It changes three things: - **Speed to depth.** More power removes more metal per pass, so deep work (serial numbers, deep logos, relief engraving) takes fewer passes. - **Headroom for production.** A higher-wattage machine can run the same job at a lower percentage of its power, or finish surface marks at higher speeds. - **Heat into the part.** More power also means more heat. On thin parts, polymer, and finished surfaces, you turn power down. Every Edge runs from a low percentage up to 100%, so extra wattage is never forced on a delicate job. Surface marking (a logo on an anodized lower, a black mark on stainless, a frosted PMag) is fast on any of the three. The wattage decision is mostly about how much *depth* work you do and how many parts move through your shop each day. ## The ATF Depth Question If you add or re-mark serial numbers, 27 CFR 478.92 sets the floor: required markings at least .003" deep, serial numbers at least 1/16" tall, with depth measured from the flat surface of the metal. Any of the three wattages can meet that. On our Edge 30W, it takes 20 passes, about 2 minutes, on a 1/16"-tall serial in steel. A 50W or 100W gets there in fewer passes, but your actual pass count depends on your lens, material, and settings, so always verify with a depth gauge. We cover measuring and settings in detail in [How Deep Can a Fiber Laser Engrave?](https://go.salasers.com/blog/how-deep-can-a-fiber-laser-engrave-atf-.003-depth-tested-on-30w-50w-100w) *This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your marking obligations with the ATF or an attorney who handles FFL compliance.* ## Edge 30W: Who It Fits The 30W fits shops where laser work supports the main business rather than being the main business: - FFL dealers and pawn shops with an FFL adding custom engraving to transfers and trade-ins - Gunsmiths who mark the occasional serial or engrave a customer's slide or lower - Cerakote shops doing logos, flags, and personalization on top of coating work Two minutes per serial is fine when you're doing a handful a week. Where a 30W starts to feel slow is deep, large-area work done repeatedly, such as deep logos on dozens of parts a day. ## Edge 50W: Who It Fits The 50W is the one we recommend most often to gun shops because it covers the widest range of work without compromise. It fits: - Shops that mark serial numbers every day - Small manufacturers running batches of lowers, slides, or accessories - Customization shops mixing deep engraving with fast cosmetic marks - Shops that want headroom to grow into production work It also handles delicate jobs. In our published polymer presets, the Edge 50W runs Glock frames at 42% power and frosts PMags at 24%, so the extra wattage doesn't get in the way of polymer work. See [Can a Fiber Laser Engrave Polymer?](https://go.salasers.com/blog/can-a-fiber-laser-engrave-polymer-pmags-glock-frames-and-grips) for those settings. Here's a sample of the LightBurn presets our Edge 50W ships with. Notice that most surface jobs run at 60% power or less. | Job | Power | Speed | Frequency | Line interval | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Anodized aluminum mark (flat and rotary) | 60% | 3,048 mm/s (120 in/s) | 25 kHz | 0.051 mm | | Deep engrave "Cut" layer on metal | 60% | 356 mm/s (14 in/s) | — | 0.051 mm | | Metal "Clean Up" layer | 55% | 3,048 mm/s (120 in/s) | 45 kHz | 0.051 mm | | NFA minimum letter height | 100% | 127 mm/s (5 in/s) | — | 0.051 mm | | Black mark on stainless steel | 30% | 102 mm/s (4 in/s) | 60 kHz | 0.025 mm | | Color polish on metal ("3 Step + Focus") | 60% | 1,524 mm/s (60 in/s) | 60 kHz | 0.030 mm | *Edge 50W, 220mm lens. Starting points; confirm on a test spot.* Each preset is one pass. For depth work, you set the number of repeats per job, and the hatch angle rotates 23.7 degrees on each repeated pass for a flatter floor. A different lens or part needs adjustment. ## Edge 100W: Who It Fits The 100W is built for shops where deep engraving is a core, high-volume task: - Manufacturers serializing large batches every day - Shops doing deep relief or large-area deep engraving - Operations where machine time is the bottleneck and every pass saved adds up across a shift If your work is mostly surface marks and a few serials, a 100W won't change your day much, since surface marks are already fast on a 30W or 50W. The 100W pays off when the queue is full of depth work. ## Quick Decision Guide | Your shop | Start with | | --- | --- | | Occasional serials plus custom engraving | Edge 30W | | Serials daily, or mixed custom and production work | Edge 50W | | Coating shop doing logos and personalization | Edge 30W or 50W, depending on volume | | High-volume serialization or deep relief work | Edge 100W | ## What Matters as Much as Wattage **Source type.** All Edge Series lasers use Q-switched sources. In our testing, Q-switched sources showed a longer focal range than MOPA, which is forgiving on curved and uneven gun parts, and they still produce color on stainless steel and titanium, with fewer color variations than MOPA. More in [MOPA vs Q-Switched Fiber Lasers for Gun Engraving](https://go.salasers.com/blog/mopa-vs-q-switched-fiber-lasers-for-gun-engraving-which-do-you-need). **Lens choice.** Every Edge ships with multiple lenses (112mm, 220mm, and 300mm field profiles). A smaller field concentrates the beam for faster depth on small marks like serials. A larger field covers a bigger area, like a full slide or a large logo. The right lens can matter as much as the next step up in wattage. **Settings and training.** A 100W with guessed settings will be outperformed by a 30W run by someone who knows what they're doing. Every Edge ships with LightBurn and our settings bundle of presets, and our 5-day, in-person [Spark training](https://salasers.com/spark/) gets you running compliant marks on real parts. For a walk-through on one of the most common jobs, see [How to Laser Engrave an AR-15 Lower](https://go.salasers.com/blog/how-to-laser-engrave-an-ar-15-lower-setup-fixtures-and-settings). ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is a 30W fiber laser enough for engraving guns? Yes, for most shops. A 30W marks every common gun material and reaches ATF depth: our Edge 30W hits .003" on a 1/16"-tall serial in steel in 20 passes, about 2 minutes. It's slower than a 50W on deep work, not less capable. ### What wattage fiber laser do I need for serial numbers? Any of the three meets the ATF's .003" depth. Pick 30W if you mark a few serials a week, 50W if you mark them daily, and 100W if serialization is high-volume production. Always verify depth with a gauge. ### Will a 100W laser damage thin parts or polymer? Not if you set power for the job. Every Edge runs at a percentage of full power, and our published polymer presets on the Edge 50W run between 24% and 50%. Start low and confirm on a test spot. ### Is a 50W fiber laser worth it over a 30W for a gun shop? If you do depth work daily or plan to grow into production, the time saved per part adds up. If laser work is a side service, a 30W covers it. ### Does higher wattage give better quality engraving? Not by itself. Quality comes from the right lens, focus, and settings. Higher wattage mainly reaches depth faster and gives production headroom. ### Do I need a higher wattage or a MOPA laser for color on stainless? No. Q-switched sources like the ones in every Edge produce color on stainless steel and titanium, with fewer color variations than MOPA in our testing. Wattage isn't what unlocks color. ## Talk to a Laser Specialist SA Laser is a veteran-owned company in San Antonio, Texas, selling and supporting fiber and CO2 lasers since 2012. Every Edge Series laser ships with LightBurn and our LightBurn settings bundle of presets, multiple lenses, a full supply kit, and a 2-year warranty. Not sure which wattage fits your shop? [Book a call](https://salasers.com/forms/) or reach us at (888) 964-3568, and ask about [Spark training](https://salasers.com/spark/) to get your team productive from day one. ### Leave a Comment #### About - Menu Item One - Menu Item Two - Menu Item Three #### Services - Menu Item One - Menu Item Two - Menu Item Three #### News - Menu Item One - Menu Item Two - Menu Item Three Follow us on Facebook Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Shane Mohr", "url" : "https://go.salasers.com/blog/author/shane-mohr" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-12T22:33:42.022Z", "datePublished" : "2026-10-12T22:33:42.000Z", "headline" : "30W vs 50W vs 100W Fiber Laser: Which Wattage Does a Gun Shop Actually Need?", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://go.salasers.com/blog/30w-vs-50w-vs-100w-fiber-laser-which-wattage-does-a-gun-shop-actually-need", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://go.salasers.com/hubfs/White%20logo.jpg" }, "name" : "SA Laser" } } ```