What wattage laser cutter question

[Fivetide]

3.5Kw would cut 8mm but to get a decent edge you need 5Kw.
That means you require a dedicated 200 amp per phase 3 phase supply and a premium account at BOC or Air Products.

Well that idea has been crushed to nano thinkness :( I suppos if it goes well i could look to get them outsourced for cutting.

Ali takes quite a bit of power to cut,ie 8mm ali would be a push for a 3KW laser but the same machine will happily cut 18mm mild steel. A 3Kw co2 laser would just do it but as Hobnobs says more power is better. Also for Ali cutting an anti back reflection kit is recommended.

What about 1mm deep engraving then ? or say 3mm deep ally cutting ?