The Maker’s Toolbox: Acmer AM 60W MOPA Laser Review

You need a powerful laser to mark, engrave, or cut metal, but you’re also on a budget. What do you buy? Acmer’s new AM 60W MOPA laser machine is targeted directly at you and I put it to the test to find out if it is a deal or a dud.

UPDATE (6/4/26): Acmer says they will be phasing out the AM line in favor of the PM line (which is nearly identical). You can find information about the Acmer PM laser machines here.

Safety

I normally cover a machine’s basic specifications first, but safety is too important to wait.

This is an unenclosed 60W MOPA (Master Oscillator Power Amplifier) fiber laser machine. Because it is unenclosed, it is dangerous. You can easily put a hand in from of the running laser. You can easily be blinded by the laser if it reflects the wrong way. You can even set your house on fire if the laser reflects onto something flammable.

For those reasons, I normally refuse to even review unenclosed laser machines. However, I decided to make an exception here for two reasons:

1. This is marketed for industrial applications where users are more knowledgeable and custom safety enclosures are somewhat common.

2. There are now quite a few aftermarket enclosures on the market, which you can purchase to make machines like these less unsafe to use.

That said, I still find it upsetting that Acmer sells this machine without any mention of the enclosure and even shows it being used out in the open. In fact, it seems that they don’t even offer a compatible enclosure for people who recognize the danger and are willing to pay for a solution. I think that’s irresponsible.

So before I get to the rest of the review, I want to state very emphatically: do not use this laser without an enclosure. If you purchase this — or any unenclosed laser machine — buy an enclosure to go with it.

6/4/26 Update: Acmer says that they have an enclosure in development, which should be ready in a couple of months.

The basics

Okay, with that out of the way, we can proceed with the basics of this machine. It is the 60W MOPA model in Acmer’s AM line. Other versions include a 100W MOPA, a 30W standard fiber, and a 50W standard fiber.

It has a working area of 175×175 mm, which Acmer says is expandable up to 300×300 mm. Presumably, that would require a different lens. However, I do not see an appropriate lens on the Acmer store at this time.

The Acmer AM 60W MOPA is fairly heavy at 23kg, so portability isn’t great. That said, I actually like how sturdy it feels. The whole frame and is steel that feels very substantial. It has autofocus and a rotary attachment is available — though I didn’t receive one for testing.

If you need more portability, Acmer’s PM line is slightly more compact. But honestly, the difference is pretty minor and the two model lines are almost identical.

Software

Officially, you can use the Acmer AM 60W MOPA laser machine with either LightBurn or BSLApp. Unofficially, I would expect it to be compatible with other software.

I tested mine with both BSLApp and LightBurn. If you choose to use LightBurn, keep in mind that you’ll need the LightBurn Pro license for galvo lasers and that costs extra.

BSLApp comes on the provided USB thumb drive and is free to use.

In my testing, I found BSLApp to be adequate. It isn’t feature-packed and it isn’t particularly pleasant to work with. But it does all of the typical stuff just fine. Unless you’re doing something unusual, it should be enough to get you started. However, it isn’t user-friendly and you’ll probably get frustrated with it, as I did.

LightBurn is much better and if you’re already familiar with it (or already have a license), you’ll probably just want to use it.

That said, I had some issues with USB disconnects when using LightBurn. When framing before cutting, the USB connection would repeatedly drop out and come back. That would happen over and over, often causing the software and laptop to lock up.

That may be a configuration issue (I used the supplied configuration file). It could also be an issue with my particular software/hardware. Though I will say that I’ve used this same LightBurn setup with several other laser machines, without issue.

Unboxing and assembly

There isn’t anything interesting about the packaging. There is plenty of foam padding and my machine arrived without any damage.

Unboxing is equally mundane. The machine is heavy, so you may need a helper to pull it out of the box and place it on a workbench.

There isn’t much to say about assembly, either — and that’s a good thing. Putting the machine together is quick and easy, as you’re only inserting a handful of screws to affix the upright column to the bed and then you’re done.

Getting to the first engraving is fast, because the physical assembly only takes a few minutes and there isn’t any complicated configuration involved. You’ll probably need to install a driver, but that’s it. BSLApp should already be setup for the laser and if you use LightBurn, you just select the provided configuration file.

Features

This is a very “stripped down” machine and there aren’t many hardware features to cover, but there are a couple of things worth talking about.

First, you can adjust focus manually by using buttons to raise/lower the head with the motor or by turning the knob to physically rotate the lead screw. But because the Acmer AM 60W MOPA laser machine has autofocus, you probably won’t need to. Just press the autofocus button and let it do the rest.

The only other controls on the machine are a power switch, e-stop switch, and foot pedal. The foot pedal is nice if you’re doing repetitive work, but be careful! I almost burned my arm when I accidentally tapped the pedal with my foot, not realizing it would immediately start firing (I was just on the main BSLApp screen).

The last features I want to mention relate to fixturing. The entire bed is a grid of threaded holes, so you can mount fixtures wherever you want. That is very handy, because it gives you a ton of flexibility when designing fixtures. You can also rotate the entire upright column (requires screw removal) to fire down off to the side. Acmer shows that being used to engrave tall things.

I think it is nice that you can do that. However, you do need to take safety into account. Consider the potential of misalignment or reflection if you choose to take advantage of that feature.

For industrial applications, it opens up a lot of possibilities. You could even mount the column in different ways by fabricating a new bracket, which is one reason why you might not want an integrated enclosure.

Performance

As a 60W MOPA fiber laser, this is quite powerful. Most people get MOPA lasers like these for marking, engraving, and even cutting metal in a pinch, so most of my testing focused on metal.

To sum it up: this works as well as all of the other 60W MOPA fiber lasers out there.

It is notoriously difficult to objectively measure laser performance and some generic manufacturers may exaggerate their numbers, but the Acmer AM 60W MOPA model seemed to be as powerful as claimed.

What can you achieve with that?

It will very easily mark materials like aluminum, steel, and brass. It is also good for many plastics, as pulsing the laser prevents burning and melting (though not as well as UV lasers do).

You can also metals, plastics, leather, and painted surfaces very quickly. You can, for instance, engrave through the anodization on aluminum in a few seconds or do deep engravings in steel.

And finally, you can do relief “carving” and even cutting through metal. However, both of those take a significant amount of time and many passes. If you want to cut sheet metal, for instance, the Acmer AM 60W MOPA laser machine can do that if it is thin (say 18 gauge or higher). But it takes a long time and if you plan to do a lot of cutting, you’ll want a laser that is a lot more powerful (and a lot more expensive).

You can google a full list of materials that are and are not compatible with MOPA fiber lasers, but I want to quickly say that they are not a good choice for acrylic, wood, or paper products. You should only buy a MOPA fiber laser if your primary use case is metal.

Also, I want to quickly speak on the “color marking” that MOPA laser machine manufacturers really like to tout. That works on stainless steel, which will exhibit mostly permanent discoloration based on how it is heated. If you tightly control the heating process (as you can with a MOPA laser), you can create a multicolor image.

But in my experience, that affect is greatly exaggerated in marketing photos. What you actually get is a range of muted colors from bluish to reddish that look kind of muddy and really only impress if specific lighting. I consider it something of a gimmick and though this machine can do it, I think it is mostly just a novelty. Any MOPA fiber laser can do the same and you probably won’t use the feature.

The market and the competition

Acmer is not a brand that currently carries a lot of weight and so they price their machines competitively. This AM 60W MOPA model is currently $3,399, which makes it more affordable than similar models from brands you’re familiar with.

However, it is also a pretty basic machine and, frankly, I’m not sure the value is there — even if you are on a budget and don’t need anything “fancy.”

As an example, let’s compare that to the xTool F2 Ultra Single (60W MOPA Only) that I reviewed recently. That currently costs $4,499 and so the Acmer AM 60W MOPA is quite a bit cheaper. But the xTool has an integrated enclosure, dual cameras for positioning, nice software with great features like batch engraving, a solid accessory ecosystem (the conveyor is awesome), and far better value retention (if that matters to you).

If you buy the Acmer, you’re going to need an enclosure. That will add at least $500 to your cost, so now the difference between the two machines is only about $600.

All I can do is give you my honest opinion and it is this: if I were spending my own money, I would buy the xTool without hesitation.

I’m not shilling for xTool here (many people dislike their closed ecosystem) and there are other brands offering similar value propositions. My point is simply that though Acmer costs less, it isn’t necessarily a better value.

Conclusions

The Acmer AM 60W MOPA fiber laser machine isn’t bad. It does the job and if the only thing that mattered was the laser beam itself, then it would be a good choice on a budget.

But that is like saying that two different car models, from different automakers, are equal because they have engines with similar horsepower and torque. There are a lot of other factors that matter.

In this case, the most notable of those other factors is the enclosure (or lack thereof). That’s a serious safety problem.

If you intend to use it as part of a larger automated system, then then the basic nature of the machine and lack of enclosure can be good things. But if you’re using it as a standalone machine, those are likely disadvantages.

To buyers, my advice is: only buy the Acmer AM 60W MOPA if you have a plan for an enclosure and you’re sure you don’t need anything but the basics. Otherwise, spend a little bit more to get a much better product elsewhere.

To Acmer, my advice is: build better machines, not cheaper machines. At the very least, an enclosure should be considered mandatory if you’re selling to the general public.