Home › Guides › ComMarker B4 settings — power, speed & frequen…
ComMarker B4 settings — power, speed & frequency by wattage
Starting-point power, speed and frequency settings for the ComMarker B4, an open-frame 1064 nm fiber galvo marking laser that runs EZCAD2 or LightBurn. ComMarker still sells it in 20, 30, 50 and 100 W versions but lists it as clearance, with the B6 as its current model. We have not run a B4 ourselves: five rows below come from ComMarker’s own manual and the rest from independent reviews and one owner on the LightBurn forum, and the table names the source of each.
Quick answer: For general single-pass marking on stainless steel, anodised aluminium or brass, a 20 W ComMarker B4 starts around 80% power at 1,500 mm/s. ComMarker's own manual instead gives a stainless-steel shade table running from 10% power at 4,000 mm/s for light grey up to 100% power at 400 mm/s for black. A 30 W B4 deep-engraving titanium or 3 mm stainless plate runs at 70% power and 1,000 mm/s, per a reviewer citing ComMarker's published settings.
ComMarker still lists the B4 for sale today (seen 25 September 2026), but as clearance stock in 20 W, 30 W, 50 W and 100 W — the B6 and B6 JPT MOPA are now the flagship B-series machines, and the separate B4 MOPA variant has already been discontinued in favour of the B6 MOPA, which uses the same JPT M7 laser source in a smaller body and adds autofocus.
ComMarker B4 settings (power % / speed mm/s / frequency kHz / line interval / passes)
Fiber settings need more than power and speed: frequency (kHz) and line interval decide whether stainless marks grey, black or a colour. Each row keeps the wattage, material and job it was published for — a 20 W row is not a 50 W row. The five stainless-steel colour rows are ComMarker’s own, from the B4 manual; the rest come from MellowPine’s and LaserEngraverExpert’s reviews, HobbyLaserCutters’ review of the B4 MOPA (the 60 W MOPA rows — ComMarker has since replaced that model with the B6 MOPA) and one owner’s tumbler thread on the LightBurn forum. Confirm every row on scrap with a material test grid before a real piece.
| Material | Job | Wattage | Setting | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stainless steel | Colour mark — light grey | 20 W | 10% / 4,000 mm/s / 200 kHz / 0.05 mm line space | ComMarker manual |
| Stainless steel | Colour mark — white | 20 W | 10% / 1,000 mm/s / 30 kHz / 0.06 mm line space | ComMarker manual |
| Stainless steel | Colour mark — grey | 20 W | 40% / 1,000 mm/s / 30 kHz / 0.06 mm line space | ComMarker manual |
| Stainless steel | Colour mark — black | 20 W | 100% / 400 mm/s / 200 kHz / 0.05 mm line space | ComMarker manual |
| Stainless steel | Colour mark — dark yellow | 20 W | 100% / 1,000 mm/s / 20 kHz / 0.05 mm line space | ComMarker manual |
| Stainless steel, anodised aluminium & brass | Mark (general, single pass) | 20 W | 80% / 1,500 mm/s / 1 pass | LaserEngraverExpert review |
| Titanium & stainless steel (3 mm) | Deep engrave | 30 W | 70% / 1,000 mm/s | LaserEngraverExpert review |
| Anodised aluminium | Mark — bright white | 20 W | 100% / 4,000 mm/s / 30 kHz / 423 DPI | MellowPine review |
| Anodised aluminium | Mark — black outline | 20 W | 90% / 100 mm/s / 50 kHz / 423 DPI | MellowPine review |
| Anodised aluminium | Mark — grey shade | 20 W | 10% / 1,000 mm/s / 20 kHz / 423 DPI | MellowPine review |
| Bare aluminium (0.2 mm sheet) | Cut | 20 W | 100% / 8 mm/s / 20 kHz | MellowPine review |
| Stainless steel (container) | Mark | 20 W | 100% / 1,000 mm/s / 20 kHz / 508 DPI | MellowPine review |
| Mild steel (ring) | Mark | 20 W | 100% / 1,000 mm/s / 30 kHz / 423 DPI | MellowPine review |
| Black acrylic | Mark | 20 W | 10% / 400 mm/s / 20 kHz / 508 DPI | MellowPine review |
| Polycarbonate | Mark | 20 W | 10% / 2,000 mm/s / 10 kHz / 508 DPI | MellowPine review |
| Leather | Mark | 20 W | 10% / 600 mm/s / 60 kHz / 508 DPI / ~4 passes | MellowPine review |
| 22K gold (ring) | Mark | 20 W | 45% / 1,500 mm/s / 37 kHz / 508 DPI | MellowPine review |
| Steel (rust removal) | Clean | 20 W | 100% / 10,000 mm/s / 20 kHz | MellowPine review |
| Anodised aluminium | Colour mark — grey (MOPA) | 60 W MOPA | 50% / 1,500 mm/s / 260 kHz / 7 ns pulse / 0.001 mm line interval | HobbyLaserCutters review (B4 MOPA) |
| Anodised aluminium | Colour mark — black (MOPA) | 60 W MOPA | 50% / 1,500 mm/s / 260 kHz / 4 ns pulse | HobbyLaserCutters review (B4 MOPA) |
| Anodised aluminium | Colour mark — white (MOPA) | 60 W MOPA | 20% / 1,000 mm/s / 60 kHz / 100 ns pulse / 0.03 mm line interval | HobbyLaserCutters review (B4 MOPA) |
| Black acrylic / white plastic | Mark | 60 W MOPA | 30% / 2,000 mm/s / 43 kHz / 100 ns pulse / 0.03 mm line interval | HobbyLaserCutters review (B4 MOPA) |
| Stainless tumbler, powder-coated | Mark / strip coating (owner’s revised setting, still being tuned) | 20 W | 25% / 750 mm/s / 60 kHz / 0.02 mm line / 4-5 passes | Owner, LightBurn forum |
Match the row to your wattage. The B4's 20 W and 30 W are standard Q-switched fiber; 50 W, 60 W and 100 W add JPT MOPA and tunable pulse width. A setting from one wattage does not transfer cleanly to another — 20% power on a 20 W head is a different real output than 20% on a 60 W head.
The tumbler rows above are unresolved. Owners on the LightBurn forum were still dialling in a powder-coated tumbler when this was written — the revised settings looked better but the thread's own last word was “not perfect.” Treat them as a starting point for more testing, not a solved recipe.
Colour needs MOPA. ComMarker's own shade table above (light grey through dark yellow) runs on the standard 20 W unit and produces greyscale/oxidation shading, not the saturated blues and purples a MOPA's tunable pulse width can pull from titanium — see our MOPA colour marking guide for why.
Get an exact price for the ComMarker B4
Settings tell you the power and speed; turning that into a price means multiplying marking time by your hourly rate and adding material and setup. The B4 works part by part, so run your job through the fiber laser marking cost calculator, then use the calculator to turn that into a full quote.
What a B4 needs next to it
The B4 is an open frame: nothing stands between its invisible 1064 nm beam and your eyes, and it ships without an enclosure or fume extraction.
Safety glasses, 1064 nm OD6+: Check price on Amazon ↗
Fume extractor: Check price on Amazon ↗
Anodised aluminium business cards: Check price on Amazon ↗
Stainless steel dog tag blanks: Check price on Amazon ↗
Glasses must be rated at 1064 nm specifically: the beam is invisible, so you will not see a reflection coming.
Disclosure: some links are affiliate links — if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Prices are approximate list prices at the time of writing; always check the current offer.
Engraving area: what actually fits
The B4 ships with two lenses covering 110 × 110 mm and 200 × 200 mm marking fields, per ComMarker's own manual; optional lenses extend that to 150 × 150 mm, 300 × 300 mm or 400 × 400 mm. Swapping lenses means re-focusing and re-running the 9-point field calibration — it is not a drop-in change.
| Common item | Size | On this machine |
|---|---|---|
| Business card | 85 × 54 mm | Fits the 110 × 110 mm lens |
| Dog tag | ~50 × 28 mm | Fits the 110 × 110 mm lens |
| A6 sheet | 105 × 148 mm | Needs the 200 × 200 mm lens — the 110 mm lens is too small |
| Tumbler (with rotary) | ~90 mm diameter | Needs the rotary attachment — optional, and not included on every listing |
| A4 sheet | 210 × 297 mm | Does not fit even the 200 × 200 mm lens — needs the optional 300 × 300 mm or 400 × 400 mm lens |
| 400 × 400 mm panel | 400 × 400 mm | Needs the largest optional lens — the standard dual lenses top out at 200 × 200 mm |
What the ComMarker B4 cannot do
- No enclosure or fume extraction in the box. The B4 is open-frame and uses a Class IV laser per ComMarker's own manual; ComMarker sells a separate “Safety Enclosure Pro” accessory, and you need to add your own fume extraction.
- No autofocus. Focus is manual — a hand-crank and the three-red-dot overlap method described in ComMarker's manual. ComMarker's own B6 line adds autofocus, and the B6 MOPA adds ZeroBurn heat control on top of that; the B4 has neither.
- Real colour marking needs the MOPA versions. The plain 20 W/30 W run a fixed pulse and produce greyscale/oxidation shading, like ComMarker's own stainless-steel shade table above; tunable pulse width for saturated interference colour is on the 50 W/60 W/100 W JPT MOPA units, per independent reviews.
- Not a sheet-metal cutter. It is a marking laser rated to 0.01 mm accuracy; the only sourced cutting result we found was 0.2 mm bare aluminium foil at a crawl (8 mm/s) — nowhere near cutting real sheet stock.
- Eye protection is not guaranteed in every box. ComMarker sells its own 1064 nm OD6+ safety glasses (rated 190-460 nm & 800-1100 nm) as a standalone accessory on its own store; some bundle listings advertise a pair as included and some don't — confirm on your specific listing rather than assuming.
Troubleshooting: symptom, cause, fix
| Symptom | Usual cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red-light preview rectangle shows but the mark is missing or very faint | Focal length hasn't been set for this unit and lens | Raise or lower the laser head until the three red alignment dots overlap — that's the focal point, per ComMarker's manual. |
| Preview position or size doesn't match where the laser actually marks | The red-light pointer isn't calibrated to the real beam path | Import the calibration file from the USB drive, or set Offset X/Y manually under Parameter (F3) → Other → Red light pointer, measured with a ruler. |
| Framing looks far too big or small for the lens you think you have | The shipped correction file for the 110 mm lens is itself calibrated to a 125 × 125 mm field, not 110 × 110 mm, per one owner's report | Don't override the field size in software — keep the correction file's native calibration. |
| Driver won't install, or the machine shows as an unknown device | Non-genuine Windows, a bad data cable, or a damaged front USB port | Use a licensed Windows install, swap to a magnetic-proof data cable, and try a rear USB port or a different computer, per ComMarker's manual FAQ. |
| “Cannot find dongle” or the software runs in demo mode | Machine isn't powered on or isn't connected over USB | Power on the machine, release the emergency stop, and confirm the data cable is connected before opening the software. |
| Marking comes out patchy — some areas dark, others faint | Dirty or misaligned field lens, or loose optical-column screws | Clean the field lens (remove its protective film before first use) and re-tighten the column and table mounting screws, per ComMarker's manual FAQ. |
FAQ
What settings should I start with on a ComMarker B4 20W?
For simple single-pass marking on stainless steel, anodised aluminium or brass, one reviewer's starting point is 80% power at 1,500 mm/s. ComMarker's own manual gives a separate shade table for stainless steel — from 10% power / 4,000 mm/s / 200 kHz for light grey up to 100% power / 400 mm/s / 200 kHz for black. Run a full material test grid before committing to a real piece; these are starting points, not guarantees, and we have not run this machine ourselves.
What settings should I start with on a ComMarker B4 30W?
Public 30W-specific data is thin. The one sourced figure we found is for deep engraving titanium and 3 mm stainless plate: 70% power at 1,000 mm/s, cited by a reviewer as ComMarker's own published setting. For anything else on the 30W, start from the 20W rows in the table above and back power off on a test piece — don't assume the 20W numbers transfer exactly.
How do I set up a ComMarker B4 for the first time?
ComMarker's manual walks through installing the USB driver, loading the machine's .cor correction file, and focusing by raising or lowering the laser head until the three red alignment dots overlap. One LightBurn forum thread flags a real gotcha: the correction file for the 110 mm lens is itself calibrated to a 125 × 125 mm field, not 110 × 110 mm as the setup guide implies — don't override it, and find focus by ear and eye (loudest, brightest mark) rather than trusting a single printed number.
What's the difference between the standard B4 and B4 MOPA?
MOPA (Master Oscillator Power Amplifier) adds tunable pulse width, which is what makes interference colour marking on stainless and titanium possible — see our MOPA colour marking guide. Independent reviews describe the B4's 20W and 30W as standard Q-switched fiber and the 50W, 60W and 100W as JPT MOPA; ComMarker's own product copy doesn't break this out cleanly by wattage, so confirm the exact spec sheet for the unit you're buying before assuming which one you have.
Is the ComMarker B4 still available to buy?
As of 25 September 2026, ComMarker's own store still lists the B4 in 20W, 30W, 50W and 100W, but tags it as clearance stock, with the B6 and B6 JPT MOPA positioned as the current flagship line. The separate B4 MOPA variant has already been discontinued and replaced by the B6 MOPA, which uses the same JPT M7 laser source in a more compact body and adds autofocus.