Have you looked at an autotig ( automatic TIG welding machine)?
I don't know about LBW, but it is not common for a reason. Lazers are far more widely used for "drilling".
Yes .15 is huge that's something an Auto Tig is great for, laser welding is really used for the really thin stuff, atleast in the medical field it was. Anything over .062 we would Auto Tig that.
Laser welding also can be costly with all of the gas required. Electron beam welders have lower operating costs, however the intial costs were large. These are for machines that are high volume manufacturing though.