Need help! good laser line module for shiny metal surfaces??

RyanPolo

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Feb 24, 2017
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hello all, so this whole laser business is really new to me. im trying to design an alignment tool that will use a laser line diode or whatever the correct term is to help with aligning some metal pieces and spacing them correctly. so i bought a 20 laser offline. its focusable and all seems well. the problem i ran into was when i held the laser up to the workpiece, which happens to be ground tool steal (very shiny) if i didnt hold it perfectly perpendicular the line wouldnt appear as bright. my whole goal is to use a line type laser to project a long line across 12 inches or so, preferably at an angle to help stretch the beam length and keep overall height at a minimum. so far i cant seem to find the best option that works well on shiny reflective and metal surfaces. is there a good laser type and class that would work for this? color, wavelength? theres got to me something that can work well on not so ideal conditions. any ideas would be helpful as this is something i know nothing about. thanks in advance!
 

RyanPolo

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i wish we could. unfortunately the material is ground to a specific height, which also makes them sharp. as a result the surface is really shiny. ok so green. makes sense. will power level increase how bright the laser is?
 

RyanPolo

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well i wish there was something i could do about the surface of the workpiece. unfortunately it has to be ground to a specific height which makes it shiny. if i could i would fix that and be done lol well i suppose i could try the green. i would need a green laser that emitted a focusable line. just like the red one i have now. after reading the damaged eyes thread, makes me cringe! i almost dont even wanna mess with the green ones. i suppose safetly first. as always.
 

FRITZHID

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mW is mW regardless of color so stick to mW you're comfortable with AND that's effective. I'd say in your case, 20mW green should work nicely. Keep in mind that the 20mW are being spread across that whole line so apparent power to the eyes will be significantly less then 20mW.
Green is far more perceptible to the human eyes so it should be far easier to see.
 

RyanPolo

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Feb 24, 2017
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ok cool, thanks for the tips. just curious. i know that a higher mW means more of a powerful laser. but does that coincide directly with how bright a laser will be? i would prefer to keep as low as mW as possible while having the brightest beam(line) i can get. this alignment system is going to a customer so i dont want them burning there eyes out lol this is what i was looking at getting. https://www.apinex.com/ret2/BES532-L.html
more of an industrial type laser module.
 

FRITZHID

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Brightness is related to mW however, lasers power is rated when in a single spot/point, not when the beam is diverged thru a line lens. To get a bright enough line, you'll need to step the mW up.
 
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