$200 so I can melt Tape and Pop balloons ?

[lifeson99]

Some people get very excited when a laser can melt black tape. But of course, it should be black so the light energy is abosorbed and you must be within 6 to 12 inches preferably.

You know . . . as we were all growing up, we always thought of Lasers as these high powered devices that could zip through just about anything from 100 yards or more. Unfortunately that was the movies and cartoons. Now that we are in the real world, those expectations have been greatly diminished . . so far down, that melting a piece of soft, then black tape seems "awesome".

Someone posted last week that they wanted a laser that could cut metal, and a couple of people responded, "you must be joking" . . . :ignore him, he's a troll" . . . etc.

But really - he was saying what we all "used to think" - that a typical laser can slice through metal.

So I will . . . like a good laser enthusiast . . . buy a laser that can MELT TAPE !!! I will melt tape and I may even get a small amount of a thrill from that. I may even pop a balloon for the heck of it. But I think I will have to find something else, because those parlor trick just ain't worth the $$$

 

[StarHalo]

Paint one end of a matchbox flat black. Set as many matches as possible inside the box so that their strike ends are pressed against the now-black side of the box. Close the box. Point your laser at the black side of the box. Stand back.

There's the reaction you were looking for

 

[Oznog]

You need to review the safety concerns and think about this carefully. Well, in a sense they're "toys" to all of us, but you can't handle it like a toy.

200mW, if you just picked it up off your plastic burning surface and held it sideways while fiddling with the switch to turn it off and the beam hits a reflective surface and sends the beam back at you, it could cause a retinal burn instantly. Or potentially anyone in the room. These injuries may or may not heal. You could just accidentally drop it and the beam could hit anything.

Same thing if a kid gets ahold of it. In fact if you show it to a kid they're probably gonna want to sneak it away from you the minute you leave it accessible.

The stuff about 5mW lasers being dangerous was an exaggeration. These 50mW, 100mw, 200mW ones, the danger is understated.

 

[geonex]

This post is positively confusing, but I will say this...

Never, ever use a high-power laser (lets say 15mW+ in this context) in public unless everyone present has protective goggles.

Best of luck.

 

[Sgt. LED]

Buyers remorse.
It bites us all at some point.

 

[broadgage]

Lasers that can cut metal certainly exist, I have seen one, but they are not portable (3 phase power supply and water cooling required).

Such lasers are used for the precision cutting of stainless steel, I have seen one in use in a factory that was making heat exchangers.
The advantages over coventional metal cutting is greater accuracy, and repeatability since there is no cutting tool to wear.

Not really suitable for hobbyist use though!
Dont know what if any, legal limits exist on the private use/ownership of such equipment.

 

[o0o]

You need to review the safety concerns and think about this carefully. Well, in a sense they're "toys" to all of us, but you can't handle it like a toy.

200mW, if you just picked it up off your plastic burning surface and held it sideways while fiddling with the switch to turn it off and the beam hits a reflective surface and sends the beam back at you, it could cause a retinal burn instantly. Or potentially anyone in the room. These injuries may or may not heal. You could just accidentally drop it and the beam could hit anything.

Same thing if a kid gets ahold of it. In fact if you show it to a kid they're probably gonna want to sneak it away from you the minute you leave it accessible.

The stuff about 5mW lasers being dangerous was an exaggeration. These 50mW, 100mw, 200mW ones, the danger is understated.

Agree with Oznog. A laser in this power range should be handled like a weapon. NEVER, I repeat NEVER point it toward any living person or animal. It is NOT a toy. It can permanently damage someone's eyes before they even blink! Worst of all, reflective materials (some of which are not even obvious) can unintentionally send the beam in a direction that is not easily predicted.

 

[2xTrinity]

You need to review the safety concerns and think about this carefully. Well, in a sense they're "toys" to all of us, but you can't handle it like a toy.

200mW, if you just picked it up off your plastic burning surface and held it sideways while fiddling with the switch to turn it off and the beam hits a reflective surface and sends the beam back at you, it could cause a retinal burn instantly. Or potentially anyone in the room. These injuries may or may not heal. You could just accidentally drop it and the beam could hit anything.

Same thing if a kid gets ahold of it. In fact if you show it to a kid they're probably gonna want to sneak it away from you the minute you leave it accessible.

The stuff about 5mW lasers being dangerous was an exaggeration. These 50mW, 100mw, 200mW ones, the danger is understated.

This is the problem with widespread exaggeration of the danger of the <5mW lasers, or anything for that matter. I've seen people who were told that <5mW red pointers were super dangerous and would cause permanent eye damage or blindness end up accidentally hitting themselves in the eye with them, getting their eyes checked and seeing no apparent damage. They then concluded that probably ALL laser safety warning were grossly exaggerated.

I'm not looking forward to the time when irresponsible kids etc. learn how to extract >100mW BluRay burner lasers and start waving them around, or shining them sideways into their corneas in order to watch their corneas fluoresce (and give themselves cataracts...) I've seen people do this with red and green lasers because the scattering in the eye looked cool. The danger in short wavelengths like violet is that they don't appear very bright, even though they're high power and even more dangerous at a given power than other colors.

5mW is a threshold above which damage can occur faster than the blink reflex, based on heating of the retina. At 5mW, some colors (eg green, or BluRay) may be worse due to damage from other effects, but in genreal, 5mW and less is not terribly dangerous. As you get higher than that though, potential damaging effects get MUCH worse, fast. If you get into 200mW territory, even a 5% specular reflection off of glass, let alone a mirror, can cause eye damage faster than the blink response. With pumped lasers there's also the concern of invisible IR component that is not necessarily colinear with the beam (eg, if reflected or refracted off of somtehing) that can also cause eye damage unknowingly. While I wouldn't worry about that with 5mW or lower lasers (as the IR tends to disperse), a 200mW laser with improper filtering could have enough leaking IR component to still pose a problem even if it's dispersed.

 

[ken4514]

you got ripped off if you paid $200 and you only wanted to melt some tape. could have paid less than $50 for the same thing....

 

[Smoky]

Hi Lifeson99

I know what you mean. I can directly relate to the scenario you describe. As a child I was fascinated by lasers (back in the day when you had to go to a LIBRARY and READ to LEARN). It was all theoretical for me, and filled my imagination.

I always had a tendency to expect that any technology was certainly further along than I was aware of. So Lasers fit perfectly into one of those reality checks you mention.

But, at the age of 34, finally having the funds, time, and consumer access to the hardware, I'm very excited to be able to get real hands-on experience learning and understanding lasers. Maybe I can't guy a brick-splitting beamer for a hobbyist sized chunk of change yet, but I don't care too much. I just want to enjoy learning, and finally getting enjoy these devices I have always had a fascination with.

You have valid points. This is definitely a "gotta pay to play" hobby. At least when you are just getting into it. But like cars, radio control, or any other hobby, once you pass the intro stage and get into the DIY full-custom stage, that is when it gets really interesting. And ironically more affordable with higher bang-for-the-buck.

And the DIY part is what I'm really looking forward to. But I didn't want to jump in too fast, too hard in the beginning. So who knows... head down that path of DIY and you may be able to get at least a little closer to what you had originally envisioned when you took the plunge.

Cheers
-Smoky

 

[ahx66]

YES you can (please do so safely!)

Some people get very excited when a laser can melt black tape. But of course, it should be black so the light energy is abosorbed and you must be within 6 to 12 inches preferably.

You know . . . as we were all growing up, we always thought of Lasers as these high powered devices that could zip through just about anything from 100 yards or more. Unfortunately that was the movies and cartoons. Now that we are in the real world, those expectations have been greatly diminished . . so far down, that melting a piece of soft, then black tape seems "awesome".

Someone posted last week that they wanted a laser that could cut metal, and a couple of people responded, "you must be joking" . . . :ignore him, he's a troll" . . . etc.

But really - he was saying what we all "used to think" - that a typical laser can slice through metal.

So I will . . . like a good laser enthusiast . . . buy a laser that can MELT TAPE !!! I will melt tape and I may even get a small amount of a thrill from that. I may even pop a balloon for the heck of it. But I think I will have to find something else, because those parlor trick just ain't worth the $$$

 

[ShOgUn_LI]

hey lifeson99, where are you from? If you're in Australia, thanks to the retards who point it at jet liners at airports, its now illegal to own any laser over 5mw without a permit.