Powerful Burning and Pulse Lasers?

Hey guys, looking at some laser sites I came across these Class IV laser "guns" and parts.

http://www.amazing1.com/burning-lasers.htm

My question is, are these for real? I know that they must be incredibly dangerous if the proper precautions aren't used, but I'm still very interested and intrigued by them. I wonder what their range is to scortch wood? Or how far the beam could travel, is the system focused?

Seems like they use a 20Watt CO2 Laser and a 3X1/4" Nd:GLASS With Integral Mirrors for the pulsed version.

At any rate, I thought they were interesting, and would like to see what you guys think of them. Perhaps someone here has had experience with such powerful systems and can shed some light on this?

Both lasers are IR (infrared), so you would not be able to see the beam.

The CO2 laser has a wavelength of 10,600nm (10.6µ).
The YAG laser has a wavelength of 1,064nm (1.064µ).

That much I can say with absolute, positive, 100% certainty.

Extremely dangerous! I have a friend who has built these!
I myself have a 200J ruby laser it sounds like a turbine
winding up than at full screech I push a hand held button on a remote wire and BANG I huge pulse of infra red laser blows thru 30 Gillette razor blades,,
the Ruby type lasers are a blast literaly the Huge cap.needs to charge up just like an old camera my caps weigh
80lbs. than boom the 3ft long un coiled 1/2 dia. flash tube
just ignites with a plasma glow few have ever seen!

any chance of a video of that, Lasernerd? would seriously like to see that beast!

here`s a few pictures of my smaller 50joule unit
check this pic and the next few

http://groups.msn.com/LaserShowsKES/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=218

WOW! Thanks guys for the info. I guess I came to the right place for my laser questions /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Ok, so for efficiency, which of the two is more efficient assuming the same power output? Will a CO2 laser at 10,600nm have a longer range than a 1,064nm YAG laser?

What about a 20 Watt CO2 operating in continuous wave
vs. a 3 Watt YAG that is pulsed? Which of the two pictured on that site is more powerful, and why?

Lasernerd, thanks for the pictures as well, you have some interesting set ups, and your the first person I've ever seen that has or knows people that have built systems like the one I pictured. Would you happen to know what the range of these systems would be in regards to punching holes in razor blades?

This is really facinating to read about, 30 razor blades blasted in one pulse at 200 Joules? How far away were they when you did that? And how do you protect yourself when using a system like that?

Wouldn't a lot of the laser energy be reflected off of the metal blades and scatter the harmful IR energy in all directions?

Anyways, thanks for the info guys, I really do appreciate it and am still very interested in these devices, though I must admit it gives me pause when I consider the high voltages and dangerous radiation that these devices can spew out /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

my question is how did you afford to destroy 30 Gillette's? I hope they werent Mach3's, those are expensive

I have gone thru stacks!
the target was 5 ft. away to keep any metal splash from hitting the optics