I am thinking about to build a DIY quicly removable enclosure around my 1080nm JPT MOPA 60W galvo laser.
One of my reasons is that although I can wear safety glasses, but making sure nobody enters inattentively my workshop during lasering is an additional worry. and that I shouldn’t be so keen to rule out all possibilities of forgetting the glasses would also be a relief.
in some countries, like eg. Germany (maybe all EU?) open lasers are not even allowed in professional use.
I am thinking of magnetic mounts, so the four shields (each on one side, open on top) can be removed quickly. Three of them could be just plain sheet metal or some plastic, but on the front I would use some transparent laser safety acrylic or polycarbonate would be even better, not that fragile.
Does anybody know of a not too expensive source for this material to block 1080nm wavelength? (What I have found so far is shockingly expensive, I can even relax somewhat with the blocking level, it is not about a $200k 5kW industrial laser)
When my enclosure is ready I will mount a web camera inside to watch the process, would be even more comfortable to watch it from my chair on my monitor. and much cheaper to replace that camera than my eyes
If you have some leftovers of different polycarbonate or acrylic, you can do a “low-tech” test by testing whether your laser can cut through or is blocked by these materials. Place a piece of cardboard under the glass and test with maximum laser effect.
I built a housing for my diode laser with orange material, it worked as intended.
People stick their hands in the beam… I wouldn’t. I’ve tried to mark baloney/hot dogs, nothing… must not have the same effect. I can mark them with the co2.
It won’t really mark wood either… I wonder where all the power is actually going…
technically, it’s just the wavelength that can’t be “used” for organic substances, just as diode lasers can’t handle clear acrylic. Meeennnn… it’s still creepy.
It reminds me of a video I saw where someone shoots a laser beam into a pig’s eye (from the butcher) to see the consequences…
If I can’t engrave a piece of meat at the focus, I doubt it’s going to do much damage to someones finger. The people that have done it, claim it’s slightly warm.
I’ve seen videos of people sticking thier finger in a K40 beam between m2/m3. Said it was like a cigarette burn… In my mind it’s stupid, but, I’ll watch them do it…
I learned a long time ago, to keep my paws outside of the working area of machine, especially automated ones…
Yes, that is fortunately true, otherwise with such proliferation of these lasers in people’s homes what we are experiencing, and if it worked like Luke Skywalker’s sword there’d be a lot more people with less than ten fingers.
another question is what will we do with lasers (for money) when almost everyone will soon have his own machine to play with?
I don’t know where the energy goes… we know it goes somewhere…
I suspect is somehow widely distributed and that’s the heat people feel when they do this.
I had a couple friends, military and they installed some of the radar sites in Alaska for NORAD… They told me it was common to stand in front of the dish and have someone warm them up…
Si c’est un uv classique un sumple plexiglass orange foncé ou rouge suffit inutile de dépenser de l’argent pour rien,en fait si le laser grave le rouge ou l’orange c’est bon,je peit prouber mes dires par photo et vidéo si besoin
Not this kind of plexiglass, the one that blocks the sun’s UV rays, only to prevent it from turning yellow; it should be red or dark orange. Do you want pictures, a video, or a link?
5W or more, that’s not the question. 5W in the eye and your eye is ruined! You have to be VERY serious about that.
UV is not visible, so why does the acrylic need to be red or dark orange?
It only needs to block UV.
Only an idiot lays on their back and looks into the beam with their remaining eye. lol
If you know of anyone or have damaged your eyes some way, let us know. I’ve been working around these a relatively short time (over 5 years) and have never heard of anyone going blind, having vision issues or died from using one of these.
Even getting across a co2 hv supply isn’t lethal. At least I’ve never heard of any deaths, but the propaganda is severe and unjustified. Like many things, it’s based on fear.
There must be millions of these out there, many operated by people with an IQ of less than that of a bag of rocks. They are not blind or dead.
For these to work, the beam must be confined and directed…
I have had my mower throw debris into my face, so I wear protection when I operate anything that has the ability to harm me from moving parts.
I’m aware of it’s power, but common sense works very well..
These are just opinions… You have to do what makes you feel safe, no matter what anyone else says, right or wrong.
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