I am a new laser user, doing only some tests and calibration so far, I installed Lightburn with my chineese Galvo machine using a JPT MOPA 60W source. Everything is fine, I like the software, the machine.
Yesterday I had a scary experience, I was running some black and white tests on stainless steel, like usually I clicked on framing than on start, the laser marked as it should and stopped. than I closed Lightburn, and noticed afterwards that the laser is firing again (doing the same marking all over again) luckily I still had my safety glasses on and the sample steel plate was still in the machine. I tried to stop the laser with loading Lightburn again (with the intent to stop it with the on-screen stop button) but Lightburn showed the laser as disconnected. I had no other choice to stop the laser as turning of its power with the key-button (physical button cutting off power to the laser source) Hopefully it did not damage it when switching off the power on a firing laser source.
Anybody has a clue why did it happen? I have in settings the foot pedal on port 15 set up to frame+fire the laser, maybe it got a false signal? I will then not use this port for this. But I think the firing began at the moment as I exited Lightburn, however I did not see the exact moment, only noticed some seconds later that the laser was firing.
Where was the data coming from? the laser kept on working (doing the same marking as before) while Lightburn was not running at all.
Congratulations on doing something many many people ignore!
Public safety announcement:
Good eye protection is a nuisance, but your eyes will survive when two things go wrong at once: the laser fires when it shouldn’t and a reflection splashes your face with coherent laser light.
Thanks. Having and also wearing! good safety glasses was my first priority, I did not trust the glasses that came with my machine (strangely they are red for my 1080nm near-infra-red laser, which also made them suspicious, it is rather the blue lasers they are blocking, if at all)
I chose an OD7+ at 1000-1550nm model with a published OD chart (for 200€) from a company that specializes in laser safety.
There were less expensive choices with dark lenses with similar blocking OD6+ (and also more expensive ones up to OD10+), but mine has almost clear lenses, slightly light blue, which I thought is an advantage that they’re not darkening my sight at all, so that it does not make me taking them off between lasering runs, can wear them continuously.
BUT: I have now another concern: they are probably not blocking UV, and I think those bright white sparking the laser does at higher power on metals emits also in the UV spectrum, like an electric welding does. What do you guys think? Do we need eye protection in the UV spectrum also?
PS: That sparking is just normal light without the insidiousness of the laser beam (like capable of reflection, coherent over long distances) so we can protect ourselves by just not looking (long) into that sparking.
Public Safety Announcement...
You can eat with false teeth.
You can walk with a prosthetic leg.
But you cannot see with a plastic eye.
WEAR THOSE SAFETY GLASSES!!!
I actually turn my head when this thing is firing. Kind of like watching a guy run a welder. I just turn my head away from the danger zone.