- Joined
- Feb 18, 2013
- Messages
- 48
- Points
- 8
Well, I suppose that I've procrastinated on introducing myself and becoming active here for, by far, long enough! Hello, LPF! Dragon, or my legal name if you so desire, Cody, here! ^_^ I'm a studying CS major in college at the moment with a long-held fascination with, and love for, lasers and their gloriously coherent light! 
I've honestly lurked around these forums for so long that even a Minecraft Creeper would be proud. I've read almost every sticky and every 'newbie must-read' thread that exists here, and then some, though I'm sure that there is a chance that I've missed something. After all of this time, to include a month of having been registered with the intent of saying "Hi", I believe it high time that I made my first post here and introduced myself a bit.
I'm not entirely new to the laser hobby, and I'm certainly not new to lasers, at least from a theoretical side, but I am a bit new to taking the thought of lasers as a hobby seriously, as well as being embarrassingly new to being some semblance of serious about safety with lasers.
That is not to say, though, that I've been dangerous or subjectively stupid with lasers. I've always been one to direct my beams carefully and not let just anyone mess with my lasers, and my care in such matters and similar considerations has at least lent me with the good fortune of no direct eye strikes and no ocular damage as such.
When I obtained my ~80mW Infiniti, about four years ago, I briefly considered obtaining appropriate safety glasses, but decided, in my youthful naïveté, and from having only had prior experience with 5mW pointers (such as my first personal laser, a 5mW DPSS greenie from Z-Bolt), that they were not terribly important right then.
Thank God, literally, that I had enough intelligence to realize, upon witnessing the raw brightness of ~70-80mW of 532nm laser light first-hand, that I needed a way to shield my eyes and constructed a set of safety goggles from some chem goggles and a sheet of deep-red cellophane. Despite perhaps not being the best protection, those DIY goggles most probably saved my vision multiple times, over the course of several years, from the occasional hazards of performing various optics experiments with such a laser.
I still, miraculously, have flawless vision, minus some slight hereditary hyperopia (farsightedness). Recently, being more experienced, and perhaps (hopefully) a bit more mature, I decided that I wanted to more definitively keep my sight that way. I purchased three pairs of safety glasses to protect not only myself, but my friends and family as well, as I have the occasional propensity to share my love of these devices with others.
I have already been putting those red shades to good use, wearing them while aligning and taking several test beam photographs such as this HDR experiment (I kind of do a little bit of photography every so often, though my cam isn't the best). I even just recently donned a pair whilst handing a second pair to my girlfriend so as to have a bit of safe, clean, balloon-popping fun with my somehow-still-functioning Infiniti. (It functions, but I'm fairly certain, minus LPM evidence, that its under-spec, and the silly thing likes TEM01 just about as much as it does TEM00.)
As things stand currently, I have a single-mode, 100mW, 450nm (likely OSRAM-based) blue beauty on its way from Skylasers, for which I, despite some pre-purchase searching (I love the custom Google search bar here!), could not find a single review for, so I'll just have to be the first, I suppose! I also hope to start my first builds, of which I have several in mind already, before long, though I first want to pick up, of course, my own soldering iron...I used to use my father's, but the tip on it is so corroded that it can be rather difficult to solder with.
I profusely apologize for my long-windedness, which I seem to have quite the propensity for. If you have read through the entirety of this post and are looking at these words right now, I truly thank you for taking the time to read my words which, in their own right, took time to write. If you have indeed given so much time to this sole post, you are an incredible person, a gentleman (or lady, whichever applies in your case), and a scholar (literally, as I realize that my vocabulary can tend towards eruditious words).
If anyone has anything that they would like to ask me, well...about me, feel free and I'll be more than willing to answer! Furthermore, I'm always up for some friendly chat, so, as well, you are more than welcome to PM me here, email me, or IM me through Skype or AIM (both of which I have my information for on my forum profile) if you would, for whatever crazy reason, possibly want to chat with me!
In any case, I hope to be a contributing member of the LPF community, as it is only right and fair to give back to a community that has, albeit heretofore unknowingly, gifted me with so much knowledge. Speaking of which...one of my first stops may well have to be the donations page. ^_^
See you soon,
Cody, aka Dragon
I've honestly lurked around these forums for so long that even a Minecraft Creeper would be proud. I've read almost every sticky and every 'newbie must-read' thread that exists here, and then some, though I'm sure that there is a chance that I've missed something. After all of this time, to include a month of having been registered with the intent of saying "Hi", I believe it high time that I made my first post here and introduced myself a bit.
I'm not entirely new to the laser hobby, and I'm certainly not new to lasers, at least from a theoretical side, but I am a bit new to taking the thought of lasers as a hobby seriously, as well as being embarrassingly new to being some semblance of serious about safety with lasers.
That is not to say, though, that I've been dangerous or subjectively stupid with lasers. I've always been one to direct my beams carefully and not let just anyone mess with my lasers, and my care in such matters and similar considerations has at least lent me with the good fortune of no direct eye strikes and no ocular damage as such.
When I obtained my ~80mW Infiniti, about four years ago, I briefly considered obtaining appropriate safety glasses, but decided, in my youthful naïveté, and from having only had prior experience with 5mW pointers (such as my first personal laser, a 5mW DPSS greenie from Z-Bolt), that they were not terribly important right then.
Thank God, literally, that I had enough intelligence to realize, upon witnessing the raw brightness of ~70-80mW of 532nm laser light first-hand, that I needed a way to shield my eyes and constructed a set of safety goggles from some chem goggles and a sheet of deep-red cellophane. Despite perhaps not being the best protection, those DIY goggles most probably saved my vision multiple times, over the course of several years, from the occasional hazards of performing various optics experiments with such a laser.
I still, miraculously, have flawless vision, minus some slight hereditary hyperopia (farsightedness). Recently, being more experienced, and perhaps (hopefully) a bit more mature, I decided that I wanted to more definitively keep my sight that way. I purchased three pairs of safety glasses to protect not only myself, but my friends and family as well, as I have the occasional propensity to share my love of these devices with others.
I have already been putting those red shades to good use, wearing them while aligning and taking several test beam photographs such as this HDR experiment (I kind of do a little bit of photography every so often, though my cam isn't the best). I even just recently donned a pair whilst handing a second pair to my girlfriend so as to have a bit of safe, clean, balloon-popping fun with my somehow-still-functioning Infiniti. (It functions, but I'm fairly certain, minus LPM evidence, that its under-spec, and the silly thing likes TEM01 just about as much as it does TEM00.)
As things stand currently, I have a single-mode, 100mW, 450nm (likely OSRAM-based) blue beauty on its way from Skylasers, for which I, despite some pre-purchase searching (I love the custom Google search bar here!), could not find a single review for, so I'll just have to be the first, I suppose!
I also hope to start my first builds, of which I have several in mind already, before long, though I first want to pick up, of course, my own soldering iron...I used to use my father's, but the tip on it is so corroded that it can be rather difficult to solder with.I profusely apologize for my long-windedness, which I seem to have quite the propensity for. If you have read through the entirety of this post and are looking at these words right now, I truly thank you for taking the time to read my words which, in their own right, took time to write. If you have indeed given so much time to this sole post, you are an incredible person, a gentleman (or lady, whichever applies in your case), and a scholar (literally, as I realize that my vocabulary can tend towards eruditious words).
If anyone has anything that they would like to ask me, well...about me, feel free and I'll be more than willing to answer! Furthermore, I'm always up for some friendly chat, so, as well, you are more than welcome to PM me here, email me, or IM me through Skype or AIM (both of which I have my information for on my forum profile) if you would, for whatever crazy reason, possibly want to chat with me!
In any case, I hope to be a contributing member of the LPF community, as it is only right and fair to give back to a community that has, albeit heretofore unknowingly, gifted me with so much knowledge. Speaking of which...one of my first stops may well have to be the donations page. ^_^
See you soon,
Cody, aka Dragon
