Hello!

Hey people,

Just joined up after doing some business with JayRob; I bought one of his Blu-Ray builds, and man it is awesome. In the same day I also received my Nova X-100 green laser, rated at 124mW. ;D

Anyway, both lasers are incredible and thanks again to you Jay! Amazing build quality, and I am more than happy with it!

I have been messing around in my room light painting with them, and I love how the 405nm looks when it hits my white pillow.

I attached some pics. Actually, only one since I can't figure out how to post more than one.

One question though, other than (obviously) direct hits and/or reflections, is it bad to look at the dot even for a second? I have been careful and just wanted to ask to be sure.

Anyway, I hope to come here often and get to know the board! Thanks.

--

Paul



EDIT: Whoa, that pic is large, just right click and click 'view image'..Sorry.

welcome to laserpointerforums!

you can look at the dot, but it'll gradually damage your eyes over a long term. it's actually like staring at your ceiling light. you should be wearing a laser goggle anyway which i don't think you did. :-/

Paul,

Looking at the reflection (the dot) isn't going to hurt your eyes as long as it is scattered (like off paper) and not reflected (like a mirror). If it is scattered, the power spreads out radially from that point. Since the area goes like r^2 and power is constant, the power density goes down like 1/r^2. Basically, once you are "arms length" away from the dot, it is 1/100th the power and no real hazard to your eyes.

Stray reflections can seriously damage your eyes, though, and all it takes is one shot! Say you are panning the laser across the room and you hit a metal hinge on your door and it reflects right back in your eye - BAM! That's all it takes. And, at those powers, your eye will not blink fast enough to make a difference.

Take care of your eyes. Please.

I appreciate your concerns, and will get some glasses when I can afford them, however I also have an affection for knives that has been draining my account lately. Damn you, Busse!

I don't pan the laser around when on, I am very careful with them, and I just enjoy the brightness of the beam and using my Blu-ray to draw on glow in the dark objects.

I plan out where I will be shooting my laser ahead of time, and make sure it is free of reflective materials.

I am not going to mess around with burning and mirrors or prisms and such until I get some glasses.

I understand that glasses are crucial, but I bought these two lasers to be able to enjoy the brightness of them, and if I filter all that out with glasses, I might as well stayed with my <5mW Radioshack pointer.

I hear ya. I love lasers. Most things in nature are OK - play with it outside. Just do so knowing the risk.

K