Rayfoss RF-405-20mW

So, I got my newest laser today

www.rayfoss.com

Shipping took maybe three weeks, but it got through customs.

So far, I'm very satisfied.

I don't have an LPM, but it smokes some plastics quite quickly, and I've heard that rayfoss pointers can be quite overspec. I'll be metering it on the weekend, probably using bobhaha's laserbee.

Does anyone have suggestions for cool things to do with 405nm lasers other than making common household items fluoresce? I've been pointing it at highlighter ink a lot.

Get yourself some Glow-In-The-Dark paint, paint a board with it, now you can
paint on it with yer lahzor!
Just shine it on any GITD items you might have laying around to see what I mean.

Oh yeah, almost forgot about GITD stuff!

20mW isn't a lot, though; it wouldn't appear glow for long, except in a dark room.

well if it's smoking plastic (with a lens?) it's probably more around 40-50mw,
like every other 405nm pen out there.

How long it glows depends on the GITD stuff, the old-school zinc-something
glows and lasts much less than the new rare-earth GITD stuff.

I actually just got the exact one in yesterday, I was surprised that I was able to see the beam in the dark. I can't burn any plastic, though after about 15 seconds with a trash bag it does leave a noticeable mark on it. I'm not too concerned with the burning anyway, I just wanted a violet one. I'm probably gonna buy the 50mW on my next buy for better beam visual.

Yeah, the plastic-smoking was done with a focusing lens.

I'll see if I can get my hands on some GITD paint.

For beam visuals, you should really go with 532 nm.

I discovered that CRTs fluoresce somewhat, and then remain glowing faintly for a short while.