Looking for blue lazer, Need advice!

Hello everyone!
Im new to all this. But im looking for a very bright blue lazer that is not overly powerful or dangerous. Mostly going to be used at night or dim light areas. I want one that is very visible, perhaps a bright blue with a wide beam and that is mostly safe. I dont want to burn my fingers off in a few seconds or anything.

Is it possible to get a lazer that is both very visible and safe? Or do those options go hand in hand. Perhaps, the more visible the laser, the more dangerous , powerful it is? I dont know. Any advice would be appreciated.

Maybe some pics would be appreciated to see the differences. Or links to anybody that sells the kind of laser im looking for. Serious buyer here.

Thanks in advance!

First it's laser not lazer. Light amplification through stimulated emission of radiation. Next almost all visible blue lasers are like 1w. Very dangerous. Not going to spoon feed. Get a weaker laser WAY before a 1w. Also use search bar

cantthinkofone said:

First it's laser not lazer. Light amplification through stimulated emission of radiation. Next almost all visible blue lasers are like 1w. Very dangerous. Not going to spoon feed. Get a weaker laser WAY before a 1w. Also use search bar

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well you didn't leave me much to say except, to start with a 30 mW green before going to a blue or other much higher power laser as stated most are 1watt or a lot higher ,whilst you can be careful with usual safety precautions ..googles as said many many times before .Starting with a blue probably isn't the best idea ,the green will be by a long way the brightest ,and best choice as a start ,not to be paranoid but even 30mw green is dangerous its just no where near as dangerous as a 1 watt plus blue ..the hard part is knowing if you have got around a 30mw green as most eBay pens i have and many others are 50 to 90 plus mW. Play it safe but don't get paranoid, it should be common sense on eye safety, but a lot of the time its not, hence forum members say the same things again and again ....

There's no need if he specifically wants a blue one ^

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I'd recommend going with a laserbtb 450nm HL or buying something similar off a member here.

The very bottom one, "450nm 100mW single mode - $83.21" is what I'm talking about.

That's the cheapest "quality" lower powered blue laser you can buy.

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You can't really get a bright blue laser that isn't overpowered because the blue spectrum is getting on the farther reaches of human vision.

I'd say 350nm UV-800nm IR is a rough guess on the extent of "average" vision. The most sensitive wavelength to eyes is yellow-green at ~555nm. (somehow the math worked out to like 555.06 by some fluke)

It follows a bell curve and visibility quickly drops before it gets to blue.

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That said, generally the more powerful, the more visible. There's a tool out there to show relative brightness made by RHD (a sadly no longer active member)

It's not perfect, but it can give a pretty good idea on relative brightness as well as color.

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Note the more powerful, the more dangerous. The one I linked can potentially blind anyone faster than a blink of the eye. NEVER shine it at any living creature or anything reflective. Or on a white wall 3 inches in front of your face. yadda yadda yadda...

No help from canthinkofone or Blaster.

"There's no need if he specifically wants a blue one" Exactly!

Thanks for the help ZRaffleticket!!!
There is no way i want a 1w ! Im looking for 300mW or less that is still bright. Perhaps inbetween green and blue would be great.

Anyone know where i could buy lasers from the US that meet my requirements? Mostly the ones i see for sale are 1W blue lasers and up!

Thanks

The one I linked is probably the best option if you order from china. I have the same one except in 520nm.

From the US, you'll need to contact someone on the forums who builds from the US. I think styropyro offered a 450nm single mode pen laser. 100mW is more than enough power for what you're looking for

Though he may not want to sell to you right away because you're new-- nothing against new members but returning scammers are a bit of a problem.

Wow ! Great! That looks perfect for what i need! Thanks so much ZRaffleticket

And yeah i understand i may look suspicious for being new lol.
Im going to contact styropyro pm or email.

If another options comes your way, please let me know! Thanks again!

Oh I also missed more of the inbetween color. 473nm is still very much blue but its "greener". Though you'll be paying nearly 4-5x as much for 100mW.

Yep, anytime!

Just keep your eyes on the B/S/T section for "osram PL450 single mode 450nm" or something similar. They show up fairly often.

Cool thanks, yeah the prize doesnt really matter. I just need a specific one that meets most or all my requirements.

I tried posting a thread on the BST forum but it didnt go through. I'll keep an eye out still.

lazerobot said:

No help from canthinkofone or Blaster.

"There's no need if he specifically wants a blue one" Exactly!

Thanks for the help ZRaffleticket!!!
There is no way i want a 1w ! Im looking for 300mW or less that is still bright. Perhaps inbetween green and blue would be great.

Anyone know where i could buy lasers from the US that meet my requirements? Mostly the ones i see for sale are 1W blue lasers and up!

​

Thanksgiving

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Read slap in face lucky i didn't spend 20 minutes on my cell phone damn hard to do with advice ,if you don't want advice don't ask ,a laser in between green and blue is going to cost a small fortune at power you want ( i still want one in that zone from green to blue) ,but you obviously know that ,we get a lot of people that come on with no welcome ,just straight to i need help, and then mostly we don't hear from them again .lasers are illegal over 5mW in US and most countries ppl make them.up from parts on the forum or take their chances with importing them ...no such thing as a bright blue without high power because our eyes don't see blue light anywhere near as bright as green hence my advice

1. Update your grammar to semi-competent reading level, before dishing out safety advice. It looks very unprofessional otherwise.

2. I started with a 250mW+ 650nm 20X laser. I am fine.

Starting off with ~100mW of 532/520 will be fine. It gives you the clean visibility of a clean green beam, with the safety of not waving around a class IV device.

Specular radiation only becomes an issue when you're in the Class IV range. With blues, it's a "double trouble" scenario. The specular radiation can not only be a blinding hazard, but the overload and intensity of the blue wavelength can cause blindness in the green spectrum. This is why I think I have a hard time differentiating high WL 520's from 532.

The second possibility would be an 80-100mW 450nm. Still a clean, fairly visible beam. However you get that cool blue beam that is unfamiliar to most non-laserists.

I would also recommend a single mode 635/638nm. These are less visible than the blue, but there is still a semi-visible beam. Plus the orange-red color is very appealing.

Just be safe, and if you're doing up close burning, I would recommend glasses. Not so much because of the specular radiation, but moreso because that will get VERY bright. Like looking at the sun on a cloudless day. You'll have a blue-green spot in your vision for a while

Enjoy the hobby!

EDIT: "no such thing as a bright blue without high power."

That has to be, by far, the most objectified and subjective advice I have ever seen. If all you've seen are those red key chain lasers, like myself before coming to the hobby, 50mW of 450 will be very bright. However if all you work on is 10W 532, it will not be very bright at all, relatively speaking.

Please keep your advice,
1. Professional in the grammar department.
2. Scientific. If anything.

You're tougher than I was bloomie ^

@OP You cant post a new thread there until you got 20 laser-related posts. Whatever you do, don't make a new thread asking to buy one in any other section. Don't make the posts worthless either, a lot of bans are handed out for circumventing that.

Contrary to popular belief, ignorance and bliss are not synonymous.

Just one of those things that grinds my gears.

Plus my supervisor was doing one helluva job today. *cough*

That aside.

DO NOT make your first post in the B/S/T "looking for 1W blue laser" or you will be eaten alive quicker than it took you to post.

If you want a cheap "toss around" laser that you know the wavelength of, pick one up from O-like. Their rep has declined a little, with underspec lasers, but you get what you pay for. If you go to buy a 100mW green, and it's 85 or 90, it still looks a lot better than the "New-Wish" style pens.

If you catch me in the right mood, I may build you a low cost 100mW 532 in a cheap host. Nothing to write home about, but it won't let you down.

Im going to be in and out of the forums due to work. But ill keep an eye out here for the next few days. So my replies might be delayed.

Very imformative bloompyle! Greatly appreciate the help! That 80-100mW 450nm you mentioned with a cool blue beam certainly would be what i need. But ive heard its rare.

I'll check out the site. But its probably out of the US.

Would be happy to get one from you, as long as its blue and bright! And it doesnt burn my house down lol Anyways, thanks for all the help guys. I have a deadline of about 2 wks. So any other options are appreciated!

473nm is "rare" as it's a semi-unstable DPSS. 100mw of 450nm is something you can get from a <$40 diode.

i wasted 10 minutes to help you just so you could ignore my advice. go ahead get a 1w. shine it at cars point it in eyes. i cant stop you. no one can. at least try and be polite when writing help off next time.