Better for burning

What wavelength is best for burning?

This depend from what you want to burn, but, indicatively, BR (405nm) diodes burns better than red or green .....

Some more info can give you a better reply (like, what do you want to burn, and so on )

I find red (650nm) is best for burning black objects. It is also the cheapest for $/mW. Also red is not that "picky" when it comes to focusing.

Blu-Ray (405nm) will burn just about any color but is very touchy about focusing. Also Blu-ray, being close to UW in wavelengh will make some objects fluoresce (glow). If if fluoresces when hit with 405nm, it won't burn with lower powered lasers All the energy is reflected off the item. 405nm is the most $/mW

Green (532nm) falls in the middle, but seems to work better on dark objects. Because green is the easiest for the human eye to see, it make it very hard to get the focus right. The dot is so bright you can not tell when it is focused. 532nm glasses are a must for burning with green. Again, 532nm falls in the middle as far as $/mW. Also 532nm, being DPSS is very fragile, you drop it, it is ruined!

(protective glasses or goggles should be worn with any wavelength)

Other colors Blue, Yellow, Orange, lasers are not strong enough to burn (yet)

If I had to chose one color to use to burn it would be red because it is not picky to focus, cheapest of all colors and and no worries about fluoresceing.

405nm, being the shorter wavelength will have the best burning abilities. Red 660nm will have some of the worst as its at the other end of the visible spectrum. But remember that a mw is a mw no matter the wavelength.

Thanks everyone you answered my question!

Another thing to consider is the power level available in each wavelength. The red LOC diodes we use typically top out a little over 300mW. We probably aren't going to see a lot more developments in the field of red diodes. The focus is on green and blue technologies. Bluray diodes can now give you over 400mW and the technology is still improving. These blurays now rival the power of even large green handheld lasers.

A cheap burner choice is the red "dilda" 200mW. For a more powerful, but more expensive burner, think 8x or 12x bluray.

By the way, fluorescent objects do burn no problem with a bluray. Intrigued by the comment above, I took a 200mW bluray to fluorescent white paper, safety orange earplugs, glow-in-the-dark stickers, and some fluorescent plastic. All of these items burned.

By the way, fluorescent objects do burn no problem with a bluray. Intrigued by the comment above, I took a 200mW bluray to fluorescent white paper, safety orange earplugs, glow-in-the-dark stickers, and some fluorescent plastic. All of these items burned.

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None of my Blu-Ray's will burn anything that fluoresces. Maybe a faint wisp of smoke on orange, but will not burn.

Then again, none of my BR's is close to 200mw (not yet, but soon will be >400):wave:

I'll have to do a search, but I seem to remember someone else's post that claimed not to be able to burn fluorescent items and assumed that statement was a point of BR's:undecided:
I apologize if I gave out false information!!:bowdown:

I change my statement to:"low power Blu-Rays will not burn anything that fluoresces"

Also I have a hard time foucusing 405nm for some reason.(old age?)LOL

With protective glasses on I can't see the beam's focus point and without the glasses (Warning-do not try this at home)
the brightness washes out my vision.:yabbem:

This is part of the reason I claimed Red as my favorite color to burn with.

EDIT: I just tried again with all the items Billg519 named, none will burn with any of my BR's. It must be the extra 60+- mW that does it.
Billg519 Thanks for the correction. Just because I can't do it does not mean it can't be done.

I can confirm that around 85-100mW of violet, when focused properly (VERY tightly), can burn flourescent paper (which glows a beautiful shade of blue) and post-it notes, which glow a shade of yellow.

Hey greenmecanic, I live in Lakeland, off Harden Blvd. R-U-Close?

Hey greenmecanic, I live in Lakeland, off Harden Blvd. R-U-Close?

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Hey, neighbor. I live off Galloway Road on the north side.
We will have to hook up sometime. All my friends think I have lost my mind for spending $$$$ on lasers.
It would be nice to talk to somebody that has a interest in lasers.(other then all the fine people on this forum)

I have 1 short of too many, and it seems to stay at that number. LOL
I'd be glad to show off a few!! I built a Helium-Neon lamp that everybody loves. Right now I am making a (hopefully)>300mW LOC in a custom brass host, in my machine shop. Turning it using a solid brass 1" cylinder.
Held up be the length of my boring bars right now although. (Ordered)

PM me tomorrow if you want to talk some more.