- Joined
- Aug 28, 2013
- Messages
- 9
- Points
- 0
Hi all,
So I'm just about to take my first steps into the world of lasers. I've been fascinated with them since I was a 10 year old kid (Geez, 15 years ago, doesn't time fly?) and I'm now getting so curious, that I've just got to jump in.
As much as I would love to build my own Obelisk of Light (a la Tiberian Sun), I don't think that's actually going to be possible at any point in my life time, but my own spiral bound notebook burning little baby... That just might be.
But one step at a time... I don't think I'm ready to jump into custom building high wattage, mains powered laser contraptions just yet. So I was looking at something handheld.
Despite my chosen username of Arctic Phoenix, the fact that I was recently looking at buying an S3 Arctic is totally unrelated (I've used this name in online games since about 2005). Reading around a bit (including here), I'm sure many will be glad that I ultimately decided against buying one. I guess the saying is "you get what you pay for" And not only do the S3 Arctics have a reputation for being dangerous in many cases, but we could also add another word on to the end of that saying... "Eventually"
So I decided to steer clear of them... After reading around here a bit I see that a few users do build them for other LPF members, but for me who's literally just turned up unannounced, it seems rather rude to jump in asking people to build lasers for me. So a bit more reading here about trusted laser companies, and I see Survival Lasers.
As was said in the "complete guide to owning lasers" sticky, us new members, we all love to start out with ridiculously, dangerously high milliwatts don't we? It didn't take long to fall in love with an SL3 bundle pack containing a heart warming (and eye destroying) 2,800 mW, 445 nm diode. All in a pack that even I should be able to put together.
But I'm a little concerned. Something that strong is definitely a class 4. Now I believe they are legal where I live (In the UK), but only if they have an additional safety device like a key switch (presumably to prevent accidental activation). I see no such switch on the device or in the description.
Does this make it illegal to own in the UK? Have any UK members tried to purchase from that site? Reading up about the customs bit in the sticky, I've decided that ordering the batteries probably isn't a good idea, but haven't actually purchased anything yet in case other UK members have had problem with these or (like me) are unsure of its legality, due to the lack of a safety switch.
Also, reading up about issues with the oxymoronical safety goggles supplied by Wicked Lasers with their S3 Arctics, I feel I should ask about people's experiences with the goggles from Survival Lasers. I assume they're trusted by people here, since the company is in the list of trusted companies, but because it's to do with eyes (and not ruining them), I'm sure it's better to be safe (and a possibly annoying newbie) and ask anyway...
Any input on these points is of course greatly appreciated...
So I'm just about to take my first steps into the world of lasers. I've been fascinated with them since I was a 10 year old kid (Geez, 15 years ago, doesn't time fly?) and I'm now getting so curious, that I've just got to jump in.
As much as I would love to build my own Obelisk of Light (a la Tiberian Sun), I don't think that's actually going to be possible at any point in my life time, but my own spiral bound notebook burning little baby... That just might be.
But one step at a time... I don't think I'm ready to jump into custom building high wattage, mains powered laser contraptions just yet. So I was looking at something handheld.
Despite my chosen username of Arctic Phoenix, the fact that I was recently looking at buying an S3 Arctic is totally unrelated (I've used this name in online games since about 2005). Reading around a bit (including here), I'm sure many will be glad that I ultimately decided against buying one. I guess the saying is "you get what you pay for" And not only do the S3 Arctics have a reputation for being dangerous in many cases, but we could also add another word on to the end of that saying... "Eventually"
So I decided to steer clear of them... After reading around here a bit I see that a few users do build them for other LPF members, but for me who's literally just turned up unannounced, it seems rather rude to jump in asking people to build lasers for me. So a bit more reading here about trusted laser companies, and I see Survival Lasers.
As was said in the "complete guide to owning lasers" sticky, us new members, we all love to start out with ridiculously, dangerously high milliwatts don't we? It didn't take long to fall in love with an SL3 bundle pack containing a heart warming (and eye destroying) 2,800 mW, 445 nm diode. All in a pack that even I should be able to put together.
But I'm a little concerned. Something that strong is definitely a class 4. Now I believe they are legal where I live (In the UK), but only if they have an additional safety device like a key switch (presumably to prevent accidental activation). I see no such switch on the device or in the description.
Does this make it illegal to own in the UK? Have any UK members tried to purchase from that site? Reading up about the customs bit in the sticky, I've decided that ordering the batteries probably isn't a good idea, but haven't actually purchased anything yet in case other UK members have had problem with these or (like me) are unsure of its legality, due to the lack of a safety switch.
Also, reading up about issues with the oxymoronical safety goggles supplied by Wicked Lasers with their S3 Arctics, I feel I should ask about people's experiences with the goggles from Survival Lasers. I assume they're trusted by people here, since the company is in the list of trusted companies, but because it's to do with eyes (and not ruining them), I'm sure it's better to be safe (and a possibly annoying newbie) and ask anyway...
Any input on these points is of course greatly appreciated...