Newbie in burning laser

I am a newbie in lasers and I would like to know more for burning lasers.

Can a handheld blue laser pointer burn something? Is it possible to buy commercially?
(I saw the stickly thread. is it a good laser for burning?)

Can a laser burn something far away? (Say 100 meters?)

If my target is cardboard or black cloth, which laser will perform best?

What is the maximum output for burning lasers?

Many thanks in advance!!!

Odd questions?

If you did some reading you couldnt have missed the plethora of blue burning lasers for sale here and from companies outside of LPF?

Welcome and maybe read and search a little more...

Nothing cheaply available will burn at 100m. I'm glad, such thing would grade as a weapon.

1) Yes a blue hand held laser will burn things. If you have money get yourself a 1 - 2 watt blue laser. If your a cheep cunt, buy a DIY burning blue laser kit off ebay.

2) Far away? for a laser yes. You can get UP to 5 meters with a nice laser (depending on laser you can get more or less).

3) Black thick cloth.

4) currently iv only seen 2 wats max but im not a laser expert unlike my fellow men.

5) There is a search bar at the top, please use it.

hkhenry said:

I am a newbie in lasers and I would like to know more for burning lasers.

Can a handheld blue laser pointer burn something? Is it possible to buy commercially?
(I saw the stickly thread. is it a good laser for burning?)

Can a laser burn something far away? (Say 100 meters?)

If my target is cardboard or black cloth, which laser will perform best?

What is the maximum output for burning lasers?

Many thanks in advance!!!

Click to expand...

There is a lot of good advice on this forum. Search and read and you can learn a lot.

To burn requires putting a lot of optical power into a small spot. The larger the spot, the more optical power it takes. Absorbtion of that optical power by the target also increases temperature rise in the target. Optical safety is extremely important.

To burn at a distance requires better optics, better beam characteristics, higher power, ect. Beam divergence is very important as target distance increases. Fast axis correction on semiconductor multimode and/or multi-emitter lasers. Collimation to increase beam waist diameter. Pretty much outside of the scope of most laser hobbiests. If you have the funding, you can look into higher powered lasers such as those used for cutting/engraving metal and higher quality optics to handle it. You can do a lot if you pump enough money into it ;-)

Have fun, but above all, be safe!

Bob