New to lasers, need some advice.

I went to a music festival a month or so ago, it was a 3 day long camping event.  My camping neighbors had a green laser pointer, he was not sure what kind, it did actually say "laserpointer" on the clip.  Anyway, I was doing some... um... er... "mind expansion" exercises, and that laser just blew my mind, they let me use it for the whole weekend, I barely put it down.  I waved it back and forth over camp fire smoke for "liquid sky", my chin was on the floor for like 2 hours.

So I want to get one for more um... er... "mind expansion".  What I want to do with it:

1) Just wave it around and let it bounce/reflect off things.  I want a very visible beam (at night).

2) Would like to make liquid-sky/time-tunnel with it.  Is there a lens or attachment that I can do this with (not too expensive).  Is there a power requirement for these features, recommended brightness to pull the trick off?

3) Everyone present will not be wearing safety gear,  while I am not stupid enough to point it in anyone's eyes, I don't want anyone going blind if they catch a quick glimpse of a reflection.  So highest power that I can get without insta-blinding someone.

4) I want continuous burn, not one that needs cycled for cooling.

5) This will be for visuals only, no burning wanted.

Want some input on what brand to get and what power.

By your description it sounds like one of the newwish units.

So first thing (and pretty duh) more power = more brightness.But as far as safety goes 5mW is considered the maximum safe power.
For a liquid sky you could use a line optic or a mirror on a motor.For the tunnel effect you need a mirror spinning just slightly off axis.You'll be able to find lots of information on those in the experiments and modification section.
If you want continuous burn, you don't want a pen laser, you're looking for something more bulky with a good chunk of metal attached to that module.Also power level is gonna make a difference too(actually more like the power of the pump diode, which is not always proportional to the final output of the laser...what I'm saying is that a 20mW can get just as hot , just as fast as a 70mW because they would use the same diode, running at the same power).

So , if you want a cheap laser you could go for http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.911
A 10-30mW should be safe from a distance, but be very very careful anyway, and careful about who you hand it to, some people tend to be really stupid...I mean surprisingly stupid. Of course those are mostly pen lasers, you won't find to many bigger units within that power range. :-/
If you want something with a bit more quality , and a bit more expensive too, check out www.novalasers.com or www.optotronics.com

Safety is my #1 concern, so it looks like it will be a 5mw.

I searched for "laser pointer" brand pointers and the biggest I found was 5mw, so I am pretty sure the one that I saw was a 5mw.

Will 5mw be bright enough for "liquid sky" and "time tunnel", or will it appear very dim?

Who makes a quality 5mw green laser? Price isn't important, want something bright, with good build quality.

MrDoo said:

Safety is my #1 concern, so it looks like it will be a 5mw.

I searched for "laser pointer" brand pointers and the biggest I found was 5mw, so I am pretty sure the one that I saw was a 5mw.

Will 5mw be bright enough for "liquid sky" and "time tunnel", or will it appear very dim?

Who makes a quality 5mw green laser?  Price isn't important, want something bright, with good build quality.

Click to expand...

Get a Lyra from LaserGlow, or a Galileo.
With enough smoke, it will work.

Thanks, I was looking at those.

The 5mW is the best choice in terms of safety but it's important to know that even at 5mW, you need to be careful not to shine the laser into the eyes of others. The 5mW, in general, only has a faint beam in dark conditions. The brightness of the liquid effect or tunnel effect depends on the amount of smoke you use, the thicker the smoke, the brighter the effect.

Thanks, guys. Off of several suggestions, I ordered the galileo for my personal use, pointing at things, reflecting/refracting off of stuff. Am really liking the laserglow products as so many threads here have mentioned they do a good job holding their output (i.e. not a 200mw that is really only 80mw after 6 minutes.)

Am looking at building a battery operated liquid sky scanner based off of guides here. It will be self contained inside of an old metal tool box. Will probably go with a 30mw green laser in it as it will be positioned in such a way that no one will be able to look directly at the beam, nor will the beam be able to be accidentally reflected at anyone.

sounds good best of luck!!!!!

This site has some interesting info on lasers, check it out.

http://tinyurl.com/5qotfw

Yea, no thanks, "tinyurl" is that fake website generater isn't it? May have clicked on it if it weren't for that sweet -7 rep.