First High-Power Laser

Hey guys,

New to LPF. Have been playing with my 10mW 532 for a couple years now, and have played with some 100 mW 532's.

In the mail is my first "high power" laser. The 1.2W Survival laser with the eagle eye glasses. Safety is of course of utmost concern and know how dangerous this is, and was just looking for some clarification from the more experienced users.

I guess I'll just list my "scenarios" of using the laser, and my current understanding on what to do.. and then please correct me!

So:

1) Always use goggles. (Includes 2,3, maybe 4?, 5)

2) Indoors during the day, in small rooms, aim at dark objects that don't reflect. Safe to look at beam with glasses. Safe to look at dot, preferably further away.
Same goes for night time indoors? This one is a big one, when indoors and pointing at dark things, can the dot be looked at with the goggles?

3) Burning stuff inside. Some places say never look at dot or beam at all. Not sure on this one, when burning things, look through a camera system?
Question> Can you look at what your burning with the goggles or not?

4) Outside Daytime - Ok to not use goggles for large distances >200-300 ft.
Night time ok to look at beam, without goggles? From respectable distances...

5) Really make sure your not pointing at any reflective surfaces. (this one seems very important)


Use averted vision? For any of the viewing?

Any pointers to other threads/ safety, with direct instructions on usage, as a lot of sources are sometimes contradictory and "maybe".

I won't be using the laser until all the questions are crystal clear!

Thanks!

Hello and welcome

Well starting off, I see that it's good you understand the dangers of the laser misusage, but you're just a tiny *tad* pushing it a little too far.
From where you are now, you'll never actually see any laser as it actually is and why it's awesome

Well, anyhow, to answer your questions all at once.

You see, glasses are there to protect your eyes from getting deep fried if a beam happens to reflect into them. So they are actually used exactly for viewing the dot up close so you can precisely see what you are burning or experimenting with whatever.

I use my 445nm lasers in my room without goggles almost all the time. I usually just pick up the laser, turn it on, point it around at the ceiling and walls, turn it off.

Now, I do wear goggles when I'm burning stuff up close, or when I'm building a new laser and trying out a connection, or when alligning stuff inside a scanner, or if there's any uncertanty.

About the reflective materials and mirrors, I just simply don't use the laser on them. No point

So while it's good that you understand concept of safety, but here's general word of advice - Treat lasers like guns.

Do not use unless you know what you're doing. As much as you wouldn't shoot a gun totally randomly, you shouldn't aim your laser totally randomly.
Now normally you woulnd't shoot a gun indoors, and you would play with laser indoors, but that applies little differently.

See, viewing the beam without goggles is perfectly fine. It's what we make those lasers, just to see them.
Seeing the dot without goggles is OK as long as it's some 2 meters away.
If it's 1 meter or closer, use goggles, you're in danger if you're deliberately staring into the dot.

So there you go.
Loosen up a little, and have fun with your laser

P.S. Goggles are your last line of defense, when the first one fails. First one is common sense. Don't stare at the dot, don't point the laser into reflective and shiny stuff. And that's just your own safety. Safety of those around you depends strictly on your own common sense and responsibility. Don't point your laser anywhere, where human can suddenly appear i.e. doors, hallways, windows.

Hvala ljepo!

I guess the most important thing is common sense and a few basic guidelines.


Thanks for your input!

Nema na čemu

Indeed, don't be afraid to enjoy your lasers, I mean you payed money for 'em.
Outside at night, skypointing is epic with 445nm lasers.

And be mindful for those around you, always! You may be wearing safety goggles but they most likely are not.

And that's about it. Have fun

Eudaimonium said:

Seeing the dot without goggles is OK as long as it's some 2 meters away.
If it's 1 meter or closer, use goggles, you're in danger if you're deliberately staring into the dot.

Click to expand...

While I agree with everything else... that has me a bit concerned... you've been around lasers longer so I might very well be wrong here... but 2m does not seem like a safe viewing distance for the focused dot of a 1.2W laser. Which is what we're dealing with here.

Considering most walls are light colored... at 2m, ~7feet the dot would be very unpleasant to look at.

I do the same thing as you... I mean in picking up the laser and playing with it.. but I make it a point to not allow the dot to be in my field of vision.

Edit: Maybe I'm too sensitive to it... but even at 20ft, I still find the dot to be too bright to look at... so for focusing the lasers I use the back of a black plastic chair... when the beam hits the surrounding off white wall... it is very bright.

I've been watching my laser through a camera the entire time.
Damnit.

@Infinitus, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say two meters is a safe distance, given that the wall is diffusing the reflection a lot. Then again, who has shiny walls?

While it's true that the dot is unpleasent to look at at two meters and that you should not *stare* into it, I find driving at very bright sunlight 10x more painful to look at. The road, sorrounding cars, and if the road is any shiny from the recent rain - I can't drive because my eyes' reflex to slam shut is too strong.

I have never had that situation with lasers - that I cannot bear to look at the dot. Well partially for not staring at it (you're sure watching the road if you don't want getting killed), but still.

So I've been using my eagle eye goggles to look at the the dot when burning at a distance of a foot or two. I feel like my eyes are still strained after these burning sessions... even when using glasses

How do you gentlemen use the googles when burning? Do you look directly at the dot, or use averted vision?

If your goggles are high OD, that means you can barely even make out what color laser it is, you're fine.

Also, you are blocking half of your visible spectrum out of your field of view so it's no surprise your eyes a strained a little.

I don't really burn much... but I've found that the burning dot, even with goggles, is uncomfortable to look at... kind of like staring that the element of a light bulb.

What goggles are you using, and what laser?

This is a picture of an Arctic dot through good goggles:


This is a picture of the dot with sh*tty goggles:


Just to make stuff clear

Those are some REALLY shitty goggles in the second photo... I'm half expecting to see a beam.

The goggles are these:
Eagle Pair® 190-540nm Standard Laser Safety Goggles

OD 4+.

The laser is the survival laser at about 1.2W. (Don't have an lpm, but I melted the cap of my shampoo bottle at about 5.5 feet )

I can't tell the colour of the dot, (like the first picture), however it is still relatively bright. I also melted a part of the goggles (testing to see how much blue they block), but I covered the affected area with tape, so that is out of the equation.

I will be buying a second, stronger pair (any suggestions?) and will use the eagle eye for guests.. "Check out this cooler laser, just don't open your eyes "

InfinitusEquitas said:

Those are some REALLY shitty goggles in the second photo... I'm half expecting to see a beam.

Click to expand...

You DO see a beam of Arctic on High mode through them

So yes, that's how sh*tty goggles can be.

The eagle pair are good... I bought two from Garoq as well, and tested one pair... they work very well.

What's happening is, your eyes are still being hit by a lot of light, not 445nm, but enough to cause discomfort. It seems like some people are more sensitive to it than others... personally I don't burn for long if ever, but when I just got the lasers and played with them, the effect was essentially flash blindness spots. Now if I burn, it's by accident while I'm trying to focus the laser

Eudaimonium said:

You DO see a beam of Arctic on High mode through them

So yes, that's how sh*tty goggles can be.

Click to expand...

I'm curious, are these by any chance the ones that came with the arctic? With the eagle pair, the dot of a 1.2W laser focused to infinity looks like the dot of a 1mW red without goggles.

@bobo99 - The eagle pair are good... I bought two from Garoq as well, and tested one pair... they work very well.

What's happening is, your eyes are still being hit by a lot of light, not 445nm, but enough to cause discomfort. It seems like some people are more sensitive to it than others... personally I don't burn for long if ever, but when I just got the lasers and played with them, the effect was essentially flash blindness spots. Now if I burn, it's by accident while I'm trying to focus the laser