Im Confused please HELP

Hi im new to the forum and lasers and am currently building a DIY Red and hope to build a DIY bluray soon and safety is realy important to me and i would like to know some things

Also i have looked on dragonlasers and there are numerous models for different wavelengths in nm which i dont realy understand yet. Also i have read that wickedlaser lasers do not produce any IR due to thier lense or something so wickedlaser goggles dont block IR but my DIY Red doest have an IR lense so from what i understand wickedlaser goggles would be usless for me because they dont protect me from IR which my DVD burner DIY Red will give off right ? :-/

Furthermore wickedlasers dont sell goggles for blue lasers, why ? because dragonlasers sell goggles for blue lasers and IR seperate so why dont wickedlaser ??

Firstly - Do i need different goggles for green,red,blue,IR ? or will 1 pair give me all the protection i need ?

Secondly - I have budget but  at the end of the day eyes are more important than money so any suggestions are very appreciated

Thirdly - What are a good solid well recomended pair of goggles that will not break after a day

Lastly - can any one shed any light on helping me under stand the nm thing eg i am building a DVD burner laser so would
(Built to protect lasers from 590nm to 650nm. OD>3.5 for 200-400nm, OD>3 for 590-650nm)
OR
(Built to protect from Red Lasers 640nm to 750nm OD>2.5 for 190-420nm, OD>3 for 640-750nm)
be the right choice please help lmao i dont want to buy some glasses that wont protect me lol

Also goggles seem expensive to tech noobs like my parents and telling them im going to pay X amount of money for some "Expensive Sunglasses" as my dad would say could be hard lmao any tips for softening the blow ;D  

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks Jamie

jamie.91 said:

Hi im new to the forum and lasers and am currently building a DIY Red and hope to build a DIY bluray soon and safety is realy important to me and i would like to know some things

Also i have looked on dragonlasers and there are numerous models for different wavelengths in nm which i dont realy understand yet. Also i have read that wickedlaser lasers do not produce any IR due to thier lense or something so wickedlaser goggles dont block IR but my DIY Red doest have an IR lense so from what i understand wickedlaser goggles would be usless for me because they dont protect me from IR which my DVD burner DIY Red will give off right ? :-/

Click to expand...

A red laser diode does not emit IR. IR radiation is a byproduct of a DPSS laser.

Furthermore wickedlasers dont sell goggles for blue lasers, why ? because dragonlasers sell goggles for blue lasers and IR seperate so why dont wickedlaser ??

Click to expand...

Pretty much all safety goggles that protect against green will also protect you against blue. This one for instance, check the wavelength graph: http://store.oemlasersystems.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=32_7_17&products_id=244

Firstly - Do i need different goggles for green,red,blue,IR ? or will 1 pair give me all the protection i need ?

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There are so called broadband goggles that give you protection against a large wavelength range that pretty much covers all you need, they are more expensive of course: http://store.oemlasersystems.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=32_7_17&products_id=246

Secondly - I have budget but  at the end of the day eyes are more important than money so any suggestions are very appreciated

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The only suggestion I have for you is don't be cheap when it comes to protecting your eyes. Good protection that you can trust comes with a price.

Thirdly - What are a good solid well recomended pair of goggles that will not break after a day

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I have 2 pair of safety goggles, the sport elite ones from WL for red and a pair for green from OEM. Both are manufactured by the American company NoIR, have certified glasses and a solid frame of good quality plastic.

Lastly - can any one shed any light on helping me under stand the nm thing eg i am building a DVD burner laser so would
(Built to protect lasers from 590nm to 650nm. OD>3.5 for 200-400nm, OD>3 for 590-650nm)
OR
(Built to protect from Red Lasers 640nm to 750nm OD>2.5 for 190-420nm, OD>3 for 640-750nm)
be the right choice please help lmao i dont want to buy some glasses that wont protect me lol

Click to expand...

Depends on your laser diode I'd say. Normally a red laser diode is around 650nm. Depending on the manufacturer and the operating temperature they can go from 630nm to 670nm, rough estimate. Maybe a member with more knowledge of red laser diodes can give more details here.

The Wicked LaserShades are more than sufficient to protect from red lasers - NO goggle is designed to take a direct hit, and protect you too much, but the quality ones that Wicked sells, as well as OEM lasers would protect you for a few moments (not much time) from a direct hit.

Certified laser eye protection meets all the requirements for laser safety. What you are looking for is FDA/ANSI Z.136 or CE EN207/EN208 certification. Canada has one also but I don't remember it off the top of my head.

get goggles early in your laser hobbyists career... because if you have extra money, it'll be really temping to just buy a new toy instead of something that will protect you.

Thanks for all the great advice

BTW - let me get this right "Petrovski" said "A red laser diode does not emit IR. IR radiation is a byproduct of a DPSS laser."

does this mean if i put a red DVD burner in a diode it will give of no IR ?

and i know this is a stupid quetstion but i am a noob lol If a red diode doesnt give off any IR why would i need goggles? because there is no IR so theres nothing harmfull right ? i know im wrong dont hate me lol but i dont know why im wrong yet lol

Thanks Jamie

jamie.91 said:

Thanks for all the great advice

BTW - let me get this right "Petrovski" said "A red laser diode does not emit IR. IR radiation is a byproduct of a DPSS laser."

does this mean if i put a red DVD burner in a diode it will give of no IR ?

and i know this is a stupid quetstion but i am a noob lol If a red diode doesnt give off any IR why would i need goggles? because there is no IR so theres nothing harmfull right ? i know im wrong dont hate me lol but i dont know why im wrong yet lol

Thanks Jamie

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IR light is "leakage" from the IR "pump" diode that drives the green, yellow, and blue, laser crystals. Since both red and blu-ray are diodes, there is no IR "pump" to leak. NO IR from red or blu-ray.

IR is NOT the only light that can hurt your eyes. ANY light can. Lasers are just more powerful, concentrated light. People think that IR is more dangerous because of all the "press" that IR light has gotten AND because you cannot "see" where the laser is pointed.

Just like red lasers can burn tape and light matches, they can burn the retina of your eye. Your retina will NOT heal up after the burn. You are left with blind spots. If the burn happens to be over the optic nerve, you get a snazzy new white cane to carry around with you.

For the rest of your life . . . . .

Peace,
dave

A red diode emits Red light only. But that red light is just as dangerous as IR. 100mW of red light is just as harmful to your eyes as 100mW of IR. The color or wavelength of the laser is not what makes it dangerous, it's the power.

daguin thanks for the info i thaught the goggles just blocked IR and UV or something but now i know better lol and damn those darn green IR emminting lasers lol

Also lets just say i didnt use goggles what would be dangerous i know this sounds stupid but if i was out side star gazing and pointing the laser far far away in the opposite direction to me would i be in harms way compared to sitting in a room pointing it at walls ?

Thanks Jamie

jamie.91 said:

daguin thanks for the info i thaught the goggles just blocked IR and UV or something but now i know better lol and damn those darn green IR emminting lasers lol

Also lets just say i didnt use goggles what would be dangerous i know this sounds stupid but if i was out side star gazing and pointing the laser far far away in the opposite direction to me would i be in harms way compared to sitting in a room pointing it at walls ?

Thanks Jamie

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As long as you are careful where you are pointing it outside, you are pretty safe. Watch out for smooth, shiny surfaces (glass, windows, chrome, mirrors, etc.) These can send the laser back to you just like it came out of the lens. You should be aware of the same things indoors, but there are more things to reflect off of indoors AND you have the tendency to shine the laser at closer objects and stare at the light. You could get too much light that way too.

Peace,
dave

Thanks a lot great info

Thanks jamie

get goggles early in your laser hobbyists career... because if you have extra money, it'll be really temping to just buy a new toy instead of something that will protect you.

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Thanks for the tip man, time to get a set of goggles first then.