My Eyes! My Eyes!

Hey guys, OP here:

I guess this discussion has grown beyond my original question, and I'm glad for all the great information. Here's the plans for that homemade "laser show", in case anyone's interested.

A nice PDF.

Some pictures.

I'll post some pics if there's an appropriate place for that in these forums.

mfo said:

Wow, why are we still debating this?

Click to expand...

Well some of us, like Ben & I, are interested in exchanging "ideas" on the topic and I think it's constructive, at this point

mfo said:

Wow, why are we still debating this? Keep the lasers out of your eyes at all costs. What's so hard to comprehend about that?

Click to expand...

There is nothing -wrong- with that at all, except for that it should then also apply to reflected light (looking at the dot) as well as other light sources.

If the only acceptable risk is zero, you should therefor spend your life in complete darkness. That, however, would leave no use for your eyes anyways, so you're back to square one

Exactly my thoughts, aren't forums there for us to discuss on them?

Btw, look at the photos. Definitely, no goggles needed IMO.

Knowing where your beam is going is important too, shooting a class 4 laser into nowhere is a fire hazard to begin with. But usually a few tens of microwatts in the visible range is enough to work with, so I pick safety goggles according to that. Green and shorter wavelengths are even easier because of the fluorescence.

All the ranting definately has a point, although I sometimes just like to see a beam shooting through my room (in the safest way possible).