Question About Shielding Window Options

Hey! So I am working on putting together a laser cutter using the NUBM44 450nm Laser Diode. Up until now I had pretty much thrown out the idea of having a viewing window and just planned on making a box out of plywood to enclose it, but I recently saw someone that used acrylic sheets as a shield with their laser cutter. These are the sheets that they linked to in their build:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006FLYLSU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
If these would really work as shielding then it would make a great inexpensive alternative to the expensive laser windows I've seen from industrial suppliers.

But I wanted to ask the opinion of people more knowledgeable than myself. Would this be adequate shielding?

The red might work, but test it with an LPM before risking your eyes.

Alright, thanks for the response! I don't have an LPM and I'm pretty short on money right now, so looking into getting one will have to wait.

However, a friend of mine did recently point me to some inexpensive acrylic sheets that are actually rated for laser safety. I would have updated the thread with this sooner but time got away from me. It's still out of my budget right now, though a LOT cheaper than anything else I was finding. Here's a link to it if it's helpful to anyone else:

https://jtechphotonics.com/?product=445nm-laser-shielding-24-x-12

Hopefully I will be able to get this soon for a viewing window on my laser cutter. Until then I'll just stick with a plywood box.
:thanks:

Morpheus9and20 said:

Alright, thanks for the response! I don't have an LPM and I'm pretty short on money right now, so looking into getting one will have to wait.

However, a friend of mine did recently point me to some inexpensive acrylic sheets that are actually rated for laser safety. I would have updated the thread with this sooner but time got away from me. It's still out of my budget right now, though a LOT cheaper than anything else I was finding. Here's a link to it if it's helpful to anyone else:

https://jtechphotonics.com/?product=445nm-laser-shielding-24-x-12

Hopefully I will be able to get this soon for a viewing window on my laser cutter. Until then I'll just stick with a plywood box.
:thanks:

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Hadn't seen that one before - even if it's not as good as the expensive stuff, in an engraver you're really worried about specular and diffuse reflections more than a direct exposure, so it certainly looks like it'll be good enough for that.

diachi said:

in an engraver you're really worried about specular and diffuse reflections more than a direct exposure, so it certainly looks like it'll be good enough for that.

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That's what I was thinking.

I might consider just putting a small shield/shroud around the diode rather than the entire machine. Any thoughts on that idea?

Morpheus9and20 said:

That's what I was thinking.

I might consider just putting a small shield/shroud around the diode rather than the entire machine. Any thoughts on that idea?

Click to expand...

Some light will still leak under the shield that way, unless you somehow seal it against the work surface. That seems impractical to me. You may wish to experiment though, leakage may be acceptable.

diachi said:

Some light will still leak under the shield that way, unless you somehow seal it against the work surface. That seems impractical to me. You may wish to experiment though, leakage may be acceptable.

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True, I didn't really think of that. Maybe I'll experiment with the idea a bit and see if it could be done safely. But I guess a full enclosure would be the best/easiest.