Question about wavelengths and purpose

trussmonkey25 said:

Could somebody do a test with a pair and lpm, tell what shades they are talking about?

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There are old threads here somewhere where these were tested:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop

HDE Laser Eye Protection Safety Glasses for Green and Blue Lasers with Case (Red) - Silk N Flash Go - Amazon.com

I have both and they work great. The Uvex are good for violet and blue. The red HDE are good for blue and green.

Be aware that there are some red glasses that look the same as the red HDE but are for green only and won't protect you from blue.

There are some blue glasses that look the same but are slightly larger than the HDE that have Trex printed on one corner, I also have those and I do not believe they will protect you from a direct hit from a red laser, I don't have a powerful red laser to properly test them yet, for cheap glasses for red lasers the blue HDE are probably better but I am not sure if anyone here has properly tested them.

I wear glasses and the Uvex easily fit over my glasses. The HDE will fit ok under my glasses, I suppose that may not be so for everyone. The blue Trex will not fit under or over my glasses.

When buying something as powerful as a 1.5W blue I suggest getting a good pair of glasses such as Eagle Pair or better and then buy some cheap ones too, no doubt we all want to show our lasers to others from time to time and the cheap ones will protect you just fine when burning or when viewing the dot up close, just avoid any accident that results in a direct hit to the eye.

Alan

LEDbeam said:

I've noticed that all the talk about blue lasers are all about their burning power. When the talk is concerning green lasers, then it's about using them to point to things. But if the power level of a green laser was increased enough, they burn things as well.

Also, I noticed blue lasers are always 1W or more in power, and the price is reasonable. But if the power is increased that much on a green version, the price skyrockets.

Are blue lasers simply cheaper to produce? Do they make poor pointers? The reason I'm asking is because (as a newbie) I wanted to get one that is high powered in order to be very bright and projects far away. Blue versions seem to always be high powered while being reasonably priced (such as Sci Fi Lasers SB501B), while green ones cost more even though lower powered.

I've also done some reading and heard that blue lasers don't produce a nice dot, but rather a line, a smudge, or other weird shape. Is that inherent to blue lasers? I'm sure those traits would make it a not-so-great distance laser. But I'd love to hear the input of those here with experience.

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I have 3 direct diode green lasers.One is a 5/50 mw skylaser pen which I think is close to 510nm...just gorgeous.I just built a DTR 515nm Nichica 100 mw laser which with a 3 element glass lens and the lower drive level I specified does 84mw.I also Have a 1.2watt+ PL-E pro from jetlaser in 520nm and it was 449 dollars and worth every penny!!!It drills through plastic,burns wood,etc.The blues are cheaper because they are older.In time the direct diode greens will decrease in price too.They are still very new...the first portable was built in 2011 and posted on this site.I think it was built with engineering/pre production samples from Nichia.

1.2 watts of 520nm will change what you think of the hobby...Epic grade beam action.The blues burn better but are near the maximum hazard wavelength for eyes so be careful!!!

Go green!The beam action alone is so totally worth it.Besides, if you burn stuff it gets boring after a time.But the beauty of a fine green beam never gets old!