Is it worth it?

Hey guys.

Lately I've been thinking about what I've been collecting and my plan to spend almost $500 on a 447nm labby. I honestly don't think that would be such a good idea, no? I mean, the only thing I really do with my lasers is turn them on and look at the beam, having labby's seems like a waste of money(something which I am lucky to have right now).

I also may start exploring other hobbies so having some pointers around would be a much better way to spend my money then having expensive labbies you understand? I simply can't justify keeping labbies around only to have them shinning for a few minutes.

What are your thoughts? When I return, I'll probably sell my labbies for a good price on the forums so keep a lookout

Also, not sure which pointer I should start with. I've been looking at LaserGlow's pointers and am still in love with the 593.5nm Rigel. Thoughts?

Thank you, :yh:
-Alex

I can only speak for myself, that I wouldn't spend that amount of money on a low power labby, although high quality. However, to each his own! There are people who will spend money on many things I wouldn't, motorcycles, boats, fancy cars, no way! An airplane, yea, that I'd do

Alaskan said:

I can only speak for myself, that I wouldn't spend that amount of money on a low power labby, although high quality. However, to each his own! There are people who will spend money on many things I wouldn't, motorcycles, boats, fancy cars, no way! An airplane, yea, that I'd do

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Indeed, everyone is unique which is what makes this world such an amazing place to live! I simply don't find it worthwhile for the applications I use lasers for, it simply wouldn't make sense in the end. You lucky folks on LPF will get great deals on a 655nm and 532nm labby however :yh:

-Alex

If you're looking for other hobbies, chemistry is a fun and intellectual hobby.
Once you have all of your glassware and apparatuses, common and inexpensive reagents can be used to make loads of different molecules cheaply, which you can synthesize for fun or for a purpose.

Just don't blow your hands off. (<- Don't read if you're eating)

H2Oxide said:

If you're looking for other hobbies, chemistry is a fun and intellectual hobby.
Once you have all of your glassware and apparatuses, common and inexpensive reagents can be used to make loads of different molecules cheaply, which you can synthesize for fun or for a purpose.

Just don't blow your hands off. (<- Don't read if you're eating)

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Haha, I'll need to take a look at it later! I hanged out with a friend today and airsoft seems like a pretty fun hobby. I remember playing some airsoft when I was young and had a blast!

-Alex

Well I build my own lasers and my most expensive one cost me a total of $277.60 for the parts, and I know it is of high quality and i know exactly what's in it and how it's put together, this is the advantage you get from building your own. The first laser I built cost a total of $152.39 for all the parts, another two each cost $150, the last one cost $140, and I have parts here now for my next one that should be my best one yet that cost a total of $208. The lasers that I purchased that I didn't build are pen type that didn't cost too much. All of the lasers I built are of very good quality and none have failed yet. The only laser I owned that quit on me was an $11 green that I got on Amazon. So I myself wouldn't spend $500 on a laser unless it was something very impressive that I was building myself. I could build myself a better labby than what I could buy at that price, or I could build 3 or even 4 good lasers for that price. Most people though can't build their own lasers or don't want to try because they have no knowledge of electronics, but you can buy off the shelf parts where the hard parts are already done for you and you can solder a couple of pairs of wires and assemble a few parts, and you can do this for the same or for less money than you would usually pay to buy one.

Alan

Pi R Squared said:

Well I build my own lasers and my most expensive one cost me a total of $277.60 for the parts, and I know it is of high quality and i know exactly what's in it and how it's put together, this is the advantage you get from building your own. The first laser I built cost a total of $152.39 for all the parts, another two each cost $150, the last one cost $140, and I have parts here now for my next one that should be my best one yet that cost a total of $208. The lasers that I purchased that I didn't build are pen type that didn't cost too much. All of the lasers I built are of very good quality and none have failed yet. The only laser I owned that quit on me was an $11 green that I got on Amazon. So I myself wouldn't spend $500 on a laser unless it was something very impressive that I was building myself. I could build myself a better labby than what I could buy at that price, or I could build 3 or even 4 good lasers for that price. Most people though can't build their own lasers or don't want to try because they have no knowledge of electronics, but you can buy off the shelf parts where the hard parts are already done for you and you can solder a couple of pairs of wires and assemble a few parts, and you can do this for the same or for less money than you would usually pay to buy one.

Alan

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-Alex

Alaskan said:

I can only speak for myself, that I wouldn't spend that amount of money on a low power labby, although high quality. However, to each his own! There are people who will spend money on many things I wouldn't, motorcycles, boats, fancy cars, no way! An airplane, yea, that I'd do

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A plane, now you're talkin!

Pi R Squared said:

Well I build my own lasers and my most expensive one cost me a total of $277.60 for the parts, and I know it is of high quality and i know exactly what's in it and how it's put together, this is the advantage you get from building your own. The first laser I built cost a total of $152.39 for all the parts, another two each cost $150, the last one cost $140, and I have parts here now for my next one that should be my best one yet that cost a total of $208. The lasers that I purchased that I didn't build are pen type that didn't cost too much. All of the lasers I built are of very good quality and none have failed yet. The only laser I owned that quit on me was an $11 green that I got on Amazon. So I myself wouldn't spend $500 on a laser unless it was something very impressive that I was building myself. I could build myself a better labby than what I could buy at that price, or I could build 3 or even 4 good lasers for that price. Most people though can't build their own lasers or don't want to try because they have no knowledge of electronics, but you can buy off the shelf parts where the hard parts are already done for you and you can solder a couple of pairs of wires and assemble a few parts, and you can do this for the same or for less money than you would usually pay to buy one.

Alan

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Oh yeah self built is the best part of the hobby

get a drone

get a laser projector

get a burning laser and good safety glass

try something new

^Not too much into drones unfortunately. I decided to just get myself a Rigel-5 from LaserGlow since I miss that color so darn much and see where I go from there :yh:

-Alex

Check out this site for lots of cool science related stuff, have a look at their chemistry stuff or their large assortment of neodymium magnets (be careful with those things, not the magnets you're used to, even the small ones) or have a look at their "Death Ray" brand of CO2 lasers. It is a fun site for any mad scientist or potential mad scientist:
https://www.unitednuclear.com
The company was founded in 1986 and is still owned by the famous physicist Bob Lazar who worked at Area 51 and Los Alamos on projects to reverse engineer how should I say it? Foreign technology?

Alan

Hakzaw also has sent me some pieces of glass and plastic lumia and a number of PMs of ideas. Hap ive found my favorites and having a blast. I have some old VCR motors that im planning to underdrive and fabricate something to put them in. I was getting a little down about not being able to use my lasers due to where I live and when I posted many members recomended mirrors and these lumia projects. With your labbys full duty cycle this should be very fun.

H2Oxide said:

If you're looking for other hobbies, chemistry is a fun and intellectual hobby.
Once you have all of your glassware and apparatuses, common and inexpensive reagents can be used to make loads of different molecules cheaply, which you can synthesize for fun or for a purpose.

Just don't blow your hands off. (<- Don't read if you're eating)

Click to expand...

Back when I did amateur chemistry (including pyro), I was jumpy as a jack rabbit. Kinda glad I was so jumpy after reading this, heh. I even "blew myself up" once, though it was a concussion explosive and I was about 8 meters from ground zero, so I was merely knocked off my feet and back a few meters. That was my last day as an amateur chemist; I wasn't harmed and I wanted to keep it that way!

To the OP, it's up to you to set a value to hobbies and their items. I have a sample of highly pure uranium-238 metal that I prize, and it literally does nothing but sit there. I use it every now and then as a check source when I repair or work with radiation equipment, but 99% of the time it's just sitting there looking ordinary. (okay well maybe "ordinary" isn't a good descriptor, but it certainly doesn't look eye catching). Point is things are worth what you value them, and you alone.

As far as hobbies go electronics is a very rewarding hobby. Aside from an oscope it's relatively inexpensive and has numerous branches that are distinct. Parts orders are often under $50 per project for most common or easy things. It's also as safe as you allow it to be; avoiding high voltage, using fuses, etc effectively makes it extremely hard to injure/kill/blind yourself. A humble beginning can open doors for you that you wouldn't think of. A good friend of mine, our very own Fiddy here on the forum has quite the successful side business repairing women's hair devices.

GSS said:

I was getting a little down about not being able to use my lasers due to where I live

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What? Don't you use your lasers inside and leave burn marks everywhere like the rest of us do? :crackup: Just joking, I learned real fast that my class 4 lasers are a fire hazard, I only made a few burn marks. You can safely use your lasers inside, get a sheet of metal like from an old computer or something, or a concrete block or a brick or some ceramic tile, if you don't have anything laying around then go to a Lowe's or a Home Depot and look for something.

Alan

hahah i have tomorrow to clean up the black marks on my wall,

Sigurthr said:

To the OP, it's up to you to set a value to hobbies and their items. I have a sample of highly pure uranium-238 metal that I prize, and it literally does nothing but sit there. I use it every now and then as a check source when I repair or work with radiation equipment, but 99% of the time it's just sitting there looking ordinary. (okay well maybe "ordinary" isn't a good descriptor, but it certainly doesn't look eye catching). Point is things are worth what you value them, and you alone.

As far as hobbies go electronics is a very rewarding hobby. Aside from an oscope it's relatively inexpensive and has numerous branches that are distinct. Parts orders are often under $50 per project for most common or easy things. It's also as safe as you allow it to be; avoiding high voltage, using fuses, etc effectively makes it extremely hard to injure/kill/blind yourself. A humble beginning can open doors for you that you wouldn't think of. A good friend of mine, our very own Fiddy here on the forum has quite the successful side business repairing women's hair devices.

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Well said, thank you Sigurthr. I mean, I love labby's but for general pointing purposes, pointers are just fine and cost waaaaaay less. I still need to discover who I am as a person, let the discovery begin

-Alex