I need help to make this cheap chinese laser burn.

[Towelie]

So I've ordered cheap laser from ebay for like 5$, today it arrived and its bright as hell..

Its way brigther than my optotronics 5mw laser (which can peak up to 9mw)

You even see beam little bit when room has medium light level in it.

I tried turning on laser on my hand and I can feel it just a little bit.

Now the question is can this thing burn? Does it maybe have some kind of IR filter which prevents heat from being hotter? Do I need to adjust focus? hm.
I tried burning white paper but nothing.

Here is the laser itself:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272153476896?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[ElectricPlasma]

So I've ordered cheap laser from ebay for like 5$, today it arrived and its bright as hell..

Its way brigther than my optotronics 5mw laser (which can peak up to 9mw)

You even see beam little bit when room has medium light level in it.

I tried turning on laser on my hand and I can feel it just a little bit.

Now the question is can this thing burn? Does it maybe have some kind of IR filter which prevents heat from being hotter? Do I need to adjust focus? hm.
I tried burning white paper but nothing.

If you want a burner, you should've got a cheap 301. They're around 7-9 dollars, which is about 5-6 pounds.

Here's some things you'll want to do to increase burning ability, if this thing even can burn. Keep in mind that it may not be able to, buying cheap chinese pens are usually a hit or miss in terms of burning ability. Also, this laser will not burn white paper. It is simply too weak to burn something like that, white reflects a lot of light.

- Try to remove IR filter if you see one
- Get a magnifying or focusing lens, put it in between the target and the laser and focus the dot on the target by moving the lens closer or further away from the laser until you get smallest dot possible.
- Try to make the target black, whether it be using a sharpie to mark it or originally black.
- If you feel adventurous and none of the above works (try all steps at one time), find a potentiometer on the circuit board and turn it just a little bit to see what extra power you can squeeze out of the diode. Some important things, this can kill your laser if you're not careful, and your laser may not have a potentiometer.

Good luck. Remember to take the correct safety precautions.

 

[RedCowboy]

What kind of laser safety glasses do you wear when trying to burn?

You can't see how focused you really have the spot without the glasses, plus it's murder on your eyes and should never be done without wearing proper laser safety glasses that attenuate the wavelength you are working with.

What kind do you have?

 

[Razako]

If you want a super cheap burner you should get one of these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adjustable-...736617?hash=item33a53046e9:g:uboAAOSwDNdVk5Ok
For $7 you get a laser that can light matches, pop balloons and all of the usual tricks.

Safety note: You need to get some laser goggles if you plan on doing any serious burning.

Don't try to mod that cheap pointer. You will likely just ruin it.

 

[Towelie]

This is how it looks like when i remove top cap off

 

[Pikablu]

So I've ordered cheap laser from ebay for like 5$, today it arrived and its bright as hell..

Its way brigther than my optotronics 5mw laser (which can peak up to 9mw)

You even see beam little bit when room has medium light level in it.

I tried turning on laser on my hand and I can feel it just a little bit.

Now the question is can this thing burn? Does it maybe have some kind of IR filter which prevents heat from being hotter? Do I need to adjust focus? hm.
I tried burning white paper but nothing.

Here is the laser itself:
1mW Powerful Green Laser Pointe Pen Visible Beam Lights 5mW Lazer 532nm Power | eBay

OOOOOOH OOOOOH PICK ME. You say you can sort of feel it on your hand? Perfect. Get a magnifying glass and go in a foggy room or a dark room. Shine your laser through the magnifying glass, find where the beam is at it's thinnest. Get one of those greenlight easy strike matches, paint it black, and put it in the thin part of the beam, and boom! it should light up.

 

[Towelie]

OOOOOOH OOOOOH PICK ME. You say you can sort of feel it on your hand? Perfect. Get a magnifying glass and go in a foggy room or a dark room. Shine your laser through the magnifying glass, find where the beam is at it's thinnest. Get one of those greenlight easy strike matches, paint it black, and put it in the thin part of the beam, and boom! it should light up.

Turns out there is focusing lens inside of it also small lens filter, suprisingly well built laser for only 5$

I removed ir filter and focused lens for small distance and now it can burn stuff. :0

Gotta wear glasses now as this thing is dangerous for my eyes withou ir filter

 

[Pikablu]

If you want a super cheap burner you should get one of these
Adjustable Focus Military Green Laser Pointer Pen 5mW 532nm Zoomable Burning 301 | eBay

Safety note: You need to get some laser goggles if you plan on doing any serious burning.

Excuse my ignorance but... why? Isn't the legal safety limit 500mw for diffuse reflections (in general)? but i'm seeing a lot of posts saying that 80mw is enough to hurt your eyes from reflections, while I see a video of the WL "photonic disruptor" 100mw, intentionally flash blinding a volunteer, and the volunteer getting an eye exam (to avoid legal problems) and them being completely fine after a week. This was done by the discovery channel, not wicked (as in the dystopian ruler in the maze runner :crackup: ).

 

[Rivem]

There's a good chance you've got enough power, so you'd just need to be able to focus the beam onto a smaller point. There are no filters to pull. You can try just placing a lens in front of the laser (serious reflected beam hazard), or you could modify your pointer/adjust focus as outlined in Pman's thread here: http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/h...-focusable-new-bonus-section-added-82902.html.

The very advanced option would be to pull the crystals out for a very powerful IR burner (becomes mostly invisible).

Edit: You psted while I was typing. Nice job and good call on the glasses. I still have my doubts that what you pulled was an IR filter though. Never seen one in a cheap Chinese pen like this.

 

[Rivem]

Excuse my ignorance but... why? Isn't the legal safety limit 500mw for diffuse reflections (in general)? but i'm seeing a lot of posts saying that 80mw is enough to hurt your eyes from reflections, while I see a video of the WL "photonic disruptor" 100mw, intentionally flash blinding a volunteer, and the volunteer getting an eye exam (to avoid legal problems) and them being completely fine after a week. This was done by the discovery channel, not wicked (as in the dystopian ruler in the maze runner :crackup: ).

The mW is only half the equation. It has more to do with power over area. A 5mW beam collimated and focused to 0.5mm^2 directed at the eye would be comparably dangerous to a 500mW laser over 50mm^2. Time is also a factor.

 

[ElectricPlasma]

The mW is only half the equation. It has more to do with power over area. A 5mW beam collimated and focused to 0.5mm^2 directed at the eye would be comparably dangerous to a 500mW laser over 50mm^2. Time is also a factor.

Not only that, but green appears exceptionally brighter than other wavelengths per mW. Take a 301 for example, about 50-70mW and it hurts to look at when burning if you don't have your safety glasses on. Much smaller than 500mW.

 

[Rivem]

Not only that, but green appears exceptionally brighter than other wavelengths per mW. Take a 301 for example, about 50-70mW and it hurts to look at when burning if you don't have your safety glasses on. Much smaller than 500mW.

Totally. On top of all that, different wavelengths affect diffferent parts of the eye with differing levels of sensitivity to damage. Ends up getting very complicated.

Best bet is to just stay safe when there's a risk and just keep glasses on hand.

 

[Pikablu]

hurts to look at .

oops, I meant cause long term damage, a laser 301 does hurt to look at, but I don't think it can cause permanent damage can it? (of course a direct hit will, but i'm skeptical about the reflection bit)

 

[Rivem]

oops, I meant cause long term damage, a laser 301 does hurt to look at, but I don't think it can cause permanent damage can it? (of course a direct hit will, but i'm skeptical about the reflection bit)

Like I said, damage has to do with wavelength and the area the beam is distributed over on top of power. Time of exposure counts as well. This can be applied to reflections or direct hits.

 

[ElectricPlasma]

oops, I meant cause long term damage, a laser 301 does hurt to look at, but I don't think it can cause permanent damage can it?

Direct exposure to the beam will blind you (obviously) but in terms of reflective damage yes if the surface is reflective enough it can cause permanent damage. Not likely from paper or any common burning materials like wood, but things like water, polished metals and glass can have a very high reflection depending on angle bright enough to cause permanent damage. In general if you're careful I guess not, but to avoid all possible damage to your eyes just use safety goggles. As Rivem pointed out, time is also a considerable factor. Long term expose to even a blank reflection like on paper can cause a small amount of permanent damage, and more severe as you get closer in distance (long term though, probably around 5-10mins or more).

 

[Pikablu]

Direct exposure to the beam will blind you (obviously) but in terms of reflective damage yes if the surface is reflective enough it can cause permanent damage. Not likely from paper or any common burning materials like wood, but things like water, polished metals and glass can have a very high reflection depending on angle bright enough to cause permanent damage. In general if you're careful I guess not, but to avoid all possible damage to your eyes just use safety goggles. As Rivem pointed out, time is also a considerable factor. Long term expose to even a blank reflection like on paper can cause a small amount of permanent damage, and more severe as you get closer in distance (long term though, probably around 5-10mins or more).

ok that was what I originally thought anyway. I thought you meant that it would damage your eyes the same way a 500mw one would , are those cheap red ebay glasses sufficient enough? I don't want to use my eagle pair since I seem to have difficulty seeing any dot through the glasses.