405nm.com low power violet (405nm) laser review

[catman]

Recently I was looking for a 405nm laser that was low powered enough to be safe for my cat to chase it's dot. Board member Addonex, owner of 405nm.com offered to measure the power output of his 405nm lasers to find one as close to 5mW as possible. A little later my friend decided he'd like a similar laser so I ordered two.

These are their power outputs:
Laser A

Laser B

They arrived safely packed and undamaged along with a sample of his paints.

(this actually look much much cooler irl, my phone camera just doesn't capture it right)

And finally a picture of the dot (my cat decided to make an appearance too):

Color is wrong, it looks a hazy purple/violet irl.

Beam is faintly visible at just the right conditions (night, fog, looking at it the right way). I had another 405nm that was advertised to be 20 or 30mW which had a clearly visible beam at night, so this one is definitely weaker.

 

[Belch85]

Nice post,

Hard to find a reliable low/safe - spec toy like this. Hows the cat going?

 

[scumbagatheist]

Good review thread. It's important for us to remember when it's time to play with low-powered lasers, rather than our scorchers. It's also nice to know there is a member who has safe, low-powered lasers.

+1 for your review

 

[catman]

Theanks, the cat loves chasing the dot... in fact I'm thinking of getting her a low powered green one as well.

 

[scumbagatheist]

I'd like to hear other folks cat-laser-preference stories.

We have two cats. One has special interest in the red, another for the green. But, neither one of them can resist the 445nm blue! It's by far their favorite, and I was lucky to have a weird host w/ a 2-position switch!

 

[catman]

My cat likes the red one, but prefers the 405nm one. Never had an eye safe green or other color to test it.

 

[Antharak]

Great thread, folks should be aware of cat chasing-dot safety.
I read that cats vision spectrum extends into the long UV range, so the dot from a 405nm or a 445nm, is much brighter to them.

 

[scumbagatheist]

Thanks! Good to know!

 

[norbyx]

I "had" a red dot laser that was used to play with my cat..... than my son found the laser and it just dissapeared. Fortunately enough it was a very cheap laser that came with a spotting scope but it was fun. No low power lasers to play arround anymore now, I do have a green one but untill I get my LPM I can't say what power it gives out, anyhow in my opinion it's just too powerfull for plaing arround (maybe 40-50mw).

 

[scumbagatheist]

Ya know, it sounds like you may have the skill to make yourself some low-power settings on your drivers/lasers. It's pretty easy from what I understand. It is rewarding to be able to use your burner indoors, safely.

 

[Cyparagon]

What's the battery current?

 

[catman]

Great thread, folks should be aware of cat chasing-dot safety.
I read that cats vision spectrum extends into the long UV range, so the dot from a 405nm or a 445nm, is much brighter to them.

That's also supposedly why they prefer them to others. Still I take great care to not shine it in it's face or any surface that might reflect the beam directly in to it. Also she loves it when I point it at some bed sheets and it changes color from purple to blue.

The friend that got the other laser also says his cat loves it even if she's a bit older (13 I think) and isn't that active any more.

Ya know, it sounds like you may have the skill to make yourself some low-power settings on your drivers/lasers. It's pretty easy from what I understand. It is rewarding to be able to use your burner indoors, safely.

What I'd really like if some company made an accurate adjustable power laser (and adjustable frequency but for now that's just a dream) for a normal price.