Hi LPF,
Now that school is cancelled I'm considering returning to my laser hobby. I enjoy making laser gadgets, custom pointers, etc. I especially like making laser watches. Something about having a wrist-mounted lightsaber makes me feel really powerful. Typically they are around 1-2W.
Anyway, I just did some research and found affordable 4-7 watt diodes (wtf!!??) I want to purchase and play around with them, but I'm wondering how big of a jump 2 watts to 7 watts is, compared to, say <1 mW to 2 W. How bright would a 7 watt diffuse spot look on a white, opaque surface? I'd think it'd be too bright to even glance at without protection, but people on youtube seem to have no problem with it.
What i'm trying to say is: are 7 watt diodes too powerful to have fun with? How damaging would the diffuse spot be to the naked eye, provided the eye never directly looks at it?
Now that school is cancelled I'm considering returning to my laser hobby. I enjoy making laser gadgets, custom pointers, etc. I especially like making laser watches. Something about having a wrist-mounted lightsaber makes me feel really powerful. Typically they are around 1-2W.
Anyway, I just did some research and found affordable 4-7 watt diodes (wtf!!??) I want to purchase and play around with them, but I'm wondering how big of a jump 2 watts to 7 watts is, compared to, say <1 mW to 2 W. How bright would a 7 watt diffuse spot look on a white, opaque surface? I'd think it'd be too bright to even glance at without protection, but people on youtube seem to have no problem with it.
What i'm trying to say is: are 7 watt diodes too powerful to have fun with? How damaging would the diffuse spot be to the naked eye, provided the eye never directly looks at it?