Alternative Eyewear

[JCord93]

Can a welding mask be used as an alternative to eyewear for laser over 1Watt?

 

[flare09]

No it cannot. Imo you could use it for lasers about 250-350nm. Which is ultraviolet. But no. Just get some goggles, do it right. Why risk it?

 

[JCord93]

I wanted to know in case I ever wanted to show someone the laser but they didnt have eye protection but instead had a weilding mask. I think I will go ahead and buy a few pairs just to be safe.

 

[lasersbee]

^^^^ :gj:
I just read that Thread...
I'll link to it as well...


Jerry

You can contact us at any time on our Website: J.BAUER Electronics

 

[Soren]

Have you ever looked through a welding mask? You won't be able to see anything. Besides, using a 10 shade for a 1W+ laser is an incredibly stupid idea, all it will do is dilate your pupils and increase the risk of retinal damage.

 

[JCord93]

Thats why its a question and not a statement.

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Soren brings up a good point: you want to make sure your safety-wear is comfortable so you can do something else besides being safe. It was pain enough wearing a welding-mask/google set to see the eclipse last month. I can't imagine the pain of trying to work with lasers with something like that on.

 

[JCord93]

I myself have proper safety goggles but I was wondering if this could be an alternative for someone who would like to watch me mess around with my laser. Now that I know its not proper I plan to order a few pairs of safety goggles.

 

[Bionic-Badger]

What I usually do is have them in the room, and close their eyes until I have everything set up correctly (usually just long enough to turn it on or enter the room while it's on). Not much fun watching someone mess with a laser otherwise.

 

[Benm]

^^ indeed. If you want to do a demonstration, you would probably want the spectators to be able to see the beam, so not wearing goggles. The key is to set it up yourself while wearing goggles in such a way that the whole setup is stable, and there is no spot in the room where a spectator would be hit by a beam or a reflection from a window or something like that.

Once you are comfortable with those conditions and the equipment is secured into position, there is no reason to have any observers wear protective goggles - as long as you don't mess with things once they are there and its turned on.