Any of you using laser for OTHER than entertainment or experimenting?

[merlysys]

I am building a laser based device to help in the renovations/construction industry. A laser will draw lines or points on the surface so workers can drill holes or cut there.

Tell us about your project briefly

 

[Laser Chick]

Use or have used lasers to align items, treat medical conditions, kill parasites in aquariums, etch/cut, point out tree limbs to trim off, beacon/signal at night and very fine SMT soldering.

 

[Teej]

I am building a laser based device to help in the renovations/construction industry. A laser will draw lines or points on the surface so workers can drill holes or cut there.

Tell us about your project briefly

My primary USE of lasers is in the forensic end of things, typically to point out something too far away to otherwise specify, such as a defect/feature or clue as to what happened/went wrong, etc.

I also lecture/teach, but for that, the typical red pointer was fine.

I only got into more powerful lasers when I casually mentioned to a buddy on a flashlight forum (Yeah, into those too...) that my red pointer was washed out in daylight, and that I really found I could use something that could reach up onto a skyscraper in broad daylight.

He happened to be into lasers, and made me an 80 mw green pen.....and it was pretty great as an improvement....but, even that was a bit anemic for some scenarios, so, things escalated from there.

I use all my lasers almost entirely for pointing things out...either for work, or, along with other hobbies, such as pointing out things in the night sky, etc.

I DO occasionally experiment to see what happens with uranium marbles, and other items, what burns, etc....for fun too.

 

[Mattronium]

I use laser rangefinder for measuring distances quickly.

And I also use a 660nm laser to read my DVD's

 

[bostjan]

What's wrong with entertainment and experimenting?

I've used mine as a tool to burn oil impregnated paper for QC testing, and to age oil (405 nm is short enough to cause UV damage to petroleum) in highly localized spots that would otherwise be impossible to reach (maybe that'd be considered experimenting). I've also used it as an engraving tool, and as a lighter (even I'd consider that entertainment).

 

[Teej]

I think from the thread context, he's looking for engineering applications he could consider, rather than disparaging hobby uses.

 

[WizardG]

I just ordered a 405 module (Thanks DTR!) that I'm going to watercool and use in my wife's fabric cutter (google "silver bullet")