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Best Burning Laser around 50$?

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WheelchairMitch

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Hey all,
Im kinda new to high powered lasers and Ive done some research on the subject but just cant find clear answers. What would be the best laser for me if I just want to do tricks and what not, for around 50$? Thanks in advance.
Mitch
 





What kind of tricks? Except for burning and beam viewing, <5mW will be enough.

If you need a star gazing laser, a 50mW green laser will be plenty.

If you need power, 100mW will be sufficient.

Remember, any laser over 5mW will need safety goggles. Good luck
 
I want one for burning and one for stargazing. Would a 100mw violet burn good? or should I get just a powerful green? Not sure which burns better.
 
WheelchairMitch said:
I want one for burning and one for stargazing. Would a 100mw violet burn good? or should I get just a powerful green? Not sure which burns better.
Click to expand...

Green will be more vissible and a 100mW green will burn just fine
I got 2 green lasers form which i am not sure how powerful they are...
but i can tell you that at night i can point out any star i see.
Violet is one of the least vissible lasers and for star pointing wouldn't be ideal

But if i am not mistaken... violet was better for burning? i am just not sure about this.
 
You don't say where you are so customs may be an issue in getting it to you, a 100mw violet would have a little better burning capacity higher frequency is better for burning but must be focusable to get any real use violet or green, 100mw isn't going to be really enough to burn much and you will certainly need googles red for violet, blue or orange for green, keep your eyes safe and yes two lasers one for burning one for night skies .i was writing when the above post was posted and didn't know until i posted it
 
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Im in the US, not sure if there is anything here I can get. So what are some good lasers I can purchase for around 50$? Thanks
Mitch
 
In theory, 100mW violet burns as well as 100mW green or 100mw red.

It all depends on the color of the surface you're pointing at. For example, a red match is harder to light with red because most light gets reflected. Skin is transparent for red and IR so you won't feel it, buy you'll feel green and blue. Violet burns white paper (because paper fluoresces, it needs to absorb light first)

Visibility is another concern. 100mW green has is waaay brighter to the eye than 660nm red and especially violet (630nm orange/red and blue are somewhere in between). Blue and violet also fluoresce stuff (cool) and have slightly more visible beams due to Rayleigh scattering, although none can beat green at beams.

[Edit] For stargazing, a 30mW green is sufficient, but won't burn. For burning, 120mW red should be cheap enough. A custom build by some member is probably cheaper than a factory pointer.
 
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Well i have SD 301,303,and 305 lasers all 532 nm and all over spec first two focusable but i like them they light matches, ignite dark paper and are great at night, many are available on eBay from hong Kong or China luck of the draw on customs and the output power you get from them
 
I agree with Hislordship, if your looking for visibility stay in the "green" color. such as 500-570nm part of the spectrum (green is usually 532nm)

As for burning, I agree violets (405nm) are usually better but only because IMO Ive only seen them with 150mW+

Remember Mitch, its the "mW' or "W" that determine power output. (burn capabilities) NOT "nm".

Try reading a bit more through the forum and to gather more info! PM me if you have more questions :)
 
You all are making this a hard choice haha. So ive narrowed it down to Green or violet. What is the most power 50$ or so can buy? Thanks
 
I have a violet 166mW, and it's still not bright enough for stargazing. Besides, unless you are quite farsighted, distant violet beams and spots will be blurry, making it even less visible.
 
Go for green cant go wrong but for 50 dollars you are just tossing a coin on what actual power you will get ,just the way the it goes for more money you can be pretty certain you will get what you expect to get power wise
 
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As for 50$ budget... not so sure what your chances are, good or bad.

BUT, check out this thread and you'll see a neat organized list of Everything you'll need or want. It has everything from parts to completed lasers. Best of all, its made here in LPF by trusted members who put real time and effort into their products. Not some Chinese industry that sees numbers and sells.

http://laserpointerforums.com/f41/made-lpf-support-your-fellow-laserists-first-83991.html

PM any of those members and Im sure they will be more then glad to help. :D
 
Don't forget to also get goggles within your budget.

Especially when burning, where you focus the laser to the tiniest spot and move your head closer to the subject (for burning accuracy), you will get eye damage.
 
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