Burning Laser Recommendations for a Newbie Needed

[Daz]

Hi All,

I'm based in the UK and am looking for advice on which burning laser to buy. As a newbie I'm quite confused as to what power, colour, batteries, etc. I should be looking for, so any recommendations and help really welcome.

Many thanks
Daz

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Uhm, welcome to the forum.

Any laser with sufficient power will burn. You have to decide what wavelength (color) you want to work with.

Any laser with enough power to burn will also leave you with damaged eyes if you're not careful - whatever you get, make sure to get safety goggles as well. You WILL NEED SAFETY GOGGLES/GLASSES FOR BURNING.

 

[Arayan]

a very important thing to burn things with a laser, is obviously the power (reported in mW or W), the beam diameter (the starting size of the beam) and the beam divergence (to burn at greater distances). The wavelength (the color of the beam) is also important for the relative absorption.
Remember to buy the safety goggles against the chosen wavelength

 

[Daz]

Thanks for the replies. I guess if I have to select a colour it would be blue but to be honest I'm not too bothered. As to what I want to burn; just the usual matches, balloons, etc. Must be handheld and under £100 or $160.

Thanks
Daz

 

[Arayan]

the right choice is a DIY blue laser (at approx. 445 nm) see the buy/sell/trade section of the forum... there are very experienced guys here

 

[piferal]

For that money and blue color (445nm), here in the forum there are several people who sell excellent laser, check out the sale area.

I have one bought here and burn great, I assure you

Also and very important, purchase a good goggles for your safety

Edit: Arayan think the same as me, has been faster answer. English kills me ahahahah

 

[bhwollen]

For a lot less money you can get a laser of a different color (Green/Red) that can burn and pop balloons easy. You can get them for around $50. But remember to wear safety goggles.

Thanks for the replies. I guess if I have to select a colour it would be blue but to be honest I'm not too bothered. As to what I want to burn; just the usual matches, balloons, etc. Must be handheld and under £100 or $160.

Thanks
Daz

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

For a lot less money you can get a laser of a different color (Green/Red) that can burn and pop balloons easy. You can get them for around $50. But remember to wear safety goggles.

@bhwollen - Red easily... but what green laser burns well for $50?

 

[Daz]

Does anyone know any suppliers in the UK who can help?

 

[bhwollen]

Well, I guess your right... maybe for a little more money you can get a 200mW green pen.

@bhwollen - Red easily... but what green laser burns well for $50?

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Well, I guess your right... maybe for a little more money you can get a 200mW green pen.

Dang - I was hoping to be wrong in this case... I really would like burn capable greenies for under $50. For about ~$100 there are a few, but really for green to be fun I think it has to be 150mW+ which places the lasers into a higher price bracket

@Daz - Please Please Please do more research you only get two eyes. That being said... I don't know about suppliers in the UK specifically, but there are plenty of companies that will ship to UK: Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products is one.

 

[Daz]

There is a company in the UK called laserware.co.uk who sell a green 200mW for £65.00 ($110.00). They are apparently made / sourced from a company called Ultrafire. I have no idea (as I'm a noob) to whether a) 200mW green is powerful enough to burn, b) If Ultrafire produce a good quality product, c) If it's a true 200mW as they have never tested them for power (IR, etc.) and c) If that price is reasonable.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

The hosts (bodies) of the lasers are made from Ultrafire flashlights, which are gutted to put in components needed for a laser. This does not in any way indicate the lasers are associated with ultrafire. Ultrafire is a medium quality chinese electronics supplier best known for cheap batteries. That host itself is quite nice actually - worth $10-$15 by itself IMO.

Now;
a) 200mW is powerful enough to burn.
b) Forget about this laser being related to ultrafire... there is no telling what kind of a laser this is, I personally don't know this company, but maybe you can turn up some reviews via search...
c) No telling if the laser is anywhere near 200mW. I'm willing to bet it's not IR filtered.
d) If it is actually 200mW green, than the price is fair - chances of that being accurate are very very low.

It will take longer to ship, but buy from either of these companies, o-like or rayfoss. Their prices you will note are somewhat higher, but still in the range you quoted. The reason I'm suggesting this is that they have a proven track record, and their lasers are close to spec. I've taken 4 gambles with cheap laser sites for 200mW lasers and closest one I received was only 60mW...

You should add the cost of goggles to the total you're spending... you NEED goggles for burning. Regular sunglasses will absolutely not work, and can do more hard than good.



EDIT:

ALL of our lasers are tested just for a few seconds before they are dispatched.

- Means they click the laser on to see that it works but... they don't test for output...

Get this one: 200mW transformable green laser/adjustable [OLV6200] - $129.99 : Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products

Get these goggles: RadiantShades for Blue and Green Lasers or equivalent.

 

[anselm]

Hello and welcome to the forum!:wave:

Does anyone know any suppliers in the UK who can help?

I hear Odicforce has pretty decent deals, although I only read about them,
I never ordered anything myself.

Also, you being a noob I recommend you look at the INDEX link in my signature.

 

[Daz]

Are dragon lasers or wicked lasers any good?

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Ok, seriously, start using the forum Search function. Dragon lasers = good, wicked = bad.

EDIT: Anselms Index also includes the information you're looking for.