eBay gatling gun 405nm 1W laser safety question

[WhiteFang]

My first class 4 laser is on the way, and I want to be completely sure that I'm not doing significant damage to my eye because of a silly misconception, because that's something that I would do.

If I'm not mistaken, using the laser outside to point into the sky or pointing it pretty far away doesn't really require laser glasses, and using star caps with spread out effects doesn't either. I'm very iffy on all of these, hence the thread.

Any time I'm staring at the dot of the laser from anything more than like 100 feet seems like a good time to use the goggles. Would I be okay if I shone the laser into the black curtain in my room, or was looking at the beam without seeing the dot? It soaks up quite a lot of light.

I'm asking all of this because I really like to see my lasers, ya know? :undecided:

 

[Razako]

It should be fine to view the beam heading into the sky, or the dot on nonreflective objects >100ish ft away. IDK if I would use it indoors without goggles though. You also need to be aware that it will burn holes through the black curtain if you aren't careful. As you said, the star caps will diffuse the beam quite a lot and make it safer. Probably use the star caps if using the laser indoors, and be careful to avoid any of the split up beams hitting mirrors or shiny objects.

 

[WhiteFang]

That clears up quite a bit, thank you!

 

[Encap]

Be careful or pointing outside if aircraft are in the area.

You can end up with a big fine and or in jail. See: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/39A

 

[WhiteFang]

Be careful or pointing outside if aircraft are in the area.

You can end up with a big fine and or in jail. See: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/39A

Definitely! I'll probably get a flight tracking app in addition to paying close attention to the sky.

 

[Razako]

Definitely! I'll probably get a flight tracking app in addition to paying close attention to the sky.

Generally you want to avoid aiming at things near the tree line where an aircraft could unexpectedly pop out into your beam. Stick to the wide open sky where you can see everything.

 

[WhiteFang]

Generally you want to avoid aiming at things near the tree line where an aircraft could unexpectedly pop out into your beam. Stick to the wide open sky where you can see everything.

I'll be sure to keep that in mind! Thanks