Ever set anything on fire... unintentionally?

[ped]

Ok Iv'e had a reported post on this "discussion" , not naming names but you know who you are.

Please don't (ab)use the report button because you don't agree with him, or your getting a$$ fcuked, or your feelings are hurt.

If someone is directly threatening you ect that reason to use the report button.

Don't use it because someone is responding to, or getting the better of you.

If you cant stand the heat...

 

[Mohrenberg]

I should be worried about the possible injuries I may suffer being on this thread while its derailing, but my balls itch and I can't focus on anything else.

 

[brunes01]

Hi!

Just finished my laser today and I managed to burn a little hole in a dark brown pillow and I have 2 little burn marks on my wooden door!

Lesson learned!


Cheers brunes01

 

[Mohrenberg]

My bedroom television has some dead pixels, but other than that nothing unintentional has happened with my lasers.

 

[IsaacT]

I was taking some beamshots of my 445 I just sold and I burned two holes in my blanket. Only notcied cause of the smell.

When I was in high school I took apart a firework for the magnesium. I had extracted it and set to the side, and decided to check out the fuse now that the magnesium was safely disconnected. Well I lit the fuse and LO AND BEHOLD! the fuse sparked everywhere and it lit the magnesium on fire, which set my carpet on fire.....

I don't play with firecrackers anymore.

 

[Zeebit]

I dont have a high powered laser yet so nothing scorched so far.

When I was a kid I tried to light a sparkler on the dining table and the table cloth caught on fire but I was able to put it out.

 

[bloompyle]

My bathroom shower curtains may, or may not have a few holes in them....*cough*

 

[trussmonkey25]

My back screen porch has sevarl holes due to co2 laser before. i angle the beam down to a piece of tile. hole burned into near by tree

 

[KapHn8d]

When I was a kid, my best friend and I used to scrap the power out of the inside of model rocket engines and steal black power out of his father's reloading shed to pack inside old tree stumps and ignite. One day, we caught some adjacent dry grass on fire and ended up torching half the yard before getting it out. Boys will be boys...

 

[Calaiser]

As as kid, me and my neighbours used to muck around with the bored usual kid stuff, aerosols with lighters, match bombs etc. Two incidents I remember well - we tried to make a 'bomb' from sparklers ground up in a film canister. lit it on fire, and burnt a hole in their asphalt driveway about 3 inches deep Another time we poured some kerosene onto tennis balls and kicked them around an 'empty' garage. Except empty in this instance meant it contained a human sized pink panther soft toy, which may or may not have caught fire a little

 

[ARG]

Grass caught on fire from my double & triple lasers while trying to take photos. It was a bit of a shock the first time.

 

[Pi R Squared]

I am intentionally necro posting to bump this thread because this is a safety issue we need to be sure people think about. The subject of safety came up in the thread about our newest very powerful blue diode. Instead of continuing the off topic subject matter I thought it best to post here.

These new diodes are too powerful to be pointing them around just anywhere when inside. 4 of my lasers are a fire hazard if I were to be careless with them, 2 of them very easily set stuff on fire, 1 can set white paper in flames almost instantly. Sooner or later we will see a news story, "Man burns down apartment building with laser. 50 people left homeless". This will do more damage to our hobby than idiots pointing them at a jetliner.

My first powerful laser I built is a 1.5W M140. I remember nearly blinding myself when I went to kill a spider, I also nearly started a fire with it, I also burned myself once when it slipped out of my hand. These were in the first few days after I built the laser. These mistakes only happened once and I fully understood the dangers of my laser. My point is that if you go from a <5mW laser to something class 4, you may not fully understand the power it has and the danger. I worry about someone going from a <5mW laser to one that is in the 4W to 7W range or even getting one for their first laser.

People are always stressing the importance of safety glasses. With lasers of this power we also need to remind people of the fire hazard as well as to avoid any direct contact with the beam. This sounds like common sense but common sense is uncommon. People learn from their own mistakes, not the mistakes of others. I welcome your thoughts on this.

Alan

 

[Laser Chick]

So true Alan. With the price points dropping and technology advancing for class IV lasers this is a very valid concern. The operator of the laser has to be vigilant at all times as to where the beam is going and what it is in contact with. Sure many of us have done the, "I wonder what this will do or will it burn this item at that far of a distant" but you have to be prepared for smoke, flame and fire at all times.

 

[RedCowboy]

This didn't burn anything, but I remember once while working with mirrors that I bumped something and I was very glad that I had my safety glasses on.
Also I have doubled the lenses on my safety glasses by popping the lenses out of a 2nd pair and hot gluing then into the frames, as power levels go up we all need to make sure our safety equipment is adequate.
I also have 4 fire extinguishers in my workshop.
Also always remember to lock the door if you have other people in the house while working with your safety glasses on, make it a habit, glasses on = door locked.

 

[DTR]

I knock on wood that I have not set anything on fire yet that I did not intend to.:tinfoil:

I have put a few holes though some things like curtains and a lot of burn marks on the ceiling though.:can:

 

[Andrew124C41]

"Only you can prevent forest fires. Don't point that laser at a tree!"

When I was about 14 years old I learned that I could mix saltpeter (obtainable from the drug store,) with sulfer (from my chemistry set,) with charcol (the only missing ingredient,) to make gun powerder.

I figured charcol wa simply burnt wood so into the morter I put burn matches and crushed them...Only problem is that one of the matches was not fully extinguished and woosh...a big flare erupted burning the glass morter and making a burnt mess of the dishwasher, wooden cutting board top. Through nefarious means I will not labor to discribe, I was able to clean it up.