First Laser

[apwhitelaw]

Hey everyone, I'm new here.

I've been looking at lasers for a while now and I wanted to get a really cool one. I happened to come upon wickedlasers.com. I saw the Spyder III and thought it was really cool and saw some videos that looked really cool. But when I read comments and read this forum and such, they say it sucks. Anyone here can tell me better than I can, considering I've never bought one before.

People have said to try the Spartan, or try building your own. I just don't know what to do.

I want to get a really high powered one but I don't know where to order from. Also, I would build one, but I think it might be kinda hard for me to do.

What do you guys think?

 

[anselm]

Hello and welcome to the forum!:wave:

What do you guys think?

We think this:
1. forget wicked laser, not worth the wait.
2. NEVER get a high powered laser as your first one.
There's plenty of fun to be had with low powered lasers and you can get used
to them and gain some experience without running a VERY big risk to your eyesight.
There is always some risk though, even from low powered lasers.

My recommendations:
$12.40 - True Green Laser Pen 30mW - Green Lasers
It's very bright and the beam will amaze you.

and this for making all kinds of stuff glow:
5mW 405nm Violet Purple Blue Ray Blue Laser Pointer Pen - eBay (item 180616734287 end time Mar-25-11 13:53:52 PDT)

Then as a next step, build your own 200mw red laser from a LPC815 diode, and
then build your 1W 445nm.
By that time, you will likely have gained a healthy respect and "good common laser sense".

 

[danefex]

The early releases of the SpyderIII lasers last year had a lot of problems. Since then WL has improved their QC and overall process as I understand.

Most of the people who've been on this forum for awhile are experts, and by no means tolerate or let over-hyped, unproven information slide by. Many people who've purchased & tested this laser found their results fell short of the manufacturers claims, hence the bad rap.

If you want a high powered laser as your first, the SpyderIII isn't your best choice. Assuming you have no experience in handling HPLs I would strongly recommend something 1/2 as strong as what you're interested in as well as educating yourself in proper eye protection :beer:\

EDIT: I didn't see the previous reply before posting, more information than what I've offered

 

[apwhitelaw]

Thanks, I guess I will start off with a smaller one, but I am in the US and for the website with the 30mW green laser it says:

United States Customers Only: due to new regulations enforced by the US FDA and PayPal, orders of >5mW lasers units shipped to the United States are no longer accepted. Orders that were previously accepted and unshipped will be cancelled and refunded to customers. This affects United States orders only.

 

[anselm]

I appreciate you taking the advice I gave.
Well you can try the site "priceangels" then, they sell similar lasers like dealextreme,
but they DO ship to the US.
I don't know which particular laser to recommend, but I think they have something
like a "true 30mW" or "true 50mW" green.

 

[apwhitelaw]

They have 5, 30, 50, 100, and 200 mW true green laser. I might go with the 50mW considering it's only about $15.

But is it going to be anything cool? It seems like starting off so low it would just be like a regular laser pointer that you would use to, well, point at stuff(even though those are problem like <5mW). Will I even be able to see the beam or anything?

 

[laserhead2112]

Oh. Yes you will be able to see the beam of a 50mw green laser. I started with a30mw then 100mw Then 250mw then went onto the blues artic and the spartan..all with the proper safety glasses. You will be very happy with a 50mw green and make sure you get glasses!

 

[apwhitelaw]

Are glasses necessary with a 50mW? I know it's anything below like 5mW that can't hurt your eyes, right? So I guess that means anything above I'll need glasses?

So I'll probably get

http://priceangels.com/TRUE_50mW_Green_Laser_Pointer_Pen_p2688.html

and

http://priceangels.com/Stylish_High_Quality_Professional_Anti_Green_Laser_Glassess_p17872.html

So is that all good? I assume those glasses work for the green laser since the laser is 532nm, right?

Thanks.

 

[laserhead2112]

Hhm. Not so sure about them glasses I think dragonlasers glasses would be a lot better imo.

 

[apwhitelaw]

Well I was just looking for something that was on the same website so I searched laser glasses and that's what came up. I want to order both from the same website if possible.

Anyways the dragon lasers glasses are like $25, those are $5(which probably means they're really cheap, but if they work, then I'm good with them. I don't want to spend much)

 

[laserhead2112]

Ok well one thing you can do when you get them is to shine the laser though them and see how much of the beam gets though if its a lot then they won't protect much also I'm not sure this laser has I.R. filtering or not and that is also an issue.

 

[Ash]

Well I was just looking for something that was on the same website so I searched laser glasses and that's what came up. I want to order both from the same website if possible.

Anyways the dragon lasers glasses are like $25, those are $5(which probably means they're really cheap, but if they work, then I'm good with them. I don't want to spend much)

I would not trust my vision to $5 safety glasses. A single visit to the eye doctor or several costs a lot more money. Having a permanent blind spot for the rest of your life is not a fun experience.

Really, priceangels lasers can be bad as their QC department is lacking and they often send lasers that have a 50mW sticker, but are only putting out 10mW of green laser light (the rest [40mW] could be harmful IR).
Safety glasses are recommended for any laser above 5mW.
You will need at least 50mW (focusable) to light a match, and you can pop a dark-colored balloon with about 30mW. You will need about 100-200mW to etch wood.
I recommend going with a reputable seller that offers a free warranty and guarantees you will get a laser with the stated output power. O-like and Rayfoss are two companies that measure their lasers (using an LPM [laser power meter]) before they send them and have lasers that have significantly less IR (even ones with IR filters).
I recommend this laser as your first --> 50mW transformable green laser/adjustable/burning [OLV50] - $41.99 : Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products
and these safety glasses (because they also block IR laser light)--> Multiple Wavelength
Second laser. I would get a 200mW red --> www.rayfoss.com it has a few of the FDA safety features and should be a solid laser with a decent duty-cycle. Also get these glasses for that laser --> www.rayfoss.com or these --> Protection Glasses for 650nm Red Laser

Start medium-powered to gain experience handling a laser. You will be surprised how bright a 50mW green dot is on a white wall.

 

[apwhitelaw]

I would not trust my vision to $5 safety glasses. A single visit to the eye doctor or several costs a lot more money. Having a permanent blind spot for the rest of your life is not a fun experience.

Really, priceangels lasers can be bad as their QC department is lacking and they often send lasers that have a 50mW sticker, but are only putting out 10mW of green laser light (the rest [40mW] could be harmful IR).
Safety glasses are recommended for any laser above 5mW.
You will need at least 50mW (focusable) to light a match, and you can pop a dark-colored balloon with about 30mW. You will need about 100-200mW to etch wood.
I recommend going with a reputable seller that offers a free warranty and guarantees you will get a laser with the stated output power. O-like and Rayfoss are two companies that measure their lasers (using an LPM [laser power meter]) before they send them and have lasers that have significantly less IR (even ones with IR filters).
I recommend this laser as your first --> 50mW transformable green laser/adjustable/burning [OLV50] - $41.99 : Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products
and these safety glasses (because they also block IR laser light)--> Multiple Wavelength
Second laser. I would get a 200mW red --> www.rayfoss.com it has a few of the FDA safety features and should be a solid laser with a decent duty-cycle. Also get these glasses for that laser --> www.rayfoss.com or these --> Protection Glasses for 650nm Red Laser

Start medium-powered to gain experience handling a laser. You will be surprised how bright a 50mW green dot is on a white wall.

Thanks. I'll look into all that. The only problem is I just don't want to spend much for my first one. How come the 50mW green laser is $45 and the 200mW red laser is $50. $5 for 150 more mW? I don't think so. And how come the glasses are $45 but for the 200mW the glasses you linked are only $15?

 

[Coherent Light]

Green Lasers are DPSS which means an IR laser diode pumps a crystal medium which feeds another medium to produce 532nm green laser light. A red Laser 650nm is a direct diode, and is much cheaper. this is just the dirty version, but you should get the idea why cost is different.