Hello LPF

[Bobby Shaftoe]

Hey guys,

I’m new to this hobby and very glad to have found this forum! I have been poring over the info here and elsewhere trying to educate myself as much as possible before purchasing anything more powerful than the 5mW green 532nm NewWish style pen I picked up recently. The stickies, guides and tutorials that many of you have taken the time to create have been particularly helpful. Among other things, I teach science and I’m excited about integrating a little laser work into some of the demos I do.

So a few questions for you veterans:

1. I’d like to get a portable that would be capable of some thermal effects with a nice bright beam for wow factor with reliability and safety as foremost concerns. This would be outdoors. Thinking green as I’ve read there are some additional hazards with higher powered blues. Not sure of the validity of the latter but 532nm beams are supposed to be brighter in outdoor daylight anyway. Is that correct? I’m assuming something in the range of 400-600mW should get the job done. Think that would work?

2. How necessary or desirable is it to have a focusable laser for outdoor burning/balloon popping etc? How about at a little longer range? Time for a beam expander then?


3. Most importantly what would be your recommendations for good laser goggles/glasses? I may need to purchase enough for a small group so price would be a big consideration but also I would appreciate a rec for a really high quality pair regardless of price. (Pair for me for testing/play etc).


Having read your reviews about various companies it seems there are many to stay away from but others that appear to be trustworthy. I am leaning towards O-Like for an order but would be open to buying some lasers from some of you guys as it seems from the reviews that some of the builds from people on this forum are far superior to most of the commercial products. That right there says a lot to me about this place.


I appreciate any advice or opinions. Thanks!

 

[Greenmechanic]

Welcome to the forum.

1. I’d like to get a portable that would be capable of some thermal effects with a nice bright beam for wow factor with reliability and safety as foremost concerns. This would be outdoors. Thinking green as I’ve read there are some additional hazards with higher powered blues. Not sure of the validity of the latter but 532nm beams are supposed to be brighter in outdoor daylight anyway. Is that correct? I’m assuming something in the range of 400-600mW should get the job done. Think that would work?

You need around that power to see it outdoors under cloudy conditions. With the sun out it will still be hard to see.

2. How necessary or desirable is it to have a focusable laser for outdoor burning/balloon popping etc? How about at a little longer range? Time for a beam expander then?

A focusable one is almost a necessity if you are going to do any burning. The higher the power the longer the range, and cheaper then a B/E mW for mW

3. Most importantly what would be your recommendations for good laser goggles/glasses? I may need to purchase enough for a small group so price would be a big consideration but also I would appreciate a rec for a really high quality pair regardless of price. (Pair for me for testing/play etc).

Read some of the reviews , there are some good cheap ones out there, but buy the best you can afford.

Having read your reviews about various companies it seems there are many to stay away from but others that appear to be trustworthy. I am leaning towards O-Like for an order but would be open to buying some lasers from some of you guys as it seems from the reviews that some of the builds from people on this forum are far superior to most of the commercial products. That right there says a lot to me about this place.

The best lasers will be hand-built, yes. Chinese quality control stinks. I've bought a great laser for $12 and a crappy one for $75 O-like is one of the fairly good ones.
See the B/S/T/ or Laser Pro Shop section

 

[Bobby Shaftoe]

Thanks greenmechanic, thats good info.

 

[Flaminpyro]

Howdy and welcome to the forum :wave:
You are going to find that 400-600mW green lasers are a bit expensive $1000+ if you realy think you need 400-600mW then I would suggest looking into a 445nm laser they are in the $120-$400 range.
And power is power a 532nm green laser at 400mW is just as dangerious as a 445nm blue laser at the same power.

Human eyes are most sensitive at 532nm and that is why they can be seen easer in the light but that dose not mean you will always be able to see them in the daylight, it will depend on conditions like sunny or not, cloudy or not and just how much power the laser puts out.

Have fun and be safe

 

[Bobby Shaftoe]

Thanks Flaminpyro,

You are absolutely right. I did pick up a nice 532nm pgl-iii c from RA_pierce and it was pretty expensive but the quality is evident and I really like the safety features on it. I hear you about the power. I can see that class IV lasers are to be respected. I've picked up quite a few pairs of good goggles as well and I'm diligent about using them.