How did you get interested in lasers?

[Schrecken_Licht]

What sparked your interest in lasers? Well, for me it was about 10 years ago when I was unemployed (had just quit one horrible job) and I wasn't finding much out there, so I signed on with a temporary agency. Well, this was all just crummy factory work and I wasn't looking forward to it, but eventually I was assigned to work at a laser machining shop.

At that time all I knew about lasers is that they were pretty lights seen at rock concerts and little more.....the first few days I didn't know what the heck was going on at that place, other than that I had to spend the whole shift inspecting welded metal parts. The one day I said to my boss "what is this thing and what does it do?" referring to the 5 kilowatt CO2 laser that I shared my workspace with. I had no idea that lasers could have invisible beams (seen too many Starwars and similar sci-fi movies)!

It got even better when I would see other employees testing the beam characteristics of the various lasers (they had about 10 CO2 lasers, 500 to 8Kw, and three ND:YAGs, all a few hundred watts each). They would do "mode burns" by essentially firing the laser beam (unfocused) at sheets of plastic and plywood (to see the shape and profile of the beam). I swear I felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck when they used the 5Kw laser at my work station to ignite a piece of plywood - it just burst into flames instantly! I sure wish I had had a video camera back then.....

Then there's nothing like seeing a 1500 watt laser cut thru 1/8 inch steel like a hot knife thru styrofoam....the world's most boring job (sorting parts) turned into a most fascinating place to work. I worked there for about 9 months when I got a really good job offer in another industry (with much higher pay). But I never forgot the lasers. To this day I have been unendingly fascinated by lasers - both visible and invisible kinds - my first laser was just a 2mw red pointer, but I have since collected quite a few visible light and IR lasers since then.

 

[trueHOUSE]

i watched a video how to turn 1$ laser into burning one and i though oh my god i can really do that whith just a laser and i took mine and removed a resistor i think it was guess what never turned on anymore then i found this amazing forum : and it al started ..

 

[wesdaman14]

i bought a 5mw greenie from ebay but it was an actual 20mW and i broke it by pot mo, and so i have bought at least 5 greenies frm then

 

[Switch]

Kipkay video :

 

[styropyro]

I saw a green laser one eBay a few years ago when they were going for $60 a piece (they were leadlights!) and I bought one and pot modded it. Sometimes I would pull off the button and shot the pot to the case with a screwdriver because it got brighter . That thing lasted over a year, until one day the switch got messed up. Well anyway that's what got me into lasers.

 

[Curiously_Coherent]

One of my riding buddies showed up with a DX 5mW pointer one night. That night I discovered DX and the fact that lasers weren't still huge things that required rare gas and power supplies, like the lab lasers I'd seen. I bought a 30mW to one-up him, he bought a 50mW to one-up me... and you know where this ends up... He gave up at 50mW, but I was hooked and kept going. He's a Lumenphile now, collecting awesome flashlights and bike lights. He just showed me a 4-LED light from Hope that puts out 1000 lumens! Between the two of us we have an awesome collection of photon-spewing hardware and my wife has given him hell for encouraging me...

That's what mates are for though, right? ;D

CC

 

[bobobob121]

kipkay.. and i think i was just watching youtube videos

 

[jamilm9]

i knew about them for a long time from my brother.Then one day i looked on the internet what they could do and bam, i got bit by the laser bug.

 

[MarioMaster]

i saw an ad in Popular Science for laserglow - it took off from there

 

[Razako]

I had always thought lasers were cool gadgets to have and I got my first crappy red pointer back in middle school when they were like $20 at office depot. Later on I was reading a pop sci magazine and noticed a laserglow ad with a blue/yellow/green lasers on it. I went to the site and was amazed at the fact that hand held lasers could shoot a bright green beam into the the sky and burn stuff. I ordered a lyra pointer and an aries-35. Later on I found out about optotronics and LPF from youtube videos. I was actually lucky that I found the quality sites first and I didn't pay a ton on overpriced wicked lasers or spymodex.

 

[Zarniwoop]

http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1189816377/12#12

 

[Ace82]

I was always fascinated with lasers since I could remember. I wasn't interested in using the pointers as comical toys by messing with people with them, but I was always intrigued with the physics of lasers. How the energy is confined to a perfect straight line, how only 3 volts can be transformed into a beam of light that shines brighter, and stronger then the most powerful flashlights. I love laser scenes in movies, like Entrapment, or Resident Evil, Congo, 007, the list goes on forever! I suppose I just have the "Nerd gene"! I also love my RC helicopter, cars, and other electronic gadgets that provide me entertainment. I always loved green lasers, and wanted one back in the early 90's, but went for thousands of dollars. Once I saw a 5mW about 5years ago for $100, I was so ecstatic and bought one immediately. Then I discovered the higher-powered ones, I knew I had to get one. I am very shortly going to buy an RPL....

Cheers to all! [smiley=laugh.gif]

 

[Amnizu]

A few years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to Wickedlasers, back when they sold CNI stuff and didn't suck nearly as much as they do now. I bought a 35mW 'Advanced' from them for $150 and got at least 75mW of green. Ever since I was old enough to use Compton's Encyclopedia on my mom's Win 95 machine to look up the articles on 'Laser', I was fascinated by lasers, and when I found out you could buy powerful portable lasers, I about died of happiness.

 

[mikeeey]

a little more than a year ago my friend told me he went to some camp and a guy there had a "green laser". i had never heard of one before. he told me that this laser popped a baloon a few feet away. this got me really interested, i had to find out more about these green lasers. so i did, i found dealextreme. then i needed a forum to discuss and find out more, i typed in "laser point forum" and got here. im very glad im interested in lasers

 

[equlizer]

Thx youtube! so far you've made me spend $$386 on lasers ohh and cause of this place too ;D

 

[amkdeath]

well, when I was 6 or so, my uncles had these little lasers, like .5mW ones. i thought they were cool. how the light doesn't scatter.... I had no idea there were such things as a burning laser until i saw that one "class 4 laser ray gun". I was fascinated, but put lasers aside when I was the 2000 dollar price. then I found WL. even though they seemed cool, they were too expensive for me.

until one day, I saw styropyro's video... the one with a senkat diode connected to batteries, and a pot soldered in series with the diode and batteries. that was the inspirational moment. I then found laserpointerforums (form his vid) and was addicted ever since, i had found it, cheap, and powerful.

since then, I have liquidated all cash/electronic balance I have ever came to touch. I have spent... um... let see... *opens windows calculator* around $1000 on lasers and DX since novemebr '07....

anyhow, thanks styropyro, you led me to my path, and left be broke

regards,

amk