I need advise and help. I'm 15 and I would like to understand lasers better. Thanks.

[ApexProxy]

Do you realize how small of a point you would need to have a 100mW 532nm burn something? Also, you will never burn anything light colored no matter how small you get the dot and your burn distance would be a couple inches and limited to maybe starting a black markered match or dark flash paper. I guess it depends on how you define burning. A speck of smoke off a black piece of paper 4 inches away is hardly burning in my books.

If your heart is set on burning get the UVEX goggles and this 100mW 405nm:
LZCS - Classic 405nm 100mW Focusable Violet Laser Pointer

 

[Zeebit]

Thats exactly the point of the focus in lower powered greens IMO. I can attest that even a focused 75mw green WILL light a black match, cut black tape and plastic and etch into black plastic. Dig through the green laser section and you will find my video where I burn matches and cut tape with my metered 75mw green laser which I bought from IE. IMO, I can consider this as burning. Sure, it won't light light colored objects just like the stronger 405nm and 445nm lasers. As one will aquire stronger lasers over time, their definition of burning might change but for a beginner doing simple burning can be quite a satisfying experience.

 

[ApexProxy]

Either way you look at it, 532nm is the worst for burning and can be far out matched by a 405nm or a 445nm of the same power or less. So, overall if you want to burn you are actually safer with other wavelengths because you will require less power to do so as well as not having the excess IR to worry about.

If you intend to burn things then the cost you would spend on IR blocking goggles and a weak 532nm could be placed directly into a superior 405/445nm laser and goggles that cost less than 1/4.

Get a 532nm and spend a lot on goggles just to burn with an underpowered laser or get the 532nm and don't burn things and just save up for a far superior laser down the road. That's my advice from experience and logic.

 

[Zeebit]

I am not arguing with you regarding which laser is best for burning. Yes, we all know that green is crap at burning. The OP is looking for a low powered green laser for pointing and some minor burning. I just pointed out that a 100mw focused 532nm will do a little burning and will have an impressive beam at night.. I am not saying that it is the best for burning.

Peace.

Edit: Yes, I started saving for my next laser, preferably a ~1W 445nm.

 

[ApexProxy]

OK, well my point is, unless he spends a lot on goggles to block IR I don't think burning with a 532nm is the best idea. This is why I suggested a low power 405nm or forgo burning. However it is up to the OP to do what they decide and I am just giving my advice.

Also, I have several 445nm lasers built and ready to ship if you are interested. Right now I have 1-1.5W lasers ready to ship and in the next couple days I will have more going up to 2W. Anyone is welcome to PM me if they are interested in more info.

 

[LaserBuddy]

Please do not take anything higher powered than 5mW to school. You will likely want to show friends, and shine it places. Other students will ask to borrow it, you'll tell them "Okay, but only if you don't shine it into other people's eyes or anywhere that will distract the teacher" They'll say.. "Yeah! of course no problem" and you'll trust them, because at 15 we're very trusting and want our friends to like us. The next thing you know, that kid has blinded himself, and 3 others in class, the laser was confiscated and destroyed, and more laws are enforced against lasers.

please understand, lasers are not a toy, and respect should be shown for these tools/weapons especially anything above 5mW.

not only is this potentially dangerous to take to school, but it's also a waste of money.

~Personal experience at school with a 5mW, trust NO ONE with your laser

 

[Distillate]

I am kind of suprised no one has suggested Kaidy's "Group Buy". It's doubtful that they are anywhere close to the 200mW the 4-in-1 is advertised as (no disrespect to Kaidy) and the price is perfect for a first laser. Sure, it's of lower quality but seems like a good choice for an "entry level" laser. Planecool, while young, seems like he has a good head on his shoulders. So, even if it does end up being closer to 200mW I think he can handle it as long as he continues to research and learn. I'm sure it wouldn't get here before Christmas though.

 

[ApexProxy]

I'm just not sure if I would suggest an unknown laser of an unknown quality to someone just getting into the hobby. The site could be great or it could sell horribly cheap lasers and I am not sure if we have enough exp with them to know for sure. I could be wrong but I haven't heard much about that site lately except that one thread.

 

[Distillate]

True, but to me the price is so low that it's worth the risk. I went for it, figured $20 wasn't much to gamble. I guess we'll see when more members receive their lasers.

 

[ApexProxy]

That's true. Though with those lasers I would say you are nuts if you don't use IR filtering goggles with them if you ever try to burn with it.

 

[planecool]

I am kind of suprised no one has suggested Kaidy's "Group Buy". It's doubtful that they are anywhere close to the 200mW the 4-in-1 is advertised as (no disrespect to Kaidy) and the price is perfect for a first laser. Sure, it's of lower quality but seems like a good choice for an "entry level" laser. Planecool, while young, seems like he has a good head on his shoulders. So, even if it does end up being closer to 200mW I think he can handle it as long as he continues to research and learn. I'm sure it wouldn't get here before Christmas though.

Thanks for the good word.

Ok, Cool. So much information, And so little time. Thanks for spoon feeding me. Can anyone explain how infrared laser work. Thanks.

 

[Atomicrox]

They work just like all other laser diodes, our eyes just happen to have very little sensitivity to them. 808nm is still somewhat visible, just looks 100x weaker than a 650nm red laser but roughly the same color. 1064nm is completely invisible. Not sure about 980 and other wavelengths inbetween.

 

[Zeebit]

^ What he said.

If you are talking about IR diodes used in green lasers then google up DPSS lasers.

 

[ApexProxy]

In a nutshell: 532nm lasers available on the common market are actually IR(808nm) lasers that are shot into small crystals that change the wavelength from 808nm into 1064nm and then into 532nm. Unfortunately doing so is very inefficient(10-35%) and often not all of the IR is changed and leaks out into the resulting beam.

 

[planecool]

Interesting. There very powerful because they don't waste their "efficiency". And, they carry more energy in the beam. (higher wavelength.)

But if you can't see them... how do you aim them. And what are they usually used for.

 

[ApexProxy]

An infrared laser would generally be used with infrared imaging of some kind as far as I know. They work exceptionally well for projecting at very long ranges.