Is mirroring of any use on goggles?

[Algedonic]

Obviously it wouldn't work as the only safety feature, but what about in conjunction with wavelength absorption?

I ask because the two-way mirror film does indeed bounce a laser, but doesn't impair vision too badly to look through.

If no one has tested, I will work up some experiments to see how much laser light is coming through compared to normal light and obviously how much is reflected.
I'd also love to hear suggestions or cautions if anyone has any.

(I will go over to the experiment thread and see if anything there is applicable to this as well.)
Thanks for any input!

 

[Cyparagon]

It's about half. Maybe as little as 20%, but that's still less than OD1 and is insufficient as laser eye protection of any sort. It would work almost as well as sunglasses.

 

[Algedonic]

That saves me the trouble then, thanks!

 

[Bluefan]

They work just as sunglasses, but reflective. They block too little while also passing too little. If you have glasses reflecting the laser wavelength and passing the rest it could work, there are laser safety glasses available which use coatings instead of absorbtion. But coated safety glasses are very expensive because they're hard to make.

 

[Algedonic]

So, from what you and Cyparagon have said, mirroring does have some effect, but unless it is either a full first-surface mirror or a specialized wavelength pass mirror, the result isn't as good as just getting a good pair of goggles.

It still sounds like there might be a middle ground where an already decent pair of laser glasses could be made better without making them harder to see through. The problem of course will be cost.
Eh, I will still probably do some tests to see if there is any merit to various percentages of mirroring vs. visibility, but I am pretty sure that the cost of the coatings will quickly outstrip the value of just buying a better pair of goggles. Still, they still might be worth it for testing properties.

Thanks for the response.

 

[Cyparagon]

But a one-way mirror does make it harder to see through.

 

[Bluefan]

Using a metallic coating is a just as bad idea as the use of sunglases. You block the complete spectrum instead of the laser wavelengths, giving barely any protection but a big loss in VLT.

 

[Shadetree Engineer]

This is one of the questions I've had, as well. But what I'm wondering is how safe a hot-mirror is if used for a window on a set of goggles? As I'm thinking of using this for a 808nM.

 

[Benm]

That would depend on the exact hot mirror you are planning to use. Generally the drop off starts somewhere between 750 and 800 nm, but that depends between models. Its also important to verify that the mirror works at other angles then close to normal - a laser beam can still hit you in the eye at a fairly large angle, whereas it would miss a camera sensor.

If you can't get the full specifications, i'd suggest getting anti-808 and anti-1064 goggles intended for laser use.

 

[Shadetree Engineer]

That would depend on the exact hot mirror you are planning to use. Generally the drop off starts somewhere between 750 and 800 nm, but that depends between models. Its also important to verify that the mirror works at other angles then close to normal - a laser beam can still hit you in the eye at a fairly large angle, whereas it would miss a camera sensor.

If you can't get the full specifications, i'd suggest getting anti-808 and anti-1064 goggles intended for laser use.

I was wondering why the various specs mention angle of operation. Sounds like a risk then.

Thanks, I'm just starting to get an idea of what's available for safety. I really would like to get a rectangular filter that will fit my standard welding goggles, but it's starting to look like the market just hasn't developed that way.

I'm also looking at purchasing an 808nM rated enclosure window, and fitting that to my goggles. I think I saw a 6" by 6" for $40 somewhere with better design than what a $50 goggle has for it's lens. Maybe the equivalent of $100 goggles?