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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Laser pros- drop by a sec

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Aug 19, 2010
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I would like something powerful enough to burn- I have been emailing back and forth with the nice folks over at Rayfoss and they told me they hand picked one of the www.rayfoss.com laser/led combo lights for me advertised at 150mW but they wrote that the one they hand picked for me was 206mW. There is something of a language issue (which is MY problem because they speak English a HELLUVA lot better than I speak Chinese :p) but I also believe they were including safety goggles for me. The price was about $65 shipped so if everything I've been told is true I think it was a decent purchase.
Do I plan on burning? Well, I'd sure like the option to experiment with this capability, but I think after the initial balloon pop and match light the novelty will wear off quickly. I do think it would be pretty hilarious to light my charcoal grill using Matchlight briquettes and a green laser pointer. I mean they ARE pitch black, it should work ;)
 





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The problem with greens though is that i'm sure they told you the peak power it hit (if they weren't just making it up) Peak power, and the power it actually runs at when it settles down and stabilizes are two different things. I have one cheapie advertised 5mw green pen pointer that peaks well over 30mw, then settles down to about 12mw after a few seconds.

Long stable power output from a green requires temperature stabilization, which requires a TEC, which.. unless you have a really big host with lots of battery capacity, usually mean's it's a labby.
 
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I understand what you are saying, however my budget is under $100 as this is just a passing interest for me. While the thought of owning a laser that even 10 years ago... and CERTAINLY 20 years ago would have cost $100,000 makes me want one, next month I'm sure I'll want to explore some other cool science toy. I'm already thinking that those incredibly powerful rare earth magnets would be really interesting to check out ...
 
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Off topic but I just did the research- I apologize again that this isn't about lasers but many of the folks here seem like they might enjoy another cool science toy- ebay seller "magnet4less" or magnet4less.com has tons of sales with a great reputation and very cheap n52 rare earth magnets. Just thought I'd save someone the research if they are interested. LOL you can put one the size of a pencil eraser in your pocket and stick a 5 pound wrench, screwdriver, and cordless drill to it on the outside of your jeans. COOL!
 
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LOL seriously? You think I started this elaborate thread to promote a 10,000+ sale Ebay guy? I assure you it's only in the name of saving perhaps like minded science toy geeks a few hours of research. I'm insulted you would suggest otherwise.:tsk:
 
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May 24, 2010
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Fair enough. I find KJmagntics much better though. I've had bad luck with NdFeB mags on ebay. They're never n52.

I've got a 2"*1"*.75" magnet, and it holds up a 25lb sledgehammer and a 30lb cast vanadium steel car jack.
 
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Those are fun singularly... but never get a pair of them heh. At least not relatively close to each other, or nasty things are in store for anything that happens to end up between them.
 
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
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Is KJ the ones that sell the rubber coated ones? I think I may get them anyway because it seems like a big problem with the magnets is the chipping that occurs on the finish and the rubber ones supposedly are almost indestructible. Also, the ferrofluid seems like something every science-toy geek MUST have.
New mission- devise a cool experiment using both rare earth magnets and green lasers. Maybe I will hold a contest to see who can devise the coolest experiment using both and offer that supposedly 50mW green pointer from LEDshoppe as the prize.








:tinfoil:
 
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I appreciate the chance to digress! Back to the main spirit of the thread, is there a cheap way to check output and wavelength(s) of lasers or is that another big purchase? I'm thinking anything at Radio Shack or something? I suppose a decent sized university would probably have something ... we have several in the area... of course then I am opening myself up to someone reporting that I have an overpowered laser I guess..
 
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About the minimum for a decent LPM would be $200ish after shipping for a laserbee I.

There is a sort of ghetto way to roughly find the frequency of a laser but it's in no way going to be exact. Simply shine the beam through a prism. Different frequencies bend in different amounts. Not sure how you'd go about calibrating it other than using several known wavelengths as references and plotting a scale.
 




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