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Low powered laser

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philmadxx

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Hello - new to the whole laser thing, seems addictive though.

I'm looking for a relatively low powered yet reasonably durable laser - color doesn't matter that can be used in several shop tools I am building. It must be "pen style" - less than .75" but length doesn't matter. I will be using it in a well lit shop so it must be visible in bright light but I do not want to have to wear protective glasses to use it. I realize I can't look directly into the beam, that won't be possible in the configuration I am using it.

I bought a laser 3 pack from Amazon a while ago and while they are fun, they are too powerful to use in this application.

Oh - the other thing, it must be cheap - $5 or so. :undecided:

Possible?

Thanks

Phil
 
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A 532nm will be your most visible in the brightly lit area. Try eBay. They have a lot of pen style green lasers that are low powered and cheap. 532nm pen | eBay
 
Looks as good as any. There are 2 pen style lasers in that auction. Not sure if you saw that or just want to have the second as a backup. Can I ask what exactly you are using this for?
 
I am a woodturner and I want to make a "laser bowl depth finder" like the attached image - assuming it attached. Basically you want to know how deep you are going when turning a bowl and it is not as easy to measure as you think - plus lasers are just plain cool.

Hope this makes sense. Here is a link.
Thanks for your help.

Phil
 

Attachments

  • depth gauge.JPG
    depth gauge.JPG
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Ok I see whats going on. The bottom rod bottoms out at the bottom of the bowl and the laser shows how thick the base of the bowl is by showing the laser on the side. Honestly any color would work. Its not going very far and any <5mW laser should work. Its all up to what color you prefer.
 
Yeah, like i said earlier, green is your most visible but you're only projecting the laser just over a foot. I haven't dealt with any eBay pen lasers so my guess is as good as yours. Red would be more forgiving if you were to drop it or something like that. Green has crystals in it that can get knocked out of alignment. Its all up to you at this point unless another member has dealt with any of theses laser specifically. The switches on these tend to be momentary as well so you would have to devise some way to clamp the switch down if you need it to remain on without you holding the button on.
 
Thanks for your help. I'll try a couple of the red ones and see what happens. I have the switch thing figured out.

Again thanks
 
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