Need laser for toast

[Machinist Joe]

http://laserpointerforums.com/f40/808nm-laser-toaster-62885.html

Hrm?

 

[JaiNobeZ]

It's been done before, a LOT:

Eww, I wouldn't eat anything that had been on those beds. They're horrible... covered in soot and oil and other nasty stuff...

 

[Cyparagon]

Estrada toast looks more like a metal stencil was placed over the bread while toasting.

 

[rhd]

Hey Chairman, I want to put something into perspective for you. Have you looked at the wattage rating of your toaster? The typical toaster operates at about 1200W. Even then, it takes about 30 seconds to a minute for your toaster to toast the bread into something we'd regard as "toast." Sure, that's spread over two slices of bread, but even so, it's quite a bit of pure heat power.

The 1200W from a toaster is also spread over a lot of your kitchen - ie, it's definitely not a directed 1200W. A lot of that heat is completely wasted out the sides, out the top, and in all sorts of directions that don't imply contact with the bread.

I could actually see creating a relatively *unique* toaster oven from a 100W IR laser diode bar. The lack of a tightly collimated dot would be fine if you were just trying to recreate the "toaster experience" and not necessarily toast a detailed photo into your bread.

If you did the build right, I could see focusing a 100W diode bar into a thin line (which is what they're good at anyway), and slowly sweeping it across the bread. I think you would actually toast the surface rather effectively. I don't think it would be the same "toast experience" as a traditional toaster, but it would look much cooler in your kitchen.

 

[ChairmanMeow]

Thanks for responding everyone.

@ Joe Mo - We are planning to use a system to move the laser back and forth. It is going to be a cartesian system controlled by 2 stepper motors. And yes, we plan to toast the bread before etching it. The laser is just there to make the image.

You mentioned that I could use 4-8 watt IR lasers. How are they in comparison to a blue laser in terms of heating and cost? Or is an IR laser just at a different wavelength than a blue laser?

Another idea that came up was to make some sort of LCD device with the polarizing layer to block off the laser light. Is that possible?
And finally, how would adding a magnifying lens change the intensity of the light?