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New laser for me...

J

jrobertdobson

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Sep 23, 2014
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Ordered this: SF501B 445nm Blue
in 2W today, now the waiting begins. What can I expect from a blue laser, I have 405s, 532s, 640s, but this is my first high powered blue. Anyone got one?
 





I find high power blues too scary to use, even with safety glasses, heaps of fun for burning and cutting stuff but I got bored of that. They have a fat beam and don't go as far as a 532.

When I built my 445 I was expecting blue but my eyes perceive it as really really violet but whatever.

They are wicked powerful, throw a sick beam and will blind you in a heartbeat.
 
Yes 445 lasers in that watt range are scary to use indeed, even my 1w is crazy bright i dont use it much haha, you must be very careful when using it never without goggles. I kinda should have maybe bought a 500mw blue instead of 1w, way overkill for me now that i think about it.
 
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Goggles are important if you care for your going to be using it in small rooms. Any reflection back to your eyes and you might have some serious trouble with your sight. Without goggles it will be hard to burn things because you don't want to be looking at the dot directly. Imagine staring at the sun. Afterwards you'll have the imprint in your eyes when you close your eyelids. With goggles you won't see the beam, but you'll be able to see the dot and it's a lot easier to burn things. Lots to burn on a 2W. At night the blue is amazing. I just did a review on here of my 1.6W and there are many beam pictures of how it looks on other reviews as well. Good luck!
 
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Yea, I ordered a powerful laser (shipping) and I will probably buy a 30mW 515nm green from skylasers for outdoor pointing. Heard 30mW is blink reflex safe from reflections so I may use it when I need to point something out on blinding sunny days.
 
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Yeah I figured goggles are a must, ordered them first. BUT let me get this straight, outdoors or just showing off the beam (not burning, or anything, I guess focused to infinity) it is ok to use without. This is my first high powered (over 500mw) laser so I figured go big or go home. The parlor tricks, lighting matches, popping baloons, ect. are for the lower powered ones. But I wanna know just watt this laser can do, pop a baloon at a mile or something. Seriously though will it etch metal or burn typing paper... What can it do?
 
jrobertdobson said:
Yeah I figured goggles are a must, ordered them first. BUT let me get this straight, outdoors or just showing off the beam (not burning, or anything, I guess focused to infinity) it is ok to use without. This is my first high powered (over 500mw) laser so I figured go big or go home. The parlor tricks, lighting matches, popping baloons, ect. are for the lower powered ones. But I wanna know just watt this laser can do, pop a baloon at a mile or something. Seriously though will it etch metal or burn typing paper... What can it do?
Click to expand...

Treat it as a weapon or dangerous tool, with respect. It's that dangerous especially to eyesight so please always use your goggles as accidents can happen.
It can't etch metal but you know whats really fun? Anything with a magnetic strip like an old credit card will spark. It's awesome!
 
I also built a 2 watt blue laser. Started out to make a 1 watt, but. Got carried away. Never never never even put batteries in it without goggles on...it IS that dangerous! If you haven't gone too far, cut back to 1 watt thats plenty of power for most uses.
 
SilverFire said:
Heard 30mW is blink reflex safe from reflections so I may use it when I need to point something out on blinding sunny days.
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Me again :o

This tool says it would be safe (assuming your laser was 1mRad) at 127ft - So I assume if you hit a mirror/retroreflector 65ft away then you might be ok...? I guess you could be really unlucky and hit a 1 inch concave mirror that focuses all the light back into your eye - seems very unlikely though.
 
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clansley said:
Me again :o

This tool says it would be safe (assuming your laser was 1mRad) at 127ft - So I assume if you hit a mirror/retroreflector 65ft away then you might be ok...? I guess you could be really unlucky and hit a 1 inch concave mirror that focuses all the light back into your eye - seems very unlikely though.
Click to expand...

That calculator also says this "*Safe is a relative term. Never point a laser at a person, animal, vehicle, or anything you wouldn't point a gun at."

So don't think it's ok at any distance.
 
I don't care what safe really is, a 2W laser to me is a weapon, and just like when I shoot I wear safety glasses, I will wear glasses with this, I might go outside and take them off, (I shoot precision scoped long range rifle without glasses, too much risk of distortion) but never inside, I probably wont even run it in my house, just my shop, nothing reflective in there.
 
Well It arrived today, and oh my god. This is definitely a weapon. The beam is beautiful outside, but I am not even run it inside anywhere without glasses.
 
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