Josh K
0
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2012
- Messages
- 4
- Points
- 0
Hello everyone. As you can see by the title, I just became a member on the forums. My name is Josh. I live in the Northern part of the US. I am 20 years old (in a few days here anyways). I work a lot and haven't really had a lot of time to get into the laser hobby. I guess that's all the basic stuff about me.
To start off, I just joined, but I have been around the forums reading and researching lasers for over a year. I have been meaning to join and become and established member here for quite some time now but I have been pretty constrained on my time. Lasers have always been very interesting to me and now I feel like I have the time to really get into the hobby and enjoy them.
My hands on experience with lasers has been very limited as of this point. I guess what initially got me interested was one of those little cheapo key chain lasers. Since I seen one of those I have always thought they were pretty awesome. Since then I've owned a 630-650nm (give or take) laser pen. I received it from my uncle when I was younger (years ago). That was my first "real" laser pointer. And now I own a <5mw 532nm laser which was initially designed for a gun, but I believe it to be severely overspeced probably coming in at 25-40mw. Other than that I have really had no other hands on experience with lasers.
As far as laser safety, I have read all the sticky's and what not that people have posted. I just figured I would bring it up because I know safety is a big concern around here. So I know for high powered lasers glasses are required and for different wavelength lasers a different pair of glasses may be required, and about reflecting light etc. But since I am new here I don't mind people suggesting more safety reading or some good safety practices when handling high powered lasers.
As far as what I hope to accomplish with lasers? I know most of you guys here are pretty avid laser hobbyists and love to build your own and are proud of your work. For me, I wouldn't mind building my own lasers. It looks like it could be pretty interesting, not to mention a pretty neat thing you can mention to people, that you built it. What I am really trying to say I guess is that I wouldn't mind building a laser of my own, but its not necessarily what I would get the most enjoyment out of. For me, I like sky pointing. The raw power of the laser being able to make such a visible beam shoot so far. I just love it. And of course I like to show my friends that have only seen those cheapo dollar store lasers what a true laser beam looks like, they always seem amazed when I just show them my 5mw laser (and obviously it would be quite different when demonstrating a high powered laser).
I plan on purchasing a high powered laser in the coming months here. I still have yet to decide on a high powered 445nm or a 532nm. Like I said above, I like a nice bright beam that is highly visible, and from what I understand the 532nm wavelength is brighter to the human eye than a 445nm. I haven't had a laser that can burn yet, so for now I am not really interested in it. I feel like it might be one of those things you have to try first to get hooked. I was thinking a focusable 445nm would give me the best of both worlds with a nice beam for sky pointing and for burning. I was looking at the survival laser bundles (and various other respectable sites), which look like a good value and seem to be of fairly high quality, especially for the price. There have been a lot of really awesome custom builds on here too that have amazed me. With that said, I plan on making a purchase soon but what type and from where has yet to be decided.
Sorry if that was a bit long but I feel it was a proper introduction. I look forward to being a part of the community and getting to know everyone here. Thanks for reading. :yh:
To start off, I just joined, but I have been around the forums reading and researching lasers for over a year. I have been meaning to join and become and established member here for quite some time now but I have been pretty constrained on my time. Lasers have always been very interesting to me and now I feel like I have the time to really get into the hobby and enjoy them.
My hands on experience with lasers has been very limited as of this point. I guess what initially got me interested was one of those little cheapo key chain lasers. Since I seen one of those I have always thought they were pretty awesome. Since then I've owned a 630-650nm (give or take) laser pen. I received it from my uncle when I was younger (years ago). That was my first "real" laser pointer. And now I own a <5mw 532nm laser which was initially designed for a gun, but I believe it to be severely overspeced probably coming in at 25-40mw. Other than that I have really had no other hands on experience with lasers.
As far as laser safety, I have read all the sticky's and what not that people have posted. I just figured I would bring it up because I know safety is a big concern around here. So I know for high powered lasers glasses are required and for different wavelength lasers a different pair of glasses may be required, and about reflecting light etc. But since I am new here I don't mind people suggesting more safety reading or some good safety practices when handling high powered lasers.
As far as what I hope to accomplish with lasers? I know most of you guys here are pretty avid laser hobbyists and love to build your own and are proud of your work. For me, I wouldn't mind building my own lasers. It looks like it could be pretty interesting, not to mention a pretty neat thing you can mention to people, that you built it. What I am really trying to say I guess is that I wouldn't mind building a laser of my own, but its not necessarily what I would get the most enjoyment out of. For me, I like sky pointing. The raw power of the laser being able to make such a visible beam shoot so far. I just love it. And of course I like to show my friends that have only seen those cheapo dollar store lasers what a true laser beam looks like, they always seem amazed when I just show them my 5mw laser (and obviously it would be quite different when demonstrating a high powered laser).
I plan on purchasing a high powered laser in the coming months here. I still have yet to decide on a high powered 445nm or a 532nm. Like I said above, I like a nice bright beam that is highly visible, and from what I understand the 532nm wavelength is brighter to the human eye than a 445nm. I haven't had a laser that can burn yet, so for now I am not really interested in it. I feel like it might be one of those things you have to try first to get hooked. I was thinking a focusable 445nm would give me the best of both worlds with a nice beam for sky pointing and for burning. I was looking at the survival laser bundles (and various other respectable sites), which look like a good value and seem to be of fairly high quality, especially for the price. There have been a lot of really awesome custom builds on here too that have amazed me. With that said, I plan on making a purchase soon but what type and from where has yet to be decided.
Sorry if that was a bit long but I feel it was a proper introduction. I look forward to being a part of the community and getting to know everyone here. Thanks for reading. :yh:
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