Newb needs education - help

[Abouna]

I'd like to get my first greenie. I know nothing about lasers. I have a few questions:

- is there any mW that is deemed fairly safe? I'm guessing <5mW
- what are the dangers and how real are they for say a 10mW-50mW?
- I'm not interested in burning, just outdoor pointing, beamshots, etc what will satisfy, and I suppose some indoor diffraction fun? I'm thinking I need at least 10mW but am tempted by 30mW
- can't figure out what IR filters are for and what importance they serve

Looking forward to some help here.

Cheers.

Abouna,
benchcrafted.com

 

[marianne]

<5mW is "safe" if you accidentally get it in your eyes briefly (though not if you purposely stared into the beam) - the main dangers of higher powers (but still <500mW) is that reflections off of shiny surfaces could hit you in the eye and cause permanent damage. for what you want, 30mW would certainly look more impressive than 10, a nova X-25 would usually be at least 30mW and at a good price, especially as they give us LPF people a 5% discount if we use the coupon code "warp5". and as for IR filters... basically, a green laser is made by shining an infrared (IR) laser through crystals and mirrors and things - you get green out the end, but you also get IR, unless the laser has a filter. the reason IR is potentially bad is that it spreads out in a wider cone than the green beam, could be reflecting off something back into your eyes, and could be causing damage, but you wouldn't see it because it's virtually invisible to the human eye. hope all that info helped, and welcome to LPF!

 

[Rhith]

For a first laser maybe try for the True 30mW from Deal Extreme. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.469 They aren't the best quality and the power isn't guaranteed but it would be a great starter laser. I have on on the way right now. I warn you now though, the shipping can take anywhere between 2 weeks to a month or so. But that's what you get for free shipping.

 

[Abouna]

Well, I;m used to Deal Extreme shipping, I just spent the last 3 months working with them on a faulty LED light.

The 30mW is what I was thinking of I just want to be sure it's not ridiculously dangerous. I simply don;t know enough about these gizmos.

 

[marianne]

it isn't ridiculously dangerous, you just need to be a bit more careful than you'd be with a pointer powered (ie <5mW) laser

 

[JasonV]

I just got my first green from NOVAlasers.com I am very happy with the product, customer service and delivery methods. (used TNT 1-2 days) i would strongly suggest that site