Protective viewing window, film, or enclosure

[Isos]

I'm building a small CNC laser etcher for darkening wood, cutting paper, etc. I'm planning to use a 405nm 500-1000mW diode.

I value my eyesight very highly, but I also would like to view the machine in operation without having to wear glasses every time I'm near it (a lot).

Any economical suggestions for shielding the machine? Protective films or special acrylic would be ideal. Most options I've seen are industrial scale and very expensive. We're not talking about a 40W CO2 laser, so I'm wondering if a less pricey product might exist.

Thanks!

 

[Speedy78]

Is it in an enclosure? You might be able to find lexan or something similar rated at 405nm. When the lid is closed you could view it through the window. The easiest option tbough would be to just get some egal pair safety glasses and wear them whrn it is operating.

 

[Isos]

Is it in an enclosure? You might be able to find lexan or something similar rated at 405nm. When the lid is closed you could view it through the window. The easiest option tbough would be to just get some egal pair safety glasses and wear them whrn it is operating.

I haven't built an enclosure yet, so I'm fairly open in that regard. The machine is on a table in my tiny apartment, so it would be nice to not wear safety glasses every time I'm at home with it running. If it came down to that, I would just build an opaque enclosure.

The laser is downward facing and only a few inches above the workpiece, so my concern is indirect light. If I put darkened yellow tint films on plexiglass panes, do you think this would be adequate shielding since the laser is not particularly high power?

 

[Flaminpyro]

Where are you going to get a 405nm LD that has a 500 to 1000mW output, I want one :thinking: hell I would like a dozen of them

Go to a welding supply house and ask for some arc shield vinyl, it's used like a curtain around a area where welding is happening and
it's an orange color vinyl and usually comes in 6 or 8 foot by 6" wide strips.

 

[Speedy78]

500mW to 1W is a high powered laser. Its not something to be taken lightly. I did a quick search and couldnt find any flat plastic for laser blocking. Do you really need to observe it working? You could get glasses and wear for test runs but once everything works properly jusy close a lid thst blocks all the light.

 

[Isos]

Where are you going to get a 405nm LD that has a 500 to 1000mW output, I want one :thinking: hell I would like a dozen of them

Go to a welding supply house and ask for some arc shield vinyl, it's used like a curtain around a area where welding is happening and
it's an orange color vinyl and usually comes in 6 or 8 foot by 6" wide strips.

https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes/s06j-12x-405-diodes

DTR sells some quite reasonably priced in my opinion. I like the welding curtain idea, but you may be right Speedy78. It might be best to simply enclose the whole thing opaquely. I love watching my 3D printing and CNC projects, but I don't want to risk my vision. If I can't be sure it's safe, it may be best to stick with protective glasses.

 

[Spooky]

We're not talking about a 40W CO2 laser

Therein lays half the problem, I treat my 7.5kW CO2 with less respect than I do a 50 watt RF Galvo. The physical presence of a machine near the size of a small house tends to demand respect just because *it exists*, tiny little Galvo's that look like toys in comparison don't have the same kind of "I'm really going to F*** you up if you mess with me" presence hence operators need to be reminded that they aren't toys. 1,000mW can blind you, blind is a state , you are either blind or not blind....not a little bit blind or half blind in the absolute sense. Vision impaired is one thing but at 1,000 mW the differences between that and damage from a reflection from a 5kW isn't much really.

Over the damage threshold lasers should all be treated the same, 1 watt, 100 watt, 1,000 watts or whatever.

cheers

Dave

 

[Leodahsan]

@Isos
Some appropriate colored cellophane should block reflections? If the laser never points to the "window", I think cellophane is a good idea, its cheap, and if it works, you can just put it behind some protection glass/acrylic.

 

[paulkruger]

I'm building a small CNC laser etcher for darkening wood, cutting paper, etc. I'm planning to use a 405nm 500-1000mW diode.

I value my eyesight very highly, but I also would like to view the machine in operation without having to wear glasses every time I'm near it (a lot).

Any economical suggestions for shielding the machine? Protective films or special acrylic would be ideal. Most options I've seen are industrial scale and very expensive. We're not talking about a 40W CO2 laser, so I'm wondering if a less pricey product might exist.

Thanks!

I notice many questions sit here for several YEARS and no one answers. Is this common? Is there another forum with more activity with regard to people able to reply to laser questions?