Safety Questions

[onedeaged]

I ordered a 1W 445nm laser with safety goggles. I will be wearing them when using the laser indoors and to burn stuff up close of course.

But if I wanted to shine it outdoors and look at the beam would I still need the goggles on? I know the goggles make the laser look weak so it'd be a kill not to see the awesome beam.

Another question I have is if it will emit IR (Pretty sure mine doesn't have an IR filter) that even goggles won't protect from, like I have read about the 532nm green lasers doing. What can I do to protect myself from that?

Thanks!

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Your 445nm laser does not emit IR. Only DPSS-based lasers such as 532nm green or 473nm blue (the more expensive blue), or plain IR lasers (if you're intending to use one) will emit IR.

Good that you got safety goggles! For seeing the beam, you can observe the beam so long as you're absolutely sure you aren't going to hit anything with a specular (shiny) surface that might reflect back at you. If you're not holding the laser, make sure it is well secured before you take off your goggles; you don't want it rolling off and the beam hitting your eye you like what happened to Xoul. A good way to check if the environment is safe is to use a digital camera and look at its LCD while wearing your goggles to see what it sees; sometimes those goggles make it hard to tell what is illuminated. Finally, if you shine into the sky make sure there are no planes in the area.

 

[onedeaged]

Your 445nm laser does not emit IR. Only DPSS-based lasers such as 532nm green or 473nm blue (the more expensive blue), or plain IR lasers (if you're intending to use one) will emit IR.

Good that you got safety goggles! For seeing the beam, you can observe the beam so long as you're absolutely sure you aren't going to hit anything with a specular (shiny) surface that might reflect back at you. If you're not holding the laser, make sure it is well secured before you take off your goggles; you don't want it rolling off and the beam hitting your eye you like what happened to Xoul. A good way to check if the environment is safe is to use a digital camera and look at its LCD while wearing your goggles to see what it sees; sometimes those goggles make it hard to tell what is illuminated. Finally, if you shine into the sky make sure there are no planes in the area.

Thank you for your help. I appreciate it. :yh: