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What won't a 2W 445 wont burn?

S

Sly Fox

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So I have a 1.3-1.7W blue laser on the way and I was wondering what the laser won't burn through or transmit heat through just as a safety precaution so as I can place something behind anything that I am trying to burn through and not cause any unwanted damage....
 





Well, a block of metal, that's for sure.

I like to sometimes use my soldering iron's stand as a beamstop if needed, it's black anodized aluminium.

Black-colored metals are usually a good idea. Non-glossy finish is a bonus, minimizing the reflections that can happen.
 
It will pretty much burn everything except metal.
Even though mine burns the coating of the metal when
focused to pinpoint! :beer:
 
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It wont burn metal, but it can melt solder...;) It wont touch anything that cant absorb the visible light energy eg glass, PROBABLY clear perspex or acryllic (but youd have to check the graph of transmission or absorbance vs wavelength to be sure! If it has any absorbance around 445 it could start to melt..) Objects which are the same colour as the beam will be quite resistant too, as they are reflecting the light, but it depends on the base material! :beer:

Edit: Just noticed you were after a beam stop material! In that case black matte painted metal or matte black anodised aluminium, as Eud pointed out, would probably be best! You dont want something that will reflect the beam, rather something that will absorb it and can handle the heat energy ie not get damaged!
 
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Small brick or a piece of paving slab- these have much less chance of giving off a "beam" reflection and will handle a lot of power.
 
Yeah, something like a piece of brick would probably work best, actually.

It's free, impossible to destroy via anything short of multi-thousand dollars CO2, is perfectly diffuse, and you can maul somebody to death with it.

If you can find something like that, it'd be better than anodized metal.
 
Thanks for all the answers guys, I guess I will you a brick or bricks. I love a forum that has a great amount of knowledge to absorb.
 
So on the other side of the question which metal would be easiest to heat up the fastest?
 
quick question: if i paint a piece of metal flat black with spray paint will a laser with this much power burn the paint off?
 
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hahaha kinda had a feeling, i guess ill have to keep an eye out for some cheap matte black anodized aluminium, probably find something at the local bike shop that will work.... or what about powder coated steel?
 
If you are just using it as a beam stop. It will work perfectly fine. The paint may burn but it will turn to carbon which is also matte black. So no worries :)
 
Perfect! I actually found an old pair of CNCd aluminum skateboard trucks that are anodized matte black, the bushing seat makes a perfect beamstop
 
I recall reading years (decades?) ago about a budget beam stop that can be made by simply stacking double-edged razor (or X-acto) blades to form a block. How you fasten them together is up to you. To use it, just place the edged face of the block perpendicular to the beam. Good for several watts too. I have tried this personally and it works great.

2c, R.
 
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