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FrozenGate by Avery

Which is the BEST laser color for BURNING?

Darkarmyofone said:
Blu-ray obviously burns better somewhat. if you hold an 400mW 8x to your hand focused to infinity, it will blister you almost instantly, like 3-4 seconds.
if you hold a 400mW red (660nm) laser focused to infinity it doesnt blister you, just stings.
This is just my personal experiance though, i make NO official claims.
i say 405nm burns FAR better per mW
Thx for the plug Daguin ^_^
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You're welcome.

It is not that violet really burns your skin all that much better than red. It is that the red color is much more easily diffused into the skin and so is no longer "concentrated" in the spot on the surface like the violet is. Also, the violet diode and light can be focused to a smaller dot so the "effect" seems more powerful.

Not that any of that really matters if your skin is smoking, eh?

Peace,
dave
 





HAHA lol, well the more i read the more i cant decide what to buy!!! lol.

I love the pocket mini build with bluray... but i also like the $48 idea for a red burner! lol.

The tossup...
Red vs. Blue
$50 vs. $120
mW vs. mW
burn power vs. burn power
host vs. host


There is so much to compare but when it comes down to it, they will both burn, just red burns for less cost, yet blue looks by far, BETTER than the commonly used red.

will someone just buy me both and i wont have to decide!!! =D
 
scion said:
excellent information! I really appreciate your help!

I've had this green laser for about 3 years, and im ready for upgrade or change. I'll prolly leave this one alone, although i would love to be able to focus it!

I will prolly buy the $47 or $53 red 200mW laser on o-like! Im in the US, so i'll prolly have the battery/charger shipped seperately. I havnt decided which model i'll get yet thoguh. which one do you recommend?
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I recently bought a 1mw purple 405nm for £2 on ebay [ which i must say i never buy from ebaY BUT a friend said sometimes they mess up and you get a 200mw instead of a <1mw so i thought WHY NOT ! } and it popped A black balloon 18ft away, SO........HMMMM

where my green 80mw couldnt pop it at 1inch which cost far more.....10 X MORE
i think it depends on how focused it is, well it seems so to me anyway.............
i always thought it depended on the mw !!
i had a 300 mw laser 520nm and that thing would burn anything.......sadly i dropped it.
So there you go.....


MAY I ASK WHAT YOU WANT TO BURN ?
 
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Good question, Paul666. What are you trying to burn and why? It makes a difference in choosing the best laser for the job. Safety should be foremost in your mind as well.
 
One other thing paul - this threads been dead for nearly 10 years! Always take a look at the date on the last post - Also on the OP of the thread's profile - they've not been active since 2010!
 
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Blu-ray obviously burns better somewhat
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The frequency of the laser does effect the burning ability of the laser. Colour effects how much of the energy of the laser beam is absorbed by the material per the area illuminated. This is a complicated formula as it is dependant on the material being burnt. In general, I would expect low frequency like red to absorb in general better than higher frequencies like blue or violet. For example water absorbs red light much better than blue light. Plants absorb red light for photosynthesis and it is why they appear green. It is kinda like the opposite of Rayleigh scattering where higher frequencies scatter more. So green paper would burn better with a red laser than a blue laser. The reason why blue ray lasers are good for burning is they tend to be single mode at high powers and can be easily focused to a small spot. More energy in smaller spot equals higher temperatures (and they are cheap because they are mass produced). I have a cheap $7 532nm dpss laser pen style that is collimated for infinity and it burns and will light a match unfocused. It is obviously over 5mw and it has a very thin laser beam with very low divergence (luck of the draw). This is why you should be very careful with cheap eBay laser pens for cat toys as you can damage your cats eye sight with some of them.
 
The amount of light absorbed is the major factor in how well an object can be burned.

But the amount of energy in the beam is also a factor. 1 Watt of 405nm contains more energy than 1 Watt of 650nm.

The Higher the frequency of the light the more energy it carries. Unless I don't understand the science.
 
Mosc007 said:
1 Watt of 405nm contains more energy than 1 Watt of 650nm.

The Higher the frequency of the light the more energy it carries. Unless I don't understand the science.
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Not quite - 1 photon with a wavelength of 405nm carries more energy than a photon with a wavelength at 650nm, that is correct;

Unfortunately 1 ton of feathers weighs the same as 1 ton of lead - and in this case, 1W of 405nm laser light is exactly delivering the same amount of energy (1 joule) per second than 1W of 650nm laser light.

1 million photons per second of 405nm will carry more energy than 1 million photons per second of 650, but the unit of watts is already cancelling this out.
 
Cornweda made some good points. I know from experience that a CO2 laser is very effective on most organic materials (wood,plastic, etc.), but terrible on metals. Most metals are very reflective at the 10.6 micron wavelength. A YAG laser (1064nm) is a much better choice for metals, even if it is of lower power.

I recently did an experiment with a CO2 set to about 40watts. It was reflected off of an ordinary black aluminum heatsink and directed at a piece of wood. The wood quickly scorched. If anyone is interested, I can make a quick video this weekend.
 
One more answer to add, all else being equal (which they won’t be) longer red wavelengths will not focus to as tight a spot as shorter wavelengths such as blue or violet. Due to this the power density is less on a watt per watt output basis. The type of diode, whether single mode or multimode makes a difference too, but bulk power at long wavelengths can overcome, just that the spot diameter won’t be as tight.

To contradict all of that due to the amount of power and optics, if you want some uber dangerous burning power (I’ve done it), get a 40 watt FAP800 module. They are 800 nm infrared but the fiber output can be focused to a fairly sharp point and will burn like hell. That said, that amount of high power IR is about as dangerous as you can go as a hobbyist and if you do, high enough OD protection goggles for yourself or anyone who might get exposed are a must.

All lasers can be dangerous, even 5 mw, you just need to take proper steps to protect yourself. Focus a single mode (which can produce a fine spot) 1 mw laser to a point on your retina, perhaps even multimode, and your eye is toasted. Look at the raw uncollimated output from a laser diode and the same thing can happen due to the lens in your eye focusing the energy to a fine point on your retina, that’s what it does to light. The smaller the diode emitter, the smaller the point can be focused to produce incredibly high power densities, this is a hazard for all lasers and low power single mode diodes have the smallest emitters. Low power doesn’t always mean safe, it just depends on what you do with it.
 
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J-Tech Photonics sells 2 lenses that will fit right in pointers that are specifically designed for burning. They sell CNC engraving type diode lasers. I have dealt with this company before and I have no complaints. Do not confuse them with a different company called Jye Tech. They are junk dealers.
 
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