I studied up on lasers when I first got one, the mediocre strong green lasers can cause damage to the retina for miles, like 7 miles, and can be quite disturbing for 11 to 14 miles. At distances over a quarter of a mile or so, though, the auto-reaction to blink can be sufficient to prevent harm, irritation perhaps but not a burned hole in the retina. Thatās on a 200mW green laser, which is what mine is supposed to be rated at. Well, my other one. This one is from a more reputable source that guaranteeās it to be 50mW at a minimum. I think I paid around $60 for the green diode.
I got the blue one on a sort of trade, as a used laser. Like I said, new the Nichia 9mm at 3.3W is over $300. Itās in a solid copper housing.
In the end, pretty worthless to have as you canāt do anything with them if you have a conscience.
The color is mesmerizing, and thatās a real problem as everyone that seeās it wants to see more of it which is bad. I took it to my Sister-in-laws and shone it into their swamp area (Southern Mississippi) and she was blown away by the color, tried her dangest to talk me into taking it to the 4th of July celebration and showing it off. NO! No can do! Itās wickedly strong and around a crowd of people itās an accident waiting to happen. But thatās the thing, the color really sucks you in and makes you want to play with it. So Iāve shown it to scant few and it stays locked away the vast majority of the time.
If it werenāt so pretty I would have disassembled it and destroyed it several years agoā¦ might yet.
Iām more at risk cutting bits of metal with my angle grinder or driving on the highway with hundreds of others than holding a laser in my hand. Much like a gun I would not point it at myself or others itās fairly common sense. This isnāt the place for this, however. Nice laser DB :+1: I look forward to how white laser technology could impact the long-range flashlight world.
You donāt even need to point it at yourself to be blinded. Even a slightly reflective object is enough to burn your retina faster than your blink reflex. Laser protection goggles also only block from the front, it is still possible for the laser to enter your eye from the side.
Iām glad you mention this because all this gun comparison doesnāt really do it justice. A laser is constantly firing and reflecting off crap as you move it, unlike a gun.
A laser may merely burn skin or clothing, while a ricocheting bullet rips people a new arsehole! The laserās only real claim to danger is a direct retina hit, which is of course a real danger but not so easily accomplished whether by intent or by accident. I have had the tail switch accidentally on when loading cells into my blue laser, the laser fired within an inch of my hand and burned a tiny blister that stung for hours. Had that been a gunā¦ well, obviously Iād have a hole through my hand AND the very real possibility that an innocent bystander could have been hit by the bullet after it left my hand. The laser goes through people to hit people behind them? Like, NOT! Depending on the firearm and the situation, many people and/or property are at risk for quite a distance from that one accidental discharge. Case in point, pray you never accidentally fire a .454 Casull, a 300 grain bullet that travels 2000 feet per second!
Safety goggles that wrap around protect the eye from all directions, depends on what you purchase I guess and if you even wear them at all. I normally donāt wear them as they render the amazing beam invisible which makes it all a moot point. I HAVE been wearing quality goggles while frying the yellow jacket wasps right outside my window as Iāve been getting them through the glass.
I donāt kill wasps with the laser for fun or meanness, I am highly allergic to them and to leave them in place could get me dead instead of them. So I eradicate the ones that build nests too close to where I make ingress. I leave many thousands of them alone in spite of the danger to me when I mow.
X3, donāt ya just hate the waiting game? As many parts as I have here I too am waiting on a couple of specific items in order to complete the next build. Canāt really even get started without this one piece that locates everything else, a new LED reflector to put in a Maglite Classic.
Come on, were you in my home the last weeks or what ?
I was waiting for an aluminum SST50 reflector from FT, because itās what place the LED board, hence the aluminum pill that I have to latheā¦ and everything else.
Powerful lasers do not need a direct hit to damage your eyes. Diffuse reflection is enough.
With a gun everybody knows that itās very serious and not a toy. With lasers this is different. Most people donāt realize the danger.
A blue or red laser is much more powerful than your eyes make you think. This is because the human eye is not very sensitive to these colors (wavelengths). The difference between 555nm green and some shade of blue can be up to 20x for the same wattage.
It looks like you have parts, many many many parts.
I havenāt modded anything lately because Iām making tools. Solder paste stencils, to be specific.
I dragged out our little used vinyl cutter (Silhouette Cameo 2), found some useful open source software called gerber2graphtec and did some test cuts for Lexelās variant of TAās 17mm driver on some heavy, scrap vellum. When that looked good, I ordered some 4mil mylar sheets. The sheets arrived yesterday and I cut stencils for 3 different sizes of the driver. Iāll give them a trial run tonight.
Iām also planning to use it to make a stencil to apply solder mask to copper discs to aid in the precise positioning of 10mm sinkpads in order to create custom triples and quads.
Hey, just talk to that lady in California who almost got killed by those thousands of African-American bees that swarmed her. Bet she wishes sheād bought propane-tanks filled with Raid to exterminate them all.
And I know someone who got swarmed by YJs while pulling up weeds; they built nests in the ground.