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Anyone get one of these 3mw blue lasers?


Bobosan

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Personally if I were planning to drop $300 on a laser, I would go for something more professional. This one looks pretty good in terms of $/W but it is a torch with a diode stuffed in the front of it where as the ones from Wicked Lasers (for example) are purpose built as lasers.

 

I don't think they are really practical for lighting fuses. Probably good for a laser show, but then you really want a few of them along with some fancy optics in order to produce something that looks good.

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Lighting fuses is a bit of overkill I think. Was wondering about uses in a CNC cutting system or perhaps a supplemental display during a pyro show.

 

Back in 1982 (yes, I'm that old ;) ) during the World Fair in Knoxville, TN, FedEx had a smallish fireworks display every evening at their pavillion. During the show, they played laser light on the smoke created by the shells creating designs and advertisment I always wondered why this has not been repeated somewhere since in some pyro show. Maybe it has?

 

Then there is holographic uses.

Edited by Bobosan
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  • 3 months later...

If you go onto most laser forums, you will hear not to buy from wicked lasers. Yes, they have good lasers and some are built well. But don't expect it for a couple of months when you buy it (if not longer) because they take an INSANELY long time to ship. And their customer service is about horrible. They don't respond to all of their customers and you will be placed on hold for hours with their call center.

 

It really isn't that hard to make your own if you know about electronics. There are multiple circuit diagrams on the internet to make a laser, although, like this profession, lasers can be dangerous on skin or eyes. If you aren't electronically inclined, you can buy one (just not from wicked lasers).

 

Its also illegal (in the state of Florida at least {check your state laws}) to have a class 4 laser (greater than 500 mW) that is not registered with your city, and you need to have someone trained to work with lasers to sign a paper to get it registered.

 

Also, 1W lasers are considered quite powerful, 3W is high powered even for normal laser junkies. You can light a match with around 250mW of power, so go with something lower that 3W for lighting fuse.

 

And finally: the glasses you would need to operate a 3W laser safely, in case it flashed into your eyes, would have to be at exactly the right wavelength and would have to be a very, very strong pair of specialty made laser shielding glasses.

 

Sorry for the rant, and if any of the info is wrong, please tell.

Edited by TranslucentDragon
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  • 3 weeks later...

Bobosan - the company I shoot for offers "multimedia" shows combining video, lasers and pyro. Traditional firework shows are the most common, but these are well received by the audience.

 

Cedar Point has a nightly laser / firework show, and I think a lot of theme parks do something similar. The years I worked there, the show was close prox product, flame effects, video and lasers.

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Cedar Point? Is that the Dunes?

 

I haven't seen a combined pyro/laser display since that WF. May have to road trip up that way.

 

thx Nater.

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Cedar Point is an amusement park and resort in Sandusky Ohio on a peninsula on Lake Erie. There is a beach, but no dunes nearby. It is worth a road trip, besides the amusement park there is a ton of stuff to do in the area. Marblehead has a lighthouse and a good ice cream shop across the street from the Coast Guard station.
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I wonder if that blue laser pointer is based on the same diodes that people have been extracting from projectors and selling on ebay for $40-50? Those are only meant to be driven continuously up to around an amp which puts out 1.1W, and even that will only last with a very good heat sink. Of course it does say in the add that it should not be switched on for more than 30 seconds at a time!

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  • 1 month later...
If you're ever looking for a high powered laser, look up flamingpyro on www.laserpointerforums.com (his real name is Jeff). He's a WPA and PGI member, and does excellent work (building both pyro and lasers).
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  • 4 weeks later...

If your hope to get continuous duty from your laser module, you should look at TEC based modules.

Peltier cooling chips allow the module to operate at the optimum temperature, resulting in the greatest degree of stability while ensuring that the diode has the longest possible life. EBay has them for considerably less than they would gave sold for, even only a few years ago. They are also often TTL based so can be modulated.

 

Nitrous

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  • 2 weeks later...

Why not just go with a 500Mw Violet or blue laser if you would just want to light fuses. Also i cant stress safety enough with these lasers, eye protection is a MUST ( This is why ) also, be careful where you buy lasers from as some places screw you over and will send you a broken laser. if you want some website that are trusted just ask and ill post them.

 

Buy goggles here (http://www.survivallaserusa.com/Safety/cat1667093_1527285.aspx)

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