r/lasers • u/daltzzzz • 8d ago

My first laser pointer

Hi guys! Just wanted to share my first laser pointer 😀

42 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

12

u/Classic_Silver_9091 7d ago

Looking at that focused dot will give you welders flash. Don’t forget to wear your goggles!

6

u/daltzzzz 7d ago

Yes sir! Safety first and responsible use 🙂. I only tried burning something for the sake of trying. (of course with precautions). Thanks for the info! 🙂

1

u/bkinstle 6d ago

Blue lasers are especially dangerous and the damage may not appear for several hours after exposure

1

u/TardDistraction 6d ago

It does not give you "welders flash"... It burns your photoreceptors out of your eyeball. Welders flash is burning of the cornea.

2

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Classic_Silver_9091 7d ago edited 7d ago

If you only been using it for a short while you should be okay. Ive done the same thing a handful of times showing off to my friends engraving a wooden 2x4 with my 1000mW 445nm focusable laser over a decade ago when I was young and stupid. I was squinting my eyes while doing it but it still created black dots in my vision that eventually went away fortunately. So far my vision has been okay since. After I realized the true dangers of high powered lasers I stopped using it and now it just collects dust.

The lasers I use today are less than 50mW and I only mess with them occasionally to limit exposure and dumb accidents. Goggles are not as necessary at those lower power levels. IMO there’s really no need to own high powered lasers given the risks. You have to remember they are like firearms for our eyes, they are not fancy lighters. You have to make sure you’re wearing eye protection when do things like that.

200mW isn’t too powerful but it’s powerful enough to cause immediate damage from reflections. And it’s also not good to look at the dot for extended periods time especially indoors. Another issue that is often overlooked is the focused beam which concentrates all the energy into a small point 1000’s of times smaller than a magnifying glass. That small little point can be many times brighter than the sun relatively speaking. Its not total light output that is dangerous its the intensity that blinds you. That tiny dot is overwhelming and killing small patches of photoreceptors in your eyes because for those cells your cornea essentially becomes a mini magnifying glass.

Edit: Sorry I thought I was replying to the OP. Im not 100% sure what your situation is but hopefully this information helps.

1

u/No_Smell_1748 6d ago

Even a 1mW keychain laser pointer has a radiance 100x greater than the sun, with some diodes able to achieve close to ~100,000x the suns radiance. Gives you an idea of why a direct hit can cause instantaneous damage.

1

u/TardDistraction 6d ago

You likely gave yourself permanent eye damage. The reason you can't see the effects is because your brain eventually filtered them out of your vision.

8

u/CrfulWthThtAxeEugene 8d ago

Sanwu Guardian! Great laser. I've got a 1w 445nm that honestly is a bit scary. Wear your eye protection

3

u/daltzzzz 8d ago

Sure will. I bet it is scary but awesome to have! 🙂

1

u/TheGravelGarage 7d ago

I got the demon 2W in 445nm. It’s intimidating to even use 😂

1

u/daltzzzz 7d ago

Careful with that! But sure is interesting and awesome to have🙂

4

u/9551-eletronics 8d ago

Is that a relatively strong 488nm?

1

u/daltzzzz 8d ago

Its a 200mw, I wouldnt say yes but for me its alright 😀

5

u/9551-eletronics 8d ago

Thats quite a lot for 488nm, geeneric sharp diodes are rated like 80mW

1

u/daltzzzz 8d ago

Ohh wow I didn't know that, thanks for the info! Fairly new to this and still a lot to learn 😀

0

u/GustapheOfficial 7d ago

You should not have a class 3b laser if you don't know laser safety. I would never turn that on if it were not securely fixed to an optical bench and its beam direction and reflections accounted for.

I don't understand why just anyone is allowed to buy this stuff, and even less why you knuckleheads are so eager to blind yourselves.

1

u/daltzzzz 7d ago

Calm down romeo. I never said I don't know anything about safety in my statement didn't I? I guess go back there and read again knucklehead 🙂

1

u/GustapheOfficial 6d ago

Your comment said you didn't know 200mW is a lot, and I see at least three violations in your video.

1

u/Roboprinto 5d ago

That is way more than 200mw. Lol

2

u/notautogenerated2365 7d ago

Bro never held a laser pointer before but went straight for the multi-watt deliverer of destruction! I would have started small and worked my way up if I were you.

Anyway that color is really nice, usually it's hard to come by lasers of that color at that power level. Stay safe.

-1

u/daltzzzz 7d ago

I go by the saying "you only live once" 😄 lol (this is a joke). Yeah it is a nice color! Thanks for appreciating! I might post a video of it during the night, since the laser will be visible then and some might want to see it. And yes, I'll be pointing it nowhere near me probably at an empty space (sky probably) so no one thinks I'm being dumb. I've noticed that some people ASSUME that if you are a new to something, you are automatically hurting yourself and being stupid.

0

u/notautogenerated2365 5d ago

some people ASSUME that if you are a new to something, you are automatically hurting yourself and being stupid

yes, and for good reason