3 ms·
These do exist, here's one I saw recently: https://www.laserpwr.net/hand-held-laser/hand-held-laser-2.html https://www.laserpwr.net/hand-held-laser/hand-held-la
by bloggie 3y ago
These do exist, here's one I saw recently: https://www.laserpwr.net/hand-held-laser/hand-held-laser-2.html https://www.laserpwr.net/hand-held-laser/hand-held-laser-2.h...
- ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago30W? That's a pretty powerful laser. A 1W laser can set stuff on fire. A 5W laser can cut steel.
- ben_w 3y ago> A 5W laser can cut steel I've experimented with using a 60 W (I think*) laser on a small steel bracket, and even with the beam holding on a single point for a minute, it made a barely visible dot that you couldn't feel by running your finger over. * It was nearly a decade ago, but I looked up the relevant hacker space and unless they changed the model, it was 60 watts. The bracket was around 1cm by 5cm, and around 1mm thick.
- ChrisMarshallNY 3y agoFair ‘nuff. I know that a friend had a 3-5W laser (don’t remember -it was a CO2 laser) he used for wood burning, and it was fast. It may also be what they measure.
- dangrossman 3y agoA 60W CO2 laser won't touch steel (or even paper thin aluminum foil), while a 10W diode can cut through it. The type/wavelength of laser matters greatly.
- lightedman 3y ago60w back then would be a CO2 LASER - that's 10600nm and that basically bounces off any non-oxidized metal. The fiber marking LASERs at work are 1064nm, and at a mere 20w output, will absolutely eat away at steel with no problems. Edit: I should note there are CO2 metal cutting LASERs, but they are at very, very high output powers to overcome that reflectivity barrier. You need 500w 10600nm to cut through what a 30w 1064nm could cut. My 80w CO2 barely cuts through heavy-duty aluminum foil, and in many spots it isn't a full cut. A 20w marking LASER at 1064 would obliterate the foil.
- bloggie 3y agoKeep in mind that is the constant (average) power. Assuming this is a Q-switched laser with ~10 ns pulse duration, peak power is ~70 kW. (Kind of low as far as lasers go these days, but it's just a laser marker)
- IshKebab 3y agoA 5W laser can't cut steel. You need to be in the kilowatts before you can cut metal (unless it is very very very thin).
- ChrisMarshallNY 3y agoYou may well be correct, and I spoke out of turn, but it is my understanding that the wavelength of the laser can make a huge difference.