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A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

spectrum.ieee.org

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Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#31

Post by sarchertech »

dnpls wrote: post #20
boxed wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of locks are mostly just for show anyway. See Lockpicking Lawyers youtube channel.

Yes, but the average bike thief is looking for an easy steal and will avoid wasting time on a locked bike. Bikes in the Netherlands usually have 2 locks (a wheel lock and an extra chain), so thieves will usually move on from those first. A portable laser might allow a thief to steal even previously safer bikes just because it makes it quicker and silent (I'm assuming both).

It won’t be quicker. The laser in the demonstration was cutting through 100 micrometers of steel.

Cutting through a chain is going to take much much longer. There are already quicker methods to cut or break bike chains and disable locks.

Also cutting with a laser requires very precise alignment with respect to distance. You won’t be free handing this. You’d need to mount it on a device capable of precisely adjusting the distance as you cut deeper into the metal.

Plus it’s relatively easy to engineer laser resistant materials.

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#32

Post by mft_ »

coder543 wrote: post #30
mft_ wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CNC would be an obvious implementation. At the moment, there are expensive-but-affordable home CNC laser cutters, typically for a small number of thousand EUR/USD. The more powerful ones can do a very neat job cutting (up to a few mm of) plywood. There are also CNC plasma cutters, which do a good but slightly rough job of cutting sheet metal, and are relatuvely large and complex beasts. I guess a highly-powerful lase…

Yeah, my larger point is that there are already plenty of ways to cut metal in a home workshop. I don't see how a laser would be an improvement on any of those, unless the goal is to CNC with extremely tight tolerances, but even then... it seems unlikely that you'll be CNCing blocks of metal, more likely just 2D cuts from sheets of metal, which is pretty limiting. It would certainly be fun for some stuff, but I think…

You're right that such things already exist; I think it would offer two incremental improvements:

* for wood, faster and/or thicker cutting, vs. existing CNC laser cutters

* for sheet metal, neater/cleaner cutting (i.e. cleaner cuts, higher tolerances, less subsequent prep-work needed) perhaps in a smaller neater machine, vs. existing CNC plasma cutters.

Especially within the context of a CNC machine, I wouldn't be overly concerned about safety - all of the more powerful CNC laser cutters I'm aware of already come with an exclosure - both for laser safety, and to constrain smoke (before it's vented safely).

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#33

Post by garaetjjte »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #6
pureheartlover wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I'm kinda surprised there aren't handheld laser engraving devices made for quick and permanent graffiti.

On that note, did anyone ever make a handheld inkjet or spray nozzle, so you could print graffiti on walls or things on the go? I imagine most of the tech in it would be the same as in the kind of laser device you're asking about.

https://spritesmods.com/?art=magicbrush

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#34

Post by eightnoneone »

sarchertech wrote: post #17
aqme28 wrote: post #7

A society in which "the average car-buyer" has a tiny portable steel-melting laser is a society where I'm wearing welding goggles every time I leave the house. And I'm not sure how you even lock a bike or a door or a safe any more.

There are already so many ways to defeat locks, that locks are just there to keep honest people honest and to slow down criminals. The laser in the article took 30 seconds to cut a a tiny disc out of a sheet of steel 100 micrometers thick. That isn’t going to change things on the theft front. There are much more effective methods available today.

The quality of locks has always been measured in time.

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#37

Post by 83 »

mft_ wrote: post #24
coder543 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you expand on why you think this would be so great for home workshops? How do you envision using the laser? Handheld, mounted, or on a CNC?

CNC would be an obvious implementation. At the moment, there are expensive-but-affordable home CNC laser cutters, typically for a small number of thousand EUR/USD. The more powerful ones can do a very neat job cutting (up to a few mm of) plywood. There are also CNC plasma cutters, which do a good but slightly rough job of cutting sheet metal, and are relatuvely large and complex beasts. I guess a highly-powerful lase…

Diode based lasers have driven the cost to laser cut plywood down to affordable levels (~$200 for a creality/comgrow/chinabrand 5w laser). I just bought two of them off ebay as "customer returned" for $75 dollars a piece. they work great on the 1/8in plywood and 3/8in foam i've been cutting. Haven't tried 1/4in ply yet but I bet going slower or multi pass and it will do it.

Edit: It easily cut 1/4 ply (used 2 passes, but judging by the burn marks behind it I only need one). And that's without air assist to clear to the smoke which would help it cut deeper.

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#38

Post by Thorrez »

lucioperca wrote: post #22
sarchertech wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are already so many ways to defeat locks, that locks are just there to keep honest people honest and to slow down criminals. The laser in the article took 30 seconds to cut a a tiny disc out of a sheet of steel 100 micrometers thick. That isn’t going to change things on the theft front. There are much more effective methods available today.

A dutch women told me once a story, where she but a used bike in Amsterdam and the heroin addict who sold it to her, threaten her to steal it again, if she does not use a heavy lock.

Does the Netherlands have a law against knowingly buying stolen property?

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#39

Post by llm_trw »

aqme28 wrote: post #28
llm_trw wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone can already afford a stick welder. We don't need goggles when we leave the house.

Those can’t blind you from a distance though. Not nearly the same risk

They absolutely can. Anyone around them for long enough has dead spots in their eyes.

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#40

Post by bingbingbing777 »

aqme28 wrote: post #23
RecycledEle wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same can be said of BB guns that can put out eyes, lock picks that can open locked doors, and bolt cutters than can break chains. More powerful tools are a good thing.

A BB gun has to be used very intentionally to hurt your eyes. A high-powered laser could blind you because your neighbor is doing some work on his shed and you caught a reflection

Have you not heard of stray bullets, crossfire etc?
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