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How I got my laser eye injury
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Re: How I got my laser eye injury
#52One thing I learnt, different glasses for different type lasers, who knew :)
Why can't there be glasses with the different types layered together into one?
Re: How I got my laser eye injury
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm dying of curiosity how cheap a cheap laser welder can be.
A quick search is showing me new machines in the $7k range. You could probably pick up a used one for a few thousand less. This is cheaper than I would have thought, honestly - a decent full MIG rig is not exactly cheap.
They are coming down in price very quickly.
The materials cost is really not very high (no idea on the laser itself, but the rest is easily <1k. Probably <500.). The R&D cost was probably very high to start (but also coming down).
Re: How I got my laser eye injury
#54So while trying to answer another comment on cost, i ran into this:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09240... and https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00303...
I had thought, reading the article, that maybe this was a relatively new idea, and they were at least trying something relatively new in an insane way.
But no, the latter is from 1999 (so when this event occurred), and there were earlier papers they cite.
Using lasers to do paint stripping of coatings from roadways was well studied even then, and all the risks/rewards carefully laid out.
Not that i expect the sales engineer to have read that, but still.
Re: How I got my laser eye injury
#55I’m not saying it didn’t happen as described, but this really kinda reads like the “Bald eagle named Albert Einstein flew into the classroom” copypasta…
Yeah, the story contains some obvious bullshit. There is no way in hell a flashlamp-pumped Nd:YAG laser could cut through a piece of steel. With typical ~Hz repetition rate and ~J pulse energy, the average power is only around 1 W. This is three to five orders of magnitude lower than typical welding lasers. This could burn some paint or engrave metal, but burning through a wheel well and brake line is completely ridiculous.
Re: How I got my laser eye injury
#56One thing I learnt, different glasses for different type lasers, who knew :)
Why can't there be glasses with the different types layered together into one?
Then you can't see anything.
They're narrowband filters. A welding mask would be a wideband filter, but is much harder to work with when it's engaged.
Re: How I got my laser eye injury
#57I'm not entirely sure, but I suspect my Hole In My Eye[0] came from being 30 years old (I'm 46 now) and saying "look, this laser pointer is so low power, I can shine it in my eye to no ill effect!". [0] https://dmd.3e.org/a-hole-in-my-eye/
At a casino where I was a slot tech we used fiber optics that went into a fiber converter module and then RJ-45.
Often I would look at the ends of the fiber connectors to see if they were lit or if the light looked odd.
They were quite low in power but I'm surprised at myself that I didn't think of the risk.
edit: optics not options
Re: How I got my laser eye injury
#58Re: How I got my laser eye injury
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm dying of curiosity how cheap a cheap laser welder can be.
So, to clarify - what i have is a very nice IPG lightweld 1500 XR. They are normally not cheap (30k), and are very nice and well thought out safety wise. One of the fun parts when i lived in the bay area was that as companies got acquired, they didn't know what to do with the stuff they had before acquisition that isn't needed anymore, and it either sits in a warehouse, or gets auctioned off (or both!) So for example…
VMC == Vertical Machining Center
PSWAATY == Please Say What the Acronyms Are. Thank You.
Re: How I got my laser eye injury
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I also dislike the culture in which this can be called a funny story. Such culture will cause more incidents. Worked in a laser lab for 5 years without incident in a time when eye safety goggles were not used for visible light.
No. That only says something about you, not “the culture”. It’s incredibly common to laugh at the absolute absurdity of a situation. It doesn’t mean that people are making light of it. It doesn’t mean that they don’t grok how serious it is. They just react differently to you.
I agree there is more to it than yes/no making a joke of an incident. I associate it with a macho culture in which people do not feel safe to speak up in case of unsafe circumstances. Same for IT security.