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A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

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Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't but nowadays no bike is unmarked, even the cheap ones.

Can’t you trivially deface an identifier?

In Belgium, it's a hard to remove sticker on a consistent place with a qr code.

It would take work to remove it cleanly and/or cost money/time to paint over it.

So it's less attractive.

Ps. You'll still need to take care of your 10 k. Bike ofc.

Ps. 2 : engraving isn't done anymore since bike frames got smaller.

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably from the bike thieves. There's a glut in the stolen bike market so the price competition is fierce.

It seems like that that point the bike thieves are just a bike rental company. You get the bike for < 20 Euro and then, presumably, at some point in the future it gets stolen again, but you already got 20 Euros worth of use out of it.

Efficient market hypothesis proven.

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because of this Switzerland has outlawed portable laser pointers higher than the lowest class. Anything more powerful than a low end projector pointer is now classified as a weapon and regulated as such. This at least keeps these units out of the hands of the general public and those that can't use them responsibly. It sucks for those of us who used them responsibly just like we did with RC aircraft before drones bec…

What keeps someone from driving across the border to acquire one, or ordering on ebay, or getting one at a sketchy shop? "Some idiot" is exactly the kind of person that would ignore the law. I mean it seems like a fine law, but it's a law so now I never have to think about it again seems strange to me. Running stop signs is outlawed but I still look before I cross the street.

It doesn't stop anyone. But packages are randomly checked and so are cars going over the border.

Same goes for guns. Someone can aquire one illegally but fines are high and there is no impulsive purchase at the next Kiosk so circulation is low and you aren't going to get "lasered" by 20+ green lasers at some event.

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#115
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

30W? That's a pretty powerful laser. A 1W laser can set stuff on fire. A 5W laser can cut steel.

> 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…

Fair ‘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.

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#116
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These do exist, here's one I saw recently: https://www.laserpwr.net/hand-held-laser/hand-held-laser-2.h...

30W? That's a pretty powerful laser. A 1W laser can set stuff on fire. A 5W laser can cut steel.

Keep 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)

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#118

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.

Once my bicycle was such a piece of crap that someone stole the lock and left the bike.

lol, sounds like a Rodney Dangerfield gag

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#119
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.

> There are already so many ways to defeat locks, that locks are just there to keep honest people honest and to slow down criminals.

If you live at a lower end apartment complex, you might be shocked at how many doors your key will unlock, if you apply a light turning pressure and thrust the key in and out a few times.

I know I was. But it came in handy when one of my xmas gifts had been delivered to the front office, and I needed to pick it up after hours in order to make a redeye flight the next morning. I just used my own room key to open the office (setting off the alarm!), grabbed the package with my name on it, and closed and relocked the door and was gone before anyone investigated.

Re: A tiny ultrabright laser that can melt steel

#120
post #94

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.

The battery powered angle grinder was the end of useful bike locks AFAIK.

Pfft. I had a medium-grade bike lock in college, and I once accidentally stole a bike because somebody with the same color/model/lock parked in front of the same building as me. My key was a bit stiff and I kind of had to force it, but it worked fine. I just remember thinking "why does this seat feel different?" Took me a couple of days to figure it out. I put it back- sure hope the original owner came and looked again after his initial disappointment that day.
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