Fiber laser safety window

[Gary Hair]

Anyone know of a source for a safety window/barrier for fiber? Unlike co2, acrylic won't stop the fiber beam. I have found a few sources but at several hundred for a 12" x 24" piece, I'm going to have to either find another source or another option. Alternatively, does opaque acrylic stop the fiber beam? I would prefer to see it working behind the barrier, but I'm ok with blocking it completely if it meant the difference between $20/$30 and $300 or more.

Thanks for any help!

[Keith Winter]

Would heavy guage sheet metal work?

[Kev Williams]

This may sound dumb, but...

If metal absorbs a fiber beam rather than reflecting it, how about metal Venetian blinds? If you angle them at 45° up, they'll "catch" any stray beam that hits them at LESS than 45°, and you can still see what's going on..

[Gary Hair]

Would heavy guage sheet metal work?

Sure would Keith. I'm hopeful that I'll find something that I can see through - otherwise wood, metal, pvc, etc., would all work just fine.

[Gary Hair]

If there is a gap large enough to see what's going on then the beam could still "escape", at least that's how I see it in my mind. Plus I think that there would be some place you could be that the 45 degree angle would still reflect to you.

[Dan Hintz]

This may sound dumb, but...

If metal absorbs a fiber beam rather than reflecting it, how about metal Venetian blinds? If you angle them at 45° up, they'll "catch" any stray beam that hits them at LESS than 45°, and you can still see what's going on..

No no no no.... and no. That's not how light works, even a directed laser beam. Specular reflection will blind you just as fast as a direct beam. Horrible idea.





Gary, I have yet to find a cheap source, and I've looked pretty extensively. That's not to say it's not out there, but I haven't found it yet. A couple hundred $s / square foot is about the going price for that stuff, unfortunately.

[Ernie Balch]

how about using a video camera to monitor the laser rather than risking your eyesight?

[Kev Williams]

No no no no.... and no. That's not how light works, even a directed laser beam. Specular reflection will blind you just as fast as a direct beam. Horrible idea.

Told you it might be dumb ...

So then explain to me, if fiber lasers are going to blind me, WHY are they completely "open"?

[Dan Hintz]

how about using a video camera to monitor the laser rather than risking your eyesight?

Make sure you have protection for the camera, too, else you may be replacing it from time to time. Fiber wavelengths are used to cut silicon dice, so you can be sure a reflection will create a "bad" area on the sensor.

So then explain to me, if fiber lasers are going to blind me, WHY are they completely "open"?

Class IV lasers require PPE outside of the laser system itself (such as glasses, shield walls, etc.). Just because YouTube shows wide open systems being used doesn't mean they're safe to operate like that without other precautions. The Chinese systems, for example, are often "open" because they're cheaper to produce that way. They couldn't care less if you lase your eyeball, they're selling the equipment.

[Matt McCoy]

I'm not familiar with your needs, but would a windshield work? They're about a hundred bucks.

I like the camera idea too.

[Scott Shepherd]

So then explain to me, if fiber lasers are going to blind me, WHY are they completely "open"?

You have to wear safety glasses when operating them that block out that wavelength. A good pair can set you back $200 or more, or $50 from China.

I windshield isn't going to work. It needs to block out the 1064nm wavelength.

[Gary Hair]

how about using a video camera to monitor the laser rather than risking your eyesight?

I have a webcam setup for just that purpose, but I need something to protect the unwary passerby that doesn't know better. Murphy's law dictates that they will be the one hit with a reflected beam and lose an eye...

[Joe Hillmann]

I looked a few years back and if I remember correctly something about the size of a sheet of paper was $200-$300. It doesn't look like the prices have come down since then.

If you don't mind a small window this may be an option this is $50

http://www.lasersafety.com/windows/l...1/000p5p105005

Down below it says 0d 8+ Would block yag laser. Although I am not sure what that means.

[Gary Hair]

I guess I'll just go with a sheet of opaque material of some kind, maybe just a piece of masonite... simple but effective.

[Glen Monaghan]

Down below it says 0d 8+ Would block yag laser. Although I am not sure what that means.

I think OD refers to optical density, the amount of light passed at a given wavelength, with higher numbers meaning more optically dense and so greater blocking (less light allowed to transmit through). If I understand the math correctly, an OD of 1 means 10% transmittance, OD of 2 is 1%, and OD of 8 is 0.000001% at the specified wavelength.