EYE PROECTION - Do you use it?

[Viktor Voroncov]

As I know transparent upper door on GCC/Epilog/ULS/Trotec is made from special glass which is not transparent for laser waves. From which glass upper door is made on Chinese lasers - don't know, but afraid they save some $$$$$ on this part
As we are dealers and offer service, very often we must make laser path allignment. In this case we work with laser rays outside equipment or without/switched off safety features laser have. With each GCC laser customer have special protective googles, so all engineers wear googles ALL TIME during allignment.

PS Just got mail from local government institution. They care about workers safety in all types of businesses - do not know their analog in USA. They want make special instructions on labor safety for peoples who work with lasers and ask me answer on questionary which contain over 45 questions Have work for this evening

[Scott Balboa]

I am never THAT paranoid on a day-to-day basis when running the laser and watching it do it's work, but I also know not to trust things rated as "safe". It can be taken so many different ways, or like someone mentioned earlier, rated "safe" only as-is, not when lasering substrates. If the last few decades have proven anything, it's that there will always be future studies with better test conditions or technology that flips the previous "fact" on it's head. I tend to trust my body more than a sticker rating anything as safe!

[Dan Hintz]

As I know transparent upper door on GCC/Epilog/ULS/Trotec is made from special glass which is not transparent for laser waves. From which glass upper door is made on Chinese lasers - don't know, but afraid they save some $$$$$ on this part

Standard window glass is opaque to the far-IR wavelengths of CO2 lasers (which is why you can etch glass), nothing special about that. If there's anything special about the glass the major companies use, it's probably the temper. Chinese systems often use acrylic for the window, which is also opaque, but it scratches more easily... this is where the savings trade-off comes in.

[Jacob John]

I hate to bump an old thread, but I'm wanting to confirm, when lasering with the door opened or with a completely open CO2 (10.6 micrometers) system, standard polycarbonate safety glasses that you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot are sufficient?

[Gary Hair]

I hate to bump an old thread, but I'm wanting to confirm, when lasering with the door opened or with a completely open CO2 (10.6 micrometers) system, standard polycarbonate safety glasses that you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot are sufficient?

Polycarbonate and acrylic absorb the beam from a CO2 laser so they do provide protection to your eyes. With a thin lens and enough power the beam could probably still pass through, but that's pretty unlikely with our typical machines.

[Jacob John]

Thanks, Gary!