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Thread: Fiber laser safety question

  1. #1
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    Fiber laser safety question

    Hi all, as many of you, I've also purchased fiber laser (which should arrive on the beginning of next year) and the main use for it will be marking stainless steel and aluminum. In fact, I don't have any experience at all about the fiber laser and I don't know anything about the risks of the fiber laser, only what I've read about it. I've thought to build some movable protective wall around the laser because I have quite a lot visitors in my work shop and the location for the laser will be in open space. But my problem is that I don't know what material I should use to avoid the reflection of the beam through the wall (of course I have purchased also some extra safety glasses for the customers use, but still I'm a bit afraid of some too eager customers who would like to see from the side when laser is working - even any one or two meter high warning sign is not enough in some cases ). I think that regular polycarbonate is not good enough as it is with CO2 laser ? I believe this issue has already discussed here, but so far I haven't find any specific discussion from this matter. I would be grateful for more detailed information on the right material.

    Best regards,
    Hannu
    GCC Spirit GX 60W, 600 Series LLC 60W, Corel 11/X3, Illustrator, Autocad 2004, etc...

  2. #2
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    I would not allow anyone near my laser, to look or otherwise. I had a fiber for a few years and had the safety glasses but still avoided looking directly at the process.
    Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10

  3. #3
    Hi Hannu,

    Avoid letting customers near Fibres like the plague, the 1064 nm wavelength blinds for giggles (and the eye damage is permanent), safetywise for screens + public/customers you will need rated enclosures.
    Don't underestimate the ability of the fibre system to remove eyesight in a hugely efficient manner. CO2's can give you a chance, think of fibres as the Jeffrey Dahmer of lasers...

    My counsel would be to do a good bit more reading up before getting too carried away. (I'll leave out all the stuff about photon energy and material band gap energies as it just amounts to the same as the above)

    cheers
    Dave
    You did what !

  4. #4
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    Hi Bill and Dave,

    Sorry my late answer !

    And ok, I don't allow anyone to be near the laser. Hard to implement when I know my customers, but I do my best

    Best regards,
    Hannu
    GCC Spirit GX 60W, 600 Series LLC 60W, Corel 11/X3, Illustrator, Autocad 2004, etc...

  5. #5
    I have several pairs of 1064nm wavelength resistant goggles for customers or family (home business) who want to watch...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  6. #6
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    Hi Kev,

    I'll also get a few extra pairs of goggles with the laser. BTW, Is there any defined safety distance to watching without goggles ?

    Best regards,
    Hannu
    GCC Spirit GX 60W, 600 Series LLC 60W, Corel 11/X3, Illustrator, Autocad 2004, etc...

  7. #7
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    Or maybe:
    $100 HDMI camera/microphone
    $35 75' HDMI cable
    $100 32" LCD tv screen

    They can safely watch remotely without fear of someone taking their goggles off.

  8. #8
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    Thanks Rob, that's a good idea!
    GCC Spirit GX 60W, 600 Series LLC 60W, Corel 11/X3, Illustrator, Autocad 2004, etc...

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Hannu Rinne View Post
    Hi Kev,

    I'll also get a few extra pairs of goggles with the laser. BTW, Is there any defined safety distance to watching without goggles ?

    Best regards,
    Hannu
    In reality brother? No, if you are close enough to see what it going on you are close enough to lose eyesight.

    The problem is power density, if something reflects off of a flat surface it will scatter (the inverse square law applies pretty much)

    If it reflects off of a curved surface that can concentrate the beam (a little like a lens) and while power drops over distance the density can increase if that reflection comes from a curved surface.

    Lets say you have 10 watts of emitted power at 10 feet away, if that 10 watts is spread over a circle of 6 inches diameter...that's cool..you probably won't notice,
    if you have 1 watt of power that's spread over a 1mm circle...they eye destroyingly dangerous.

    The problem with fibre wavelengths is the lens on the human eye does a very good job of focussing whatever photons it receives onto the macula lutea at the back of the eyeball (it's the core principle of human vision) at 1,064nm the lensing effect is close to the visible spectrum so works rather well.

    With the 10,640 of the normal CO2 laser, the eye doesn't deal with that well (it's a long way from the visible spectrum) so doesn't concentrate any scattered beams as the lens will take the damage. Painful, but in most cases it can be fixed if you are lucky.

    Fibre eye damage is normally permanent and VERY fast (high photon energy, no blink reflex, almost perfect focus) right onto a bit of the eye surgeons cannot get to.

    Overall, if anybody is close enough to have a decent view of what is going on at the hot end, they are too close to be safe without goggles

    best wishes

    Dave
    You did what !

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Damon View Post
    Or maybe:
    $100 HDMI camera/microphone
    $35 75' HDMI cable
    $100 32" LCD tv screen

    They can safely watch remotely without fear of someone taking their goggles off.
    Flawless advice
    You did what !

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    Finland
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    Hi Dave,

    There is nothing I can add on your comment, thanks for this ! - maybe it's better for me to cancel my fiber laser order and buy some sparklers instead...a lot safer for me

    Best regards,
    Hannu
    GCC Spirit GX 60W, 600 Series LLC 60W, Corel 11/X3, Illustrator, Autocad 2004, etc...

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Hannu Rinne View Post
    Hi Dave,

    There is nothing I can add on your comment, thanks for this ! - maybe it's better for me to cancel my fiber laser order and buy some sparklers instead...a lot safer for me

    Best regards,
    Hannu
    I would take Dr. Sheldrake's comment a little more seriously, Sir. This is a real concern. You have the potential to hurt someone. Ask yourself how you will feel if your family or customer is partially blinded?

    Also, I don't know anything about Finnish laws and customs. But here in the States, you might be found negligent and lose a great deal of money if your customer gets hurt.

    I hope you'll stay safe.
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  13. #13
    Join Date
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    I've found it best NOT to allow anyone whom I can keep out of my work area, in my work area.

    Safety, and just keeps questions out of the mix.

    I have built a small 3 sided shield from excess rowmark that I engraved warning on all three sides for when I do any outdoor events.
    Put together with some left over aluminum angle. No one can see anything with it in place and me in front of the machine. But Best if no one is around the machine while it is running.
    Woodworking, Old Tools and Shooting
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  14. #14
    What kind of "see-through" materials can be used to make an enclosure? With the right material it wouldn't be too hard to construct an enclosure with no direct reflection paths, "door closed" switches, and that kind of thing. Obviously you'd need to know what you're doing (or buy a premade one).

    I think I've seen some laser-safe orange colored plastic. Could you use that and make a window in an otherwise fully opaque box?

  15. #15
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    https://lasersafetyindustries.com/ya...m-laser-window

    To completely enclose all four sides and top could run you upwards of $3000.
    You could build a solid box on three sides and top and just have the front door on a hinge for less.
    Or just buy a FO that already comes with a full enclosure with door safety switches prewired.

    Also these FO laser normally come with a foot switch that when you touch it, it will turn on the laser and repeat the last pattern you burned.

    I would hate to have the process end and a have the door open to remove the item and somebody say "so what does the foot switch do?" and have it start up accidentally again.

    These things are really dangerous and you need to take extra, extra precautions and consider the worst possible scenario.

    In fact I have completely re-wired my entire shop so that all of my large tools and the two lasers are fed from a single electrical subpanel that can be shutdown through a single lockable circuit breaker. Anytime I know visitors are coming over, that circuit breaker gets killed, so none of the larger equipment or lasers can be accidentally turned on by little fingers or well meaning nosey people. I enjoy my shop way too much to let a single accident bankrupt me.

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