CNC Shark Forum

I installed the 7W laser today and had a few questions. Hopefully someone can assist.

• 1. What kind of ribbon cable is used to connect the controller? It's far too short for my setup.
  
  2. How does one zero the laser? It is quite bulky. Best I could come up with was to test it from the pendant to make a small dog and then move the wood to the dot.
  
  3. Any suggestions on power levels, speeds, or step over settings? I had a bit of burn outside of my vector on a trace and quite a bit of charrring on my fill test. I was running at power = 1000 (full) as described in the manual. My substrate was a cedar 2x6. I also had lines in my fill rather than an even black. I've attached a couple pictures.
  
  4. Are there specific parameters for the safety goggles? I'd like to get a second set. Also, are the goggles needed if one is only looking at the white barrier around the laser or only if one looks directly at the beam itself?

I plan to do some tests with different settings, but thought I'd check here as well.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

pungent333 wrote:4. Are there specific parameters for the safety goggles? I'd like to get a second set. Also, are the goggles needed if one is only looking at the white barrier around the laser or only if one looks directly at the beam itself?

I don't own the official laser, but I can help with general laser safety. Everyone in the vicinity should have safety glasses specifically made for the laser wavelength.

According to the documentation, this is a Class IV laser with 445nm wavelength operating at 7W. The laser "dot" is bright enough that staring at it could cause eye damage, especially when close. If the laser were to hit anything reflective, there's potential for it to reflect directly into your eye, even from far away, instantly causing damage.

Because 445nm is in the visible spectrum, safety glasses are designed to block out most of the laser's wavelength so that you can still see where the dot is landing. You need laser safety glasses (with an OD rating) that are specifically intended for the 445nm wavelength.

I used to work with Class 3B lasers. These were infrared, so you couldn't see them. If one shone in your eye, you wouldn't know to blink or look away. It could burn your retina and destroy your vision while you had no idea what was happening until it was too late. It's the stuff fear is made of. I've learned to be careful.

Kayvon wrote:

pungent333 wrote:4. Are there specific parameters for the safety goggles? I'd like to get a second set. Also, are the goggles needed if one is only looking at the white barrier around the laser or only if one looks directly at the beam itself?

I don't own the official laser, but I can help with general laser safety. Everyone in the vicinity should have safety glasses specifically made for the laser wavelength.

According to the documentation, this is a Class IV laser with 445nm wavelength operating at 7W. The laser "dot" is bright enough that staring at it could cause eye damage, especially when close. If the laser were to hit anything reflective, there's potential for it to reflect directly into your eye, even from far away, instantly causing damage.

Because 445nm is in the visible spectrum, safety glasses are designed to block out most of the laser's wavelength so that you can still see where the dot is landing. You need laser safety glasses (with an OD rating) that are specifically intended for the 445nm wavelength.

I used to work with Class 3B lasers. These were infrared, so you couldn't see them. If one shone in your eye, you wouldn't know to blink or look away. It could burn your retina and destroy your vision while you had no idea what was happening until it was too late. It's the stuff fear is made of. I've learned to be careful.

Kayvon,

Thanks for your reply. You provided me with some information that was critical in my research for an additional pair of glasses. Per the Laser Institute of America, at the wattage and wavelength of this laser, an optical density of ~4 is necessary. As I began researching new glasses, I was finding that they were running from $110-250. When I looked up the glasses that came with the laser, I discovered that, while they claim to be useful in laser safety (a single generic bullet point amidst a bunch of others) there are absolutely no technical specifications. Further, they cost only $11. I now have concerns about the quality of these goggles and their sufficiency at attenuating laser danger.

I've contacted Nextwave to get their take on the issue.

Please let me know what you find out.