What could I use this laser for...

[hotponyshoes]

Hi all.
I have had a uniphase laser for a while now and just used it for messing about.
its only 50mw so I have mostly used it to 'draw' lines on sheet alloy to line up rulers and edges etc.
About the only cutting it will do is black bin bag but it will pop ballons!

Now, I have been offered a 4watt argon laser head. Its about 4' long, heavy and liquid cooled.

As its just the head - I would have to make a power supply and cooler and sort optics out is it worth having?

Can I cut / engrave / etch anything with a 4 watt argon laser or is this only any use for light shows?

Thanks!

[KTP]

It is not super trivial to make a power supply for an argon laser of that size, but I have heard of people using hot water heater elements in series running the laser off of 220VAC. Dangerous, and you really dont have much in the way of current control...more of an all or nothing approach. You would also still need to provide a high voltage trigger to ionize the gas before the laser would start.

One thing argon lasers used to be used for is laser sintering, where the laser cures a certain type of resin to make 3D objects.