whats the red plastic sheet on the laser engravers

[rkovvur]

I am planning to make my own laser engraver and one of things that got me thinking is the red or other colored plastic sheet i see on the opening cover on the laser engravers. I guess it lets you see your work as it's being lasered??

Question : Does this sheet block the laser radiation !! If it does, anyone know where i can buy a sheet like this.

Thanks!

[benji2505]

Yup, the glasses protect you from laser beams trying to find the way into your or anybody else's eyes. They are wavelength specific. Google Laser protection filters or windows and you will see many companies providing somehting like that. Look for the Optical density (OD). You can see in the laser classifications what you need for what machine. One link is:

http://www.lasersafety.com/category....rket=5&catid=3

[zax15uk]

It sounds like you are talking about a small CO2 laser. In that case, since Acrylic is opaque to 10.6um wavelength and any reflection is un-focused it would be sufficient to use clear 1/4" Acrylic/Plexiglass sheet to protect yourself (up to, say an 80W laser). The orange/red color may offer some advantage in that it limits the visible 'flash' but I don't see it as required.

If you want to use a thinner viewing window, then the OD may become a factor. I would personally feel safe with 1/8" in a standard 40W system.

Of course, this is only true for low power CO2 lasers. The wavelength of most diode lasers will pass through Acrylic with little attenuation. Those most definately require specialized filters designed to block the correct radiation.

Zax.