What you'll hear about is fires being started remotely by laser. The big surprise waiting for those who get those lasers will be how easily that will happen once they start waving it around. I've read nothing here or on LPF about the fire dangers these lasers present.
Having quite a bit of experience with lasers around the 1W power level I can't see that the risk of fire is too great. With my 1.1W 445nm laser I haven't seen so much as a spark from anything I've put in the beam path.. Don't get me wrong, it'll burn things, but not to the point of combustion, at least not after a quick exposure... I estimate that my 1.1W 445nm module would take at least 20-30 seconds of continuous exposure before ignition of wood or paper will occur. Of course there are ways that something could be set up to ignite by being hit with one of these lasers, but personally I don't think that random combustion is going to be a huge issue.
First time I fired up my 445 diodes at about 700mW, my beam block fell over and a unpainted wooden closet started smoking, ... so the danger is real
I'm not saying the danger isn't real.. I'm just saying that I doubt that fire will be the main issue unless people leave their laser on continuously and hold the laser in place for some time. Smoking something is not the same as igniting it into open flame.
Nowhere did I say that the danger isn't real. Just because I disagree about whether or not fire will be a major issue doesn't mean that I feel there is no danger. I'm just not the type that goes running under a rock the minute the wind kicks up.
I see your point Freak, but still think fire is the new danger presented with these new lasers.
The main activity of those who buy handheld Class 3b and now 4 lasers IS burning things. What else CAN be done with them? Oh yeah, balloons. Putting such a laser into your hand is only done to give easier access to burn more things off the bench!
Unfortunately you're right about pointer usage. It does seem to boil down to "how good does it burn stuff?".
I've always believed that outside of industry, burning stuff is about the most mundane use for a laser. Once you've seen a laser show, or done some cool experiments with a laser, I can't see how burning random crap would be very fulfilling.
I feel my 5mW 473 pointer is much more respectable now.
I'd say that the potential for fire is something to pay attention to for sure! It didn't take long for this magazine to ignite!
http://www.youtube.com/user/yobresal.../1/5KHA8paRAhs
Having a pointer of a new color is sure neat to have... but It's almost a shame that the HIGH power diodes became available to us before the low power diodes did. For me, having a pointer of a different color is much more satisfying than having a DVD BURNER DIODE BURNING LASER KIPKAY HACK DIY.
I'm sure you all here understand, that color can have a lot better wow factor than another laser burning the same things.