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Thread: THANKS TO SPEC!

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    802

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    Hi All.
    I am usually not one to publically bash anyone out in the open
    I have to admit I was a little bit dissapointed as well.
    We all look up to the seasoned professionals as leaders
    And when they snap back like that .. its disheartening.

    At least I try to hold my tongue ., You never know who may be reading our grips.

    Altho he was a bit abrasive on his comments..
    Maybe sometimes this is needed.. sometimes not.
    In Business , You dont want your customers to think you'll cuss them out for doing something wrong. or think they are just stupid...
    Show them that they can learn too! But, be nice about it.
    People learn this way.. Altho sometimes you have to get their attention.

    I can see some points he brought out that we could all benefit from.
    I say that we turn this all around into something good..

    Remember.. This is a new board .. Albeit a year old now.
    We all have new things to learn.. Even the hard way.

    Lets keep this place as the best place to be ever!
    "My signature has been taken, so Insert another here"
    http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/laserfaq.htm
    *^_^* aka PhiloUHF

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    Posts
    2,147,489,446

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    The one point that Steve Roberts had about safety is possibly relevent. I suppose that compared to the CDRH guidelines, we do play it fast and loose with the rules, at least in our own homes. However, I think that EVERY laserist does this. I mean, I've spoken with several experienced people, and they all admit that they don't wear goggles all the time. Some wear them more often than others do...

    Still, I think Steve is looking for a soap box so he can preach. (I also find it strange that safety wasn't mentioned at all in his first post, but now it's the crux of the issue for him...) I feel sorry for him that he developed a vision problem after an all night rave and was concerned enough about the possibility of laser eye damage to get an MRI done... But I also question the sanity of a person that would stay at an all night rave where lasers were being thrown around dangerously, and then when you're still tired, drive another 6 hours to get home! Not the brightest plan there...

    I've met a few "rabid safety geeks" on forums before. At first, it made me stop and think about my own practices, but now I'm not so sure it's that big of a deal.

    I don't consider myself reckless, but I must admit that I don't wear my goggles unless I'm doing something up close or messing with alignments. I also admit to sticking my head inside a scanned circle to view the spectacular light tunnel effect on numerous occaisions. Does that make me unsafe? I don't think so...

    At 100 mw, even if the scanners suffered a catastrophic failure and the beam stopped right in my eye, I believe my blink reflex would protect me. (That's not to say that I woulnd't have one hell of an after-image for a few minutes!)

    But in fairness to Steve, maybe he has a small point...

    What do you professional folks think? Are we unsafe, based on the pictures posted in the gallery and the posts you've read here?

    Adam

    EDIT: I've since learned that Steve was the laserist in question at the rave, and that it was only a 90 minute drive home for him. So there goes my 6 hour drive rant in the paragraph above.

    I'm still puzzled as to why he thought the lasers were the cause of the injury though, given that he was running the show and stated that the show was safe... (Surely he'd remember being flashed if it had happened?)

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Posts
    80

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    Spec is awesome.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    East Coast , Canada
    Posts
    285

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    Personally, At my shows, i keep all beams at about 12ft from ground, and any diffraction that may come down into crowd, below 3mw when at all possible. The rules in canada are a bit more lax than the US. But i try to keep things safe. The Projector its in a booth thats locked, and its 12 ft off the ground too. I have done a few shows where a mirror ball was used, but i scanned the mirror bal with an image so that the reflected light was at about 1-3 mw... I consider myself safe. Workin in the us for 12 yrs and in Toronto, made me work safe... Although i still dont ofter use my glasses when aligning my system.. Im a bad boy
    CREATIVITY AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT!
    www.laser-ad.com

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    Posts
    2,147,489,446

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    Carey;

    I wonder about your statement. (Re: being a "bad boy"...)

    You'd think that by now we would be reading about LOTS of eye injuries, what with all the 12 year olds running around with souped-up DPSS pointers and all. The almost complete lack of evidence suggests that perhaps the retina is a bit more sturdy... (Then again, maybe it's just luck - due to the small size of the human pupil.)

    I honestly don't know of any laser enthusiast that wears their goggles all the time. Sure, when doing alignments and such it's expected, but not when just watching the beams...

    Ok you guys - 'fess up. How many of you have been close enough to touch the beam from one of your lasers while it's operating and NOT had your googles on? Be honest!

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    802

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    Yeap, I have to admit
    I was lazy quite a few times myself , I consider myself VERY lucky...
    I cant tell you how many times beams have almost entered my eyes
    because of adjusting and knocking over shiney objects in the path of a beam or two.
    Also, I've had to build a nice viewing arrangement using IR camera's
    and a monitor for doing work on 808 and 1064 lasers..
    dont want that in my eyes...

    But true..I have been known to set-up and view the beams from the projector without goggles

    Once its done..I dont go near the path of the beams...

    Its those stray beams that get ya !!
    "My signature has been taken, so Insert another here"
    http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/laserfaq.htm
    *^_^* aka PhiloUHF

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