Lightsaber!

Friend comes over, "Hey dude, oh sweet, cool toy lightsaber." *lights it up* "*** *** *** *** MY EYES MY EEEEYES"

I would try something similar to this...



Skip to one minute 25 seconds.

ok so watched the vid of how to make a light saber. My question is wouldnt it shattter on the first thing you hit with it whether another saber or anythign else it didnt burn through fast enough?

Must have.... /orders one, bets on how long till I go blind?
I got 2 hours.

You know, I don't really remember. My first point was that "I can't think of a use" or "I can't think of the societal gains" are *** defenses. I don't really care if my 15 seconds of googling hit or missed.

Secondly, the idea that it's dangerous means it should be illegal is stupid. Because EVERYTHING is dangerous.

And you're right, I don't know thing one about lasers, let alone powerful ones like this. I am defending - poorly, and probably futilely - the idea that the world is in fact more hazardous than the ball pit at Chuck E. Cheese, and that that's okay.

Edit: Also, it's kind of funny. The people openly drooling over this, joking about going blind, etc get a free pass. Where, incidentally, I actually don't think most people should have one, and I get the wrath. Funny world.

For those still wondering about this, after an incredibly long wait, the thing finally showed up yesterday. After charging for several hours, I stupidly brought it to work, at which point coworkers used it to melt holes in the black wire mesh backs of our conference room chairs, and decapitate a stuffed pink pony that a female coworker left when she quit.

The beam is so bright that it's visible in daylight, and at night it's essentially a thin solid bar of light. The dot on the target, if shone at a light-colored surface like a white wall, is too bright to look at for long and leaves after-images when you blink for a few minutes.

Letting the tip of my finger even lightly brush the edge of the beam for a second, as a test, felt like touching an electric stove, and continued to sting for several hours.

The beam is so hot and so narrow, it's not very effective at setting anything on fire. It tends to simply char and/or melt anything it's held on for over a second instead. For example, shining it at a dried leaf does not make the leaf catch fire, but rather burns a still-smoldering hole through it so quickly, it doesn't have a chance to ignite. The darker the object, the more energy absorption, and the better the burn. It's easy to melt thick black plastic -- surprisingly hard to burn white paper.

Long story short, it's an incredibly dangerous toy. Having the beam brush your eye, even off an accidentally reflective surface like a window, is instantly and permanently blinding, so you need to wear the included safety goggles at all times. This makes it difficult to show off to friends or use outside without putting them or your neighborhood at risk, as the beam has an estimated range of 60-100 miles.

Oh wow.

I kind of saw it coming, though.

That is so cool.

Ok so....goggles, that thing should no allowed for the public ;(.

I can imagine some idiot from my family using that as a tool and blinding themselves.

It's not very effective as a potential weapon. Unlike a commercial laser pointer, which turns on and off with a button press, this laser has a complex, built-in locking mechanism required by law. You need to push a button on the end cap, and then enter a fairly complex sequence of short and long button presses halfway up the "hilt" to get it to even activate.

At that point, it's on, but only at 10% power. You need to enter another button code to get it to 100%.

And once it's on, it's ON. The only way to shut it off is to deactivate it entirely, requiring the entire sequence again.

Well, if anyone buys one that shouldn't, just hide the manual and you're good. :P

Be interested to see a vid if you ever get round to it :o

damn, 60-100-mile range??? That's crazy. Not that I'd suggest you try this, but what happens if you reflect it using a mirror? Or would it go through the mirror?!!? OR BOTH!?

It is light, there is a high chance it would reflect back, and if there is more than one reflective surface in the room it would probably bounce around it is that powerful.

This is a hand-held laser that normal people can buy, I can imagine it bouncing everywhere, then if someone goes in the room... ouch.

Not my video but pretty accurate:



As you can see, it tends not to ignite things. (Except say, a match head, which is designed to.) It's too hot and too narrow. It cuts, melts, or chars them instead.

And as for Anye's question, pretty much what Stan said. If you have any reflective surface in your room, even partially reflective like a transparent window, it can bounce around in unpredictable ways. Of course, it travels at the speed of light, so there's no time to react before it's too late. There's really no safe place to aim it -- shine it down at your carpet for too long and you'll burn your carpet -- so it's pretty unwieldy as a toy.

Even making absolutely sure there's nothing reflective in the way, the "dot" of scattered light itself is so bright on a light-colored surface, it'll make your eyes ache and leave after-images after only a couple seconds.

I WANT ONE!!!! 60-100miles range? OMG /brainstorm
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please do not use it around anyone.

Have to admit, the laser housing is a pretty cool design. I estimate about 9-10" long.



Seems to be made out of a high-grade iodized aluminum or steel, so it has pretty decent heft.

seems like it could be a handy cutting tool?

HOLY CRAP--the LED was the best.

Yeah, could probably cut tree branches too :D.

It would be a fun cutting tool, but I'm sure another tool would be more effective in just about every instance.

Honestly, the thing has no usefulness whatsoever. It's too powerful for a laser pointer, too dangerous as a demo toy, too concentrated to ignite things, and too unwieldy as a weapon.

It's just incredibly cool. That's about it.

Ok. Sold! Off work in 4 hours... so, what, 4-6 weeks + 4 hours from now... YES!

But can it cut your sons hand off, after refusing to join you in your plans of universe domination.