I don't know what this could be used for, gemologically speaking, but it seemed too darn cool not to post.

http://cgi.ebay.com/JDSU-2213-25VL-458nm-25mW-Violet-Laser-Head-BRAND-NEW_W0QQitemZ140289472720QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20a9e778d0

It's a 25mW 458nm Argon laser head. I'm betting G4lab or Brian or someone knows something fun that this can be used for.

Here's a 25mW 488nm full laser for less!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Nice-little-25mW-blue-argon-laser_W0QQitemZ330373377320QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4cebc9ad28

Also, this looks like fun too!

http://cgi.ebay.com/250mW-405nm-Blue-Violet-blu-ray-Laser-Diode-in-Module_W0QQitemZ170401861925QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item27acbe1125

I already have a multi-line Argon ion laser, that provides 100mW at 514nm, 40mW at 488nm, and 10mW at 458nm. Green, blue, and violet laser light IS fun!

As for gem uses... well... any of those lines make spessartine fluoresce a nice bright orange color. And of course they make ruby fluoresce a nice bright red color. The spessartine was a surprise, since it doesn't really show fluorescence reaction to LEDs of various wavelengths.

Barbra just purchased one of those 405nm blu-ray lasers. I think she is blasting every gem in sight with it. She should try it out on spessartine.

Argon Ion Gas Lasers make wonderful room heaters. To make 25-40 milliwatts of laser light they usually consume about 1200 watts of electricity almost all of which (99.98%)is converted into heat. They are great in the wintertime to take the chill off but not so nice in the summertime.

They also need to be operated regularly or they become may hard to start.
Also the power supplies for them are potentially rather dangerous so you should only buy one of those if they are completely enclosed and interlocked.
Most are but occasionally they are removed from equipment where they were mounted on the interior. The power supplies have lethally high voltage and can supply way more current than it takes to kill you if you get hooked up to it. Most gas lasers also store charge in the tube itself after being turned off, like a Leyden Jar. That can give you a nasty jolt if you forget to discharge that if you have the laser opened. Just the stored charge makes a very nice spark. Wouldn't kill you unless you have a twitchy heart but it would get your attention.

The violet laser you pointed to is claimed to be 250 mw. They brag that its a good "burning laser" This kind of laser is very very dangerous to your eyes too more than enough power to cook right through your retina faster than you can blink. You absolutely must have appropriate safety eyewear when playing with any visible light laser over about 15 milliwatts of power.
A reflection off of a gemstone could cause an eye injury. Never look at laser light through optical instruments. Very very dangerous. Brian uses a video camera for that and you should too.


They ARE fun to play with. But you have to have at least the hallucination that you know what you are doing. There is a laser hobbyist humor sign which parodies the real laser safety signs.

And also

All the things Gene mentions are true. Hot, lethal power, blinding light. If you accidentally put your hand in the path of a 40mW beam, the beam will let you know it is in the way. Also very noisy. A bit cavalier of me to suggest playing around with one.

Maybe I'm naïve, but I would have thought that lasers powerful enough to burn holes in things would be somewhat more tightly regulated than "available to anyone with a Paypal account"...

Government agencies like CDRH, OSHA, and FDA regulate the manufacture of lasers and their use in the workplace. If you want to put on a laser light show, the national and state agencies involved are even more byzantine. But no one regulates the purchase of a laser by private individual.

seems the last one seller .is selling a toy for kids.
wrong tool for pyros

In some ways this is still a free country. You would be amazed at the things an individual could acquire if he or she set his mind to it. But the thought police are gradually closing all the loopholes. Each time someone screws up.

I don't know that "thought police" is the right specter to bring up when I'm worried about psychos burning out my eyes with high-powered lasers...

Here in the US it is just as easy, or maybe easier, for psychos to shoot you. If I force myself to worry about people handling lasers, I worry more about carelessness and ignorance and subsequent harm to themselves than I do about malicious intent and subsequent harm to others.

Sure, but you're worried about the Average Joe Psycho on the street. What about the Above-Average Joseph Mad Scientist, huh? HE'S the one who's going to take over the world starting with my block.

well, in my opinion for every joseph there are at least 10.000 joe, and i'm more worried about them, statistically speaking.
i'm with Brian on this..........

There are already instances of "average joe's" turning laser pointers on landing pilots. so I guess its possible for some vindictive n'idiot not being careful about which window his table based laser from ebay is pointed out.


(n'idiot ... knot headed idiot)