Probably for APC uses. Not sure in your case, but many used to use a weak diode to regulate the power cycle. Some of the older resonators use a weak IR OR 680nm diodes to help maintain stable output.
Sure ill take a look into that.
WELCOME -with the size of our membership most any laser subject there is at least one member has some knowledge about. You may want to take the rest(of this thread) to the proper section-- if unsure try doing a search of one or two words - and click on what comes up then see which section the thread/post was in.
Kind words about pics on LPF- best to re-size then to medium- as the way yours are posted they cannot be seen without a lot of tedious side scrolling Or crtl - to make smaller- and anyone wanting to see then bigger can likewise use ctrl + to enlarge them.
About the warning labels found on lasers== if your read that the laser is 15W MAX or <15W it could be WAY less than 15W -- most are accurate about the kind (like CW)and wavelength of the laser but the output --not so much ( all the time)
take special care around any that have 'invisible' on the label-
About a hard-to-see reddish color- that is often an IR laser and for sure a dangerous wavelength-
AFAIK we ALL like to see lots of pics (med or smaller).
And also like to hear about how lasers are used aside from what most here own- SS-gas lasers- used for handhelds- (wavelength collectors) and light show/ laser show projectors etc.
New uses for lasers seem to be invented on a daily basis- some now say the the laser is a far more significant invention that Edison's light bulb( soon to be obsolete)
Just a quick mention about a few things aside forum pic sizes- try not to double post- if yours is the last post you can add more using the edit feature-
...however if what you want to add has great significance then by all means double post -this way any who have posted also or subscribed to that thread will get an email -- We often double post in a FS thread to keep them closer to the top of the BS&T section.
Many here would love to have your job- (any job with lasers!!)
also you are not alone in WI-there are some fine members there and in all the other 49 States--(and world-wide) many of us have no one around that also speaks 'Laser'.
So making laser friends that are local is special.
Feel free to PM me anytime- I do not have in ANYWAY near ALL the answers, but i DO have friends that DO.. lol ( 99% of the time).
A lot can be learned by going to every section here and reading the threads that are stickied.
and you will find a comprehensive collection of data at ..Sam's Laser FAQ-
For Qs about forum useage ask any Mod here- they are very helpful.
Daguin, Phoenix 77, Things, Spyrorocks,and PED.--
welcome
Hak
BTW you have taken great close-ups - don't change that part!! +3
(and a friend request)
Thanks!! I've been a member of various forums for years, and have made many many friends through forums over the years that have stayed friends to this day even though some I've never even met! So I'm fairly familiar with forums in general. As far as pics the car forum I'm used to auto-resizes pics for you so I haven't had to deal with all that before. Yes I am familiar with the dangerous invisible wavelengths, luckily we have all sorts of protective gear and high quality goggles.
As far as laser USES there is a wide variety of uses... Ill list as many as I can think of...
1 - measurement - lasers are VERY frequently used to measure extremely precise angles, heights and tolerances down to .000001 of a degree or less sometimes. Something called a Wyko probe is an example of these high precision measuring lasers. They have plain visible red dots as far as I can tell.
2 - Welding - lasers also used to weld some very small precise sheets of metal together, the metal sheets are sometimes as thin as .001 of an inch thick. Lumonics JK700 (I think) or a Truphf laser is used for this. Run through a fiber optic and directed with a galvo with two rotating mirrors that can make up to 26 of these micro welds in under a second.
3 - Polishing - some parts are actually polished by a large excimer laser. (I think) LPX pro or something maybe? This is the one with all the gasses fluorine and what not... This is the one I assisted aligning/changing the outer optics on. This is the one that flouresced the brilliant blue when shown on a certain white paper.
4 - Ablation - not super familiar with this one but its something about lasers being used to remove material in a machining type process. Haven't seen it but I know the machine cost 2 million dollars....
5 - Precision adjustment - the suspension arms need to be adjusted to have the PERFECT gram load, angle, pitch roll etc... The precision adjustments are made by hitting the parts with lasers at very precise powers. This will melts a small section of the part which when cools contracts and adjusts towards the beam impact. (Imagine a beam hitting the intersection of a right angle from the inside. When cools it will be a slightly acute)
Probably some more I don't remember right now...
Wow, great pics. Welcome to the forums
Thanks! I know that's what people like to see!!
Dang, i wish i knew what half of that stuff was
Not that long ago I knew basically none of that.. Lol
wow....my advice, if you see more lasers or laser components like that just lyin' in the trash, snag them. never know what may be of use
who knows, maybe one of them just has a broken lens somewhere or something of the sort.
Absolutely, it's incredible what gets thrown away. Sometimes things are trashed for incorrect reasons, or relatively MINOR efficiency or speed or precision issues that make it NOT suitable for a high volume high precision manufacturing application. Or a a bearing might be a couple thousandths off on something.
Oh well, made a giant 4.5' x 9' glow-in-the-dark canvas from black-out cloth and glow in the dark spray paint which turned out fantastic for the old 405nm "drawing with light". We have too much fun here