Can your laser melt a hole through a candle?

[BobDiaz]

Can your laser melt a hole through a candle?

Just for fun can any of your lasers do this? Assume the candle is vertical and the laser's hole is horizontal through the candle. The beam may have to be slightly off to one side to avoid hitting the wick.

If yes, what is the minimum amount of power to make such a hole.

I thought it might be a fun challenge. :yh:


Bob Diaz

 

[NightExplorer96]

My PGL can't burn a hole through a candle but it can show you a dot where the hole should be

-Alex

 

[Gabe]

My PGL can't burn a hole through a candle but it can show you a dot where the hole should be

-Alex

:crackup:

I would imagine it being very difficult to melt through a candle unless it was made of black wax. Even so, I would guess 1W at least, but don't take my word for it.

 

[10fenny]

I usually use a lighter! what nm is that? ha!
Im sure a black candle with a 250mw of most spectrums would work.... to start. IDK about all the way through.

 

[Pi R Squared]

I would think 2W to 3W would do it for a white candle. My 3W or so 445nm can smoke or burn anything even white, including anything painted white, white plastic, paper or fabric. My 1913mW 450nm may be a little more powerful because it has a smaller beam so higher power density and can set white paper in flames almost instantly. My 1.5W M140 can also burn anything white but not so fast, I doubt I could leave it on long enough to burn through a candle. I think I only have some tealight candles, I may try it later but I am sure it will work with about 2W or more. A black or dark color would certainly be easier.

Alan

 

[hakzaw1]

-- if you mean a hole that you could see thru- maybe not- the wax would melt and fill the hole just like a laser shot thru your finger- in and out but no 'hole' that stays open-

not sure exactly =what laser did this- a wild guess would be copper vapor or bromide pulsed- I saw one at SELEM 2010 and IIRC it pulsed just once- made a quite loud SNAP and made a CLEAN hole thru a copper plate- maybe 1/32 nd inch thick-

somebody asked what it would do to your hand and they guy said you dont want to know. its very bad-

this laser entered from the front and came out his fingernail-

 

[Cyparagon]

Challenge accepted.

18650 below for scale. ~3 inch candle. 60W CO2 laser. I didn't have the lens centered properly,
so some of the beam missed the lens, resulting in that secondary spot.

Yes, you can see through it.

 

[Deleted member 49011]

15 Watt Co2 laser , 4 inch diameter candle , raw beam from co2 laser

Yup It went though : P

 

[BobDiaz]

The 2 videos so far are so cool. I first came up with the idea with my homemade 107mW Green Laser. I was testing it out and pointed it at my wife's red candle. I could not bun through, but I did melt the wax a bit.

This raised the logical question of how much power would it take to burn through a candle?


Bob Diaz