Laser rust remover safety question

Question

Laser rust remover safety question

kerry_vaniseghem (Electrical)

(OP)

17 Jan 20 18:17

I saw an advertisement for a laser rust remover. They claim that it is safe to the human skin if your run it across your hand. Supposedly, a 1KW laser.

How can a laser strong enough to burn rust off metals not hurt the human skin ?

See ad below:
Laser Rust Remover

https://yhmhg.myshopify.com///products/laser-rust-...

Thanks,
Kerry

IRstuff (Aerospace) · Answer 1 · 2020-01-17 19:13:49

Your link claims 100W.

So ablation is a function of the absorptivity of the material in question at the wavelength in question, which is 10.6 um, plus, the dwell time. So, the rust is highly absorptive at that wavelength, while the underlying metal is highly reflective; therefore, the rust rapidly heats up and vaporized because of its relatively low thermal mass. On the other hand, while human skin is likewise highly absorptive, its thermal mass is tied to the water content in the skin and underlying tissues acting like a heat sink.

That said, if the person in the video was to stop the laser in one place on the hand, ouch! In any case, a 1-kW laser is not a toy, and caution should be exercised.

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MacGyverS2000 (Electrical) · Answer 2 · 2020-01-20 18:05:24

$75 for that machine?! No bloody chance!

Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

IRstuff (Aerospace) · Answer 3 · 2020-01-20 18:17:01

I know, right? If I wasn't so money conscious at the moment, I'd order one just for giggles.

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TheLaserburns (Industrial) · Answer 4 · 2020-01-28 02:39:03

Beings though the link you provided is now not available may answer some questions

If you ask me to do something, I will do it. There's no need to nag me every 6 months

IRstuff (Aerospace) · Answer 5 · 2020-02-12 22:28:16

These and these are probably more realistic in price. Their power is comparable to laser machining systems, so anything less than $10k is likely to be fake.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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Laser rust remover safety question