Are cheap laser cutters safe?

Favorite first test for anything going through the laser cutters: The flame test.. Take some copper wire, get it to red hot in a flame, stick it in the material then back in the flame until it glows again. If the flame is green, it includes a halide (Clorhine/flurine/bromide) and IS NOT SAFE.. Good fast first pass tesing.

This video right here is why I love your content. Your message about safety on the tech we use for our hobbies is priceless. Thank you so much and keep doing what you do!!

My first job out of college was writing testing software for a medical laser company and it was ALARMING how complacent people get around invisible lasers, even the optics safety guy gave me a hard time when I came asking for the right wavelength protection goggles, most people didn't even wear goggles when testing the lasers

I operated an industrial laser for a few years, these are all good tips. I would add that there are actually lots of things you "can" do that are supposedly impossible for a given laser wattage, it just takes a lot of patience. I cut a big logo half an inch deep into hardened stainless steel using a machine designed for surface marking once - just 40 watt output I think. It took a whole weekend, but it worked. Lots of fast passes. The point is to vaporize, not melt/burn. Don't give the heat a chance to spread. Would you believe I had to fight with them for months to get an exhaust system so I wasn't hotboxing my face with atomized god-knows-what every time I open the enclosure? Eventually I just made my own and suddenly it became a big deal that I was exhausting this shit right into the shop's air for everyone else to breathe.

I've had the same reaction to seeing these lasers being sold. In a lab setting lasers that powerful in an open system like that would require a special room with a kill switch on the door that turned it off if anyone walked in. Ads showing them being used in a room with pets and children is just insane.

And with leather it's even worst than you think. A lot of the cheap leather comes from parts of the hide that had defects in it. To make the surface perfect, it gets filled with a polymer and sold at a lower price. And wood derivatives, even if "natural", will release upwards of 300 chemical byproducts when burned, including a lot of carcinogens. So if you can't afford a cutter with a closed enclosure, I feel it's a good idea to build one just to avoid having those airborne chemicals in your shop.

Having watched quite a lot of Styropyro videos, anything to do with lasers that aren't properly enclosed sound like utter madness to me :D Thanks for spreading awareness!

Love how the thumbnail plainly says "no" 😂

As a laser safety representative I must emphasize the safety risks mentioned here. A very important video for those who want to work with lasers.

For metal "engraving", you can replace Cermark with moly lube spray with good results, and save a buck! The better option is to spray your metal black with a regular spraycan, burn your design with the laser (burning away the paint), then etch drop it in an etching solution. Works great for diy pcb's as well.

Every time I see some youtuber reviewing some el cheapo diode laser cutter I keep on bringing up all the safety hazards and each time people just ignore the warnings and tell me I'm being negative and that I should look on the positive side. The positive side of permanent eye damage of lung cancer they mean? Youtubers should take responsibility and not just want to have to score some likes for a free product they were given to review. You're one of the few that actually doesn't lick the heels and tells it like it is. Good job Angus! By the way, engraving paper is totally doable. Cardboard as well, I work with a Trotec 100W Co2 laser on a daily basis and when you get the settings right it can bring out a great result.

My friend, I just wanted to thank you for putting this out there and doing it in an emphatic way. Even smaller channels like mine get contacted by companies weekly (and these particular open designs that make you cringe - that's how they all look right about now), so the information comes at a good time. I recently did a review of the Atomstack X20, a unit I was willing to review because it would have been the one I'd buy. Had a safety glasses bit, talked about the fumes, etc. ...and it turns out I'm showing people the *wrong color safety glasses*, because I simply trusted what was sent to me. "These came with the laser, so they must be the right ones." Had no idea I was supposed to be using orange instead of green, let alone the appropriate density or rating. Past couple of days have been eye-opening. Thank you for videos like this!

Appreciate the time you put into this video. As a "kinda thinking about getting a laser cutter" guy, I found out that I didn't know all the hazards that came from laser cutters. Thanks.

I just sent this video to a bunch of people in my lab as they seem to think it's ok to have a very large laser cutter in an office space with no ventilation or fume extraction. I shut that down and am now jumping into the world of fume extraction.

Nice, and I hope Linus will be grateful for the product placement too.

Good topic - I have been working with different lasers for 35 years now. Only about 1 year ago I bought one of this solid state laser modules, to hook it up to an 3D printer. I was shocked when the instructions directed me, to use the part cooling fan to control the laser diode ! One mistake and the laser would fire.... My 3D printer / laser is inside a vented / temp controlled cabinet, with activated carbon filter. -added safety switch to energize laser -added a second control output via GCode -kept the PWM control in parallel with laser -added nozzle / shroud around laser -cabinet door interlocks, to power off laser when opened -tinted the cabinet door with UV reducing film And still I am not very confident with those high power laser LED modules.

I assembled my diode laser and tested the moving parts, but didn't turn on the laser for several months because it worried me. I currently run it behind a temporary screen with the correct type of orange window in it, until I get an enclosure built. I bought it to mostly cut card for model making, which is all I've cut with it so far. Most jobs only take a few minutes, so it isn't running for the hours some people run theirs to engrave photos and complex graphics, and it's no problem to stay with it, with a fire extinguisher close by. I'll eventually use a camera to watch progress. The only other materials I plan to cut are thin ply and acrylic, but I'll probably only cut acrylic for jobs where I can't CNC mill it. It worries me that these open frame machines are available, and so many people are buying them, and I'm surprised there isn't an epidemic of eye damage being reported.

Great video. This confirms my deep suspicions about these machines. I used lasers in my work and they were designed with safety built-in so that even dummies could not damage themselves or others. I hope that people pay attention.

Great video with good points! Laser cutting probably is the best (semi-) affordable rapid prototyping technology out there. It's unreal, how quickly you can get results and together with a 3D printer, it's magic. That being said, I would never use a laser cutter, that does not have a fully enclosed work area. The crappy glasses we saw in the video leave lines of sight open, so you might wear them and still go blind. Good rule of thumb: never cut a material, if you do not have and understand its datasheet. Stay safe, makers!

Great video!!! I use lasers every day at work and one bit of advice I will add is to never get complacent or "hope for the best!". One time, we were under a time crunch to do a project. It was an easy project too. Cut a circle hole into a rubber cap, for 500 caps. We didn't properly vet the rubber and came back the next day to find our laser's linear rails brown with rust from chlorine exposure! My intern and I spent the next day and a half wet-sanding with 2000 grit sandpaper to restore our laser to working order... Moral of the story, don't rush and "hope" nothing bad will happen. Deadlines can be moved, due dates can be missed, but your health is priceless.