Laser safety

This is why I bought a well engineered, American-made laser cutter.
This is why I will never turn my back on it.

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Thanks @hansena for that post. It is a good warning… - Rich

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Excellent cautionary tale – why we must always attend to our equipment when it is running. Thank you.

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Regardless of the manufacture or the origin of the manufacture. Common sense, best practices and adhering to them are the best thing to be proud of.

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This is the real truth. I’ve seen even the most expensive equipment catch on fire because someone put something in there they weren’t supposed to. There are foams that will burst into flame the minute a laser touches them.

I have the cheapest of lasers and have never had an issue.

Know your machine, your materials, your emergency routine, and don’t leave it unattended.

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Agreed, definitely. After watching students interact with equipment for nearly a decade, starting off with a safer piece of equipment will give you a leg up in preventing these kinds of accidents. I view it just like my investment in the Sawstop table saw.

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Absolutely!

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Note that they have actually no proof at all as to what caused the fire yet. This could be a bit like the 3D printer fire incident that was in the news a few weeks ago. As I recall, the user there was doing something rather stupid with flash paper and several cans of hair spray, but all the public remembers is that a 3D printer blew up.

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You’re right, the fire department hasn’t confirmed yet. But it sounds like the laser cutter was operating when the last person left the room.

Like the roommates who would get mad at me when I became upset at them leaving lit candles around the house.

Also, they each had a cat to up the ol’ unattended candle safety factor.

That said, 25 years later and none of their houses have ever burned down. So maybe I was wrong.

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Just a matter of statistics :slight_smile:

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