What can I do with a fiber laser?

[resistor]

There's a liquidation auction happening near me and, in addition to some test equipment, they're selling off a bunch of fiber laser sources.  That sounds neat in principle, but the reality is that I have no idea what they're useful for.  Is there anything neat I could do with a fiber laser source (other than burn the house down)?

[mikeselectricstuff]

Depends hugely on exactly what they are - The term could cover anything from a small comms module with fibre pigtail to a multi-kilowatt laser for cutting holes in metal.
The latter will probably come with lifting hooks and a 3-phase power connection, probably also water in/out for cooling

[resistor]

I'm guessing more towards the former end.  Unfortunately, the auctioneer doesn't seem to have a lot of information available.  They appear to be bench top and/or rack mount units.  Here's the link to an example:

http://hgpauction.auctionflex.com/showlot.ap?co=56936&weid=37709&weiid=13655119&archive=n&lso=lotnumasc&pagenum=2&lang=En

[resistor]

It's a green Ytterbium Fiber Laser. Looks like a cutting laser to me.

Is it supposed to be mounted into a CNC frame or something?  How is something in that form factor used as a cutter?

Be careful if you buy one, it's certainly no 5mW laser pointer pen!

So much fun, so many opportunities to burn my house down...

[resistor]

After some searching, the one I linked appears to be the same (or very similar to) as this ebay listing:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/IPG-YTTERBIUM-FIBER-LASER-YLP-C-1-100-20-20-free-ship-/141129850196?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20dbfe9d54

From there I was able to track down a spec sheet, which leads me to believe that it's either a 10W or 20W unit: http://www.ipgphotonics.com/Collateral/Documents/English-US/120515-spec%20E27028%20R08%20YLP-C-series.pdf

[ConKbot]

It's a green Ytterbium Fiber Laser. Looks like a cutting laser to me.

Is it supposed to be mounted into a CNC frame or something?  How is something in that form factor used as a cutter?

Be careful if you buy one, it's certainly no 5mW laser pointer pen!

So much fun, so many opportunities to burn my house down...

http://www.gizmag.com/twi-yb-fiber-laser-demolition/29544/

 

[M. András]

It's a green Ytterbium Fiber Laser. Looks like a cutting laser to me.

Is it supposed to be mounted into a CNC frame or something?  How is something in that form factor used as a cutter?

Be careful if you buy one, it's certainly no 5mW laser pointer pen!

So much fun, so many opportunities to burn my house down...

http://www.gizmag.com/twi-yb-fiber-laser-demolition/29544/

 

i want one

[tszaboo]

Is there anything neat I could do with a fiber laser

Did you see this movie called: Star Wars?
But it is basically cutting, drilling... I've seen a laser making hundred microvias in 2 second.

[JoeyP]

If you do get it to play with, just be very very very careful. Most lasers used for cutting are IR, which means you can't see the beam - or its reflections. There is almost no direction you can point such a laser that it doesn't stand a chance of blinding you or someone else. Keep in mind that it will reflect off most surfaces, and at 10-20w power level even a 99% absorptive surface can still reflect plenty enough energy to damage your eyes!

[G7PSK]

If you get the laser get a few sets of these as well.

http://www.phillips-safety.com/laser-safety/laser-safety-glasses.html