.

I was just going to post the link to Utube :-(.

The blog I found it on quotes a price of $300,000 for the machine.

A American competitor is http://www.lasertronics.com/wp/

-Hudson

That's pretty amazing. We have laser engraving machines where I work. They make alot of smoke and particulates that require HEPA filtration. I don't understand the total lack of any smoke in the demonstration shown here.

Bob D.

Used the link to look at this product. Looks like this is really for removal of coatings and corrosion from high value items or items that need to be turned around quickly. Like aircraft. Pretty pricy for ablation of rust from a steam loco. But might be really useful in restoration of antique rolling stock.

The unit is very large. The laser head in the video is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a large laser control (4 ft tall and 4 ft wide) unit AND a somewhat smaller chiller to keep the control unit cool. As far as dust, it looks like the basic unit includes a vacuum system as part of the laser head. I would expect that the other heads, available for smaller or irregular surfaces require separate dust collection. In fact, one photo in the website shows a second person holding a vacuum hose next to the laser head.

This technology will probably become cheaper and more compact in the next few years. I doubt, though, that any small museum will ever have the resources for something like this.

From this video it does not look any better then sand blasting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X3eMXlUnTM

The advantage would be no blasting media to clean up.

The disadvantage is that he seems to be holding the gun very close and only cleaning VERY small areas at once. Imagine cleaning a boiler with that? It'd be rusty again where you started by the time you got done. Like using a tooth brush.

Also, I've only seen it used oxidation and light surface rust.

"Sorry, this video is no longer available"

Finally, a death ray that really works!

In all seriousness, this is a pretty neat piece of technology. Anyplace a light beam can travel, you get what looks like pretty good results.

A needle gun without the needles! What fun is that? :-)

Bob

The documentation and claims made on the manufacturer's web site indicate that the unit is roughly 10 times faster than bead blasting and 100 times faster than cleaning with a wire wheel. But the real value of the unit is that it can sense the COLOR of the surface and remove only the layers that are bad. Thus, if a car has 5 layers of paint on it and you want to go down three layers, this machine will do that by comparing the color of what it is removing with the color that needs to remain on the article.

I suspect that not a little skill is required to get great results. It is a very powerful industrial laser and eye protection similar to electric arc welding is required. The unit can be rented, FOB the company's plant in California.

You know, SOMEBODY is going to try it on a boiler.......

There is an american company marketing these. You can buy or rent:
http://www.lasertronics.com/wp/wp-conte ... ptions.pdf

I nominate Kelly as the 'victim' to see what this unit costs, rental and purchase, seeing as how Strasburg is most likely the largest organization here. Why couldn't you use this on a boiler, on a frame, on wood or steel, rust, paint, dirt? Why not use this on a precious boiler, where blasting/grinding/sanding etc has no choice but to remove good steel with the bad? In another recent thread, someone asked about removing layers of paint to expose original paintwork, this system has optical scanning that might be just what was needed. Be rid of the grit, most of the PPE? This looks like you could do it in the same shop you are doing other projects in. It's also lots faster then other methods, if you read their sales pitch.

Yes it may be expensive, and maybe it doesn't work as well as presented or there are drawbacks that would be a game stopper, but it sure looks neat on paper.

I wonder what the operational costs are. I'm sure the filter set replacement is quite pricey. There must be a "soot" hopper to empty. What is this waste classified as? Does the laser abate anything such as lead paint? What does rust become after "phasering"
What is the run time between cleanings under heavy work? If it has a 100% duty cycle you could clean quite an area in a day.
Now to marry it to a CNC plasma table head and you don't even have to hold it!

Bob D.

I have played with high-power lasers in the past, in fact as a joke I made a hand held laser ticket punch that used a laser to burn a hole in tickets. What this looks like is a ir laser powered by a diode array. To anser the question about dust iron oxide isen't toxic last time I checked and sll this laser does is vaporise it so as long as you have a vacuum and or wearing a mask you should be fine and not have to deal with any haz-mat. Just remember to wear safety goggles that correspond to the specific wavelengths that you're using.

Yes it could do lead paint but what ever it hits turns to vaper and fine particulate matter so it probably isn't a good idea to use it on lead paint.