Never ever look at the laser when it’s engraving with the naked eye. Do not stare at the laser when it’s engraving even with eye protection. It’s OK to look at the laser in preview mode provided it’s set to low power/brightness. I know it’s hard to resist watching the ongoing engraving job, we have all done it… If you must watch it for whatever reason, point your phone’s camera to it through some laser protection and watch over the phone screen.
If you wish to purchase your own laser protections, make sure they protect against 405-450nm laser (LP1/Pro/2/4) and 1064nm laser (LP3/4).
In addition to eye protection, protect yourself from toxic fumes from laser engraving, especially when engraving any sort of plastic or paint. Although the fumes/smoke could potentially harm or kill you, all you need is good ventilation to stay safe. If the weather and space allow it, do your engravings outside (portable laser engraver FTW!).
If you must do it indoors, try the following mitigations:
- do it near your window (and have a small fan to blow the smoke out if possible)
- do it under your kitchen extractor hood and keep it on
- do it in your bathroom with a ventilation fan on
- do it in your workstation with proper ventilation and/or air filtration system. Some users use common air purifiers with HEPA filters and activated carbon.
Was this helpful?
2 / 0