THE BEST Lasers

Ever need to measure something far away? Bosch’s GLM400CL digital tape measure uses a powerful laser to bounce off surfaces up to 400 feet away, even in sunlight. It has a built-in camera with zoom to help you target your subject, and is accurate to 1/16″. It can calculate length, area, volume, and more in real time.

Real laser beams don’t behave like they do in science fiction. Instead of firing in short blasts, they appear as a single coherent beam of light. The Action Lab shows a simple way to achieve the sci-fi effect in camera using a spinning fan blade and by taking advantage of a digital camera’s rolling shutter effect.

Prima Power shows off the power and speed of one of its impressive fiber lasers. Their 6kW Laser Genius slices through sheet metal of varying thickness like a hot, razor-sharp knife through butter. We can’t believe how easily it got through that metal at 1:20. More laser porn here.

PGA masters and side-betting amateurs are guaranteed an equally serious advantage with Bushnell Golf’s advanced rangefinder. The Pro XE assesses distance for uphill and downhill shots with its Slope technology, factors in temperature and barometric pressure, and provides visual and vibration feedback when it locks onto the flag.

Whether you roast or fry, there are lots of different ways to prepare your Thanksgiving bird. The guys at BOSSlaser like to make their turkey from wood. It’s not as tender or tasty that way, but we’re sure it’s got lots of fiber. Have access to a laser cutter? Grab the design file from MAKE CNC.

FLUX, the guys behind the Delta 3D printer have a new product in the works – a desktop CO2 laser engraver and cutter that won’t break the bank. It’s designed for ease of use, yet is as capable as pro models, with on-board camera alignment and water cooling, along with optional autofocus and rotary capabilities for curved objects.

If you thought the only way to bend a beam of light was with mirrors, you’d be wrong. MEL Chemistry shows off a few simple experiments you can do with a laser pointer and household items like oil, water, and salt, that demonstrate the nature of reflection and refraction. More here.

Techmoan managed to get his hands on an a truly 1980s gadget, unopened and in its original box. The LASER FX was a home light show that attempted to replicate the experience of a concert with a laser light show. Unfortunately, its lack of an actual laser beam was its downfall. Fortunately, these days we have the LaserCube.

LaserGadgets likes to build all sorts of cool prop weaponry using lasers. For this custom-commissioned build, he created a Militech handgun that looks like it came straight out of the CD Projekt Red RPG Cyberpunk 2077. The hefty replica has LED illumination, and a bright blue laser that’s powerful enough to burst balloons.

This useful pocket-size gadget uses a laser to accurately measure distances up to 130 feet away. It can automatically do the math to calculate distance, area, volume, horizon, and more. The included right-angle mirror makes measuring table heights a snap, and its built-in 6-axis sensor allows it to measure angles too.

Hypnotic and wonderfully-satisfying footage of a high-speed laser engraver rapidly etching an intricate geometric pattern into a metal disc. Z-Tech Lasers‘ video wasn’t sped up either, and was shot in real time.

Delta Hack takes a look at droolworthy gadget for laser geeks. The 4″, 3.1 lb cube has bright red, green, and blue lasers, and a computer-controlled mirror which can be used to display animations. Its beam can also be focused to engrave images or ignite things. Available now from Wicked Lasers. Read our full review on Technabob.

Heads or Tales Coins & Collectibles presents a wonderfully satisfying video showing a laser etching machine making a cold storage coin – a physical manifestation of cryptocurrency. These coins feature a unique private key which can be used to unlock its bearer’s Bitcoins.

The daredevil stunt plane Scandinavian Catwalk performed this epic light show at Australia’s 2019 Avalon Airshow. Watch in awe as the plane shoots a stream of fireworks and laser beams, perfectly timed to the music, all while performing flips and rolls in the sky.

Yoshihito Isogawa shows off another impressive build. He used LEGO Technic and Mindstorms parts, along with mirrors and a laser pointer to create a mechanism that can project laser patterns on the wall by rapidly modulating its reflector. Here’s another variant he also made.

BOSSlaser shows off a slick design – a decorative bowl that can be cut from a single sheet of plywood or acrylic. It comes into shape as it stretches like a giant spiral Slinky onto its stand. Gorgonaut’s original template is available on Thingiverse for download.

Techmoan is usually showing off unusual retro tech, this time host Mat has something a bit different. Here, he shows how to play vector-style video games using Wicked Lasers’ LaserOS. Check out StandupMath’s video for a more impressive demo of a laser-based game.

Laser engravers use powerful laser beams to burn designs into wood and other materials. But when Make Anything’s flatbed engraver broke, he decided to take its laser head and turn it into a handheld writing instrument. It’s not the safest thing on Earth, but it is cool.

We’ve seen lasers take off layers of grime and even rubber coatings, but we’re really impressed with this footage of a 1000-watt P-Laser system as it strips off years of rust from old steel in just seconds. More wonderfully satisfying footage here.

Laser engravers are some of the coolest machines you can have in your workshop, and can produce designs with extreme precision. But we’ve never seen one work as fast as the Tykma Vereo, which manages to spit out an entire image on sheet metal in about a minute.

We’ve all seen laser beams which project images using a persistence of vision effect. While the professional gear does it with moving mirrors, Yertle Vert shows off a neat build using 3D-printed cams and a laser pointer to achieve a similar effect. Instructions on Thingiverse.

The VH-80 can emit lasers from either or both ends to quickly measure and record length, area or volume. It has built-in levels and can be mounted on a tripod. You can also control it via its companion smartphone app, which also lets you overlay measurements on a photo.

The LaserDock is a compact RGB laser projector for visualizing music. It comes with easy-to-use Windows and MacOS apps that have hundreds of effects for digital music, MIDI and live instruments. Pair it with a fog machine and mosquito nets to get a cool 3D effect.

Engineers from the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at Germany’s Hasso Plattner Institute demonstrate an innovative use for a laser cutter – to not just cut materials, but to use their heat to weld layers together, forming fully-assembled 3D objects in the process.

While laser engraving is typically done on wood or acrylic, this video shows a laser system which is used to add patterns or a pre-washed look to blue jeans. The completed fashions aren’t our style, but the tech is really cool. Plus, the music just makes it so much more dramatic.

Seb Lee-Delisle modified a Nintendo Zapper to fire laser beams and even have smoke come out of the barrel with each shot. It has a pair of LEDs, a laser module, and a vape module. The light effects on the wall are from a separate projector.