I've been looking into a way to get into high power (>20W) lasers recently without much luck, so I figured I'd go ahead and finally make an account to ask you all.
I'm working on a home experiment that involves burning a small amount of material at a high temperature in a vacuum chamber. A laser would be most ideal for this, but I'd need a significant power level. This is also a fairly expensive project without the laser, so I'd like to keep costs at a minimum. Diode and flashlamp pumped lasers could probably do the job, but a CO2 laser was the first thing to come to mind.
Do you have any suggestions on minimizing the cost of high power lasers? I'm fine going for used or just parts. I know people have been able to get the necessary parts free from medical facilities, but I don't expect anybody in my area to have old enough systems to retire. Would it be cheaper to go another laser route?
I'm working on a home experiment that involves burning a small amount of material at a high temperature in a vacuum chamber. A laser would be most ideal for this, but I'd need a significant power level. This is also a fairly expensive project without the laser, so I'd like to keep costs at a minimum. Diode and flashlamp pumped lasers could probably do the job, but a CO2 laser was the first thing to come to mind.
Do you have any suggestions on minimizing the cost of high power lasers? I'm fine going for used or just parts. I know people have been able to get the necessary parts free from medical facilities, but I don't expect anybody in my area to have old enough systems to retire. Would it be cheaper to go another laser route?