body and interior Laser Rust Removal

[Colin]

I've seen the future, and its a freaking laser to remove rust.

 

 

 

 

[Teelinger]

First thought: lightsaber!

[TobyB]

...and when you're done, you can get that tramp stamp taken care of, too...

 

That's cool.  I think I need one...

 

t

 

[Colin]

The question is:

 

Does it remove paint...

 

...and can it be mounted on a shark?

 

[vacca rabite]

Someday when they don't cost $20K.

 

a decade from now I hope I'm still playing with cars to see some of the new stuff that's always coming out.

I'd love to have something like this right now for my car.  So far it seems to be way better then blasting or dipping.

 

Zach 

['76mintgrün'02]

that would be one stinky way to remove paint!

and you think sandblasting warps panels?

 

it is cool a cool tool though

[Colin]

There are more details here.  It sounds promising for our applications.  No mention of sharks, however.

 

http://www.p-laser.com/APPLICATIONS_detail.aspx?AGUID=1f846979-8fea-4745-bcea-663800c027e5&LGUID=8565a502-c109-43ef-b1a1-dfba5f3edbf6

[saaron]

Holy.  Crap.  It's Star Wars for rocker panels.

 

Scott

[zinz]

That is wicked... I like how there are absolutely no safety guards on the device... 

 

 

Ed Z

Edited August 30, 2016 by zinz

[Fatherof3]

I use the free flashlights from Harbor Freight. Results may vary.

[Colin]

I look at this and think, "I just wasted a year and a half sand blasting away rust and paint..."

 

 

[PaulTWinterton]

My wife was going to get that treatment, but I told her she's beautiful the way she is.

[vacca rabite]

23 hours ago, '76Mintgrun'02 said:

that would be one stinky way to remove paint!

and you think sandblasting warps panels?

 

it is cool a cool tool though

In theory, there is zero panel warping, and the demo's I have seen support that.

But.

Demos are demos and far from real world.

 

So the theory is that the laser heats the rust up to the point where it instantly turns into plasma.  A stream of compressed air blows the plasma (or gasses if the laser is not hot enough to make plasma) away from the work area. However, as soon as the laser hits clean steel, the steel reflects the beam and therefor stays cool.  Also the lasers are pulsing and not a constant beam, which gives the steel further resistance to heat induced warping.

 

However, and this should be fairly obvious, these things will make you blind in an instant if you are not careful.

 

It is really science fiction turned real.  These things kick ass over just about any form of media blasting and chem treatments.  

 

Zach

Edited August 31, 2016 by vacca rabite

[vacca rabite]

Oh wow.  

When I said " Someday when they don't cost $20K." I was SOOOOO far off.

The unit in the video is a $500,000 machine.  So...  It will be a while before the cost comes down.  I'd joke that I could just sell my house for one, but, maybe if I had two houses.

 

Adapt Laser Systems also apparently makes a backpack unit with a 20KW laser.  Its far cheaper at only $80K.  

Here is the story: http://shortshift.co/laser-rust-removal/

 

I guess this is effectively still science fiction.  But, wow.  Its getting close to being a reality.

Zach

[Reuben-bmw]

The laser works by emitting a specific frequency for a specific material to take off the rust. So it would not work on aluminum unless the frequency is changed and it doesn't harm you if your hand is in the beam, not to say that it wouldn't blind you but in the videos they are wearing laser eye protection goggles. I can not really say more on how it works, I just read this from what someone else said.