Lasers

Baldytyke88

I am always on Facebook, recently there are videos of people using lasers to remove rust/paint etc.

Does anyone use one and are they expensive? They remove rust and then it's ready to paint?

They look like a very dangerous tool in the wrong hands; health and safety will no doubt restrict their use, assuming they are legal.

Woodstok2000

A real laser ablation machine should run to at least £4-5k for lower end versions. Anything you see on Facebook will be a scam.

QrizB

As above; it's a scam.

And don't forget:

forgotmyname

Not to mention some will need a 32Amp power supply. It's not just the power of the laser it's the cooling
system also which can add up to around 10kW.

If you find a few youtube videos where they test genuine machines you often find they use something
else afterwards. I don't think it gets rust out of small pits in the metal which soon starts to spread the
rust again.

Edd China used one on a Range Rover chassis and he used a chemical solution afterwards.

Martin_the_Unjust

Generally you won’t go far wrong by assuming all adverts on Facebook are scams.

Especially those that ‘are too good to be true’

Bigphil1474

If you are using them at work, you'll most likely need a trained Laser Safety Officer as well.

Baldytyke88

It's new tech at the moment; I am guessing they will improve and get cheaper. The laser is 26 minutes in, follow the link.

My guess is that a good laser treatment will be better than sandblasting. A laser will melt the surface metal, whereas a sandblaster will just remove a surface film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5rWy-u994k

Nasqueron

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121516#Comment_82121516

You don't need one on payroll, you can hire one to do the work and sign you off / write the local rules (source: I work for a company that makes and sells medical/aesthetic lasers)

Typically it's someone qualified as an LPA (Laser Protection Advisor)

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121517#Comment_82121517

laser isnt new tech

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121406#Comment_82121406

Or above, all depends on the power output and if they are pulse or not. A 100w pulse can easily be run from a normal plug socket but it's going to be slow for anything other than the lightest surface rust.

forgotmyname

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121517#Comment_82121517

Better than sandblasting in some situations not all. Sandblasting is probably more aggressive but the laser does not melt anything
it burns the rust but you can still have pockets of rust that the laser does not reach where sandblasting can be coarse enough
to get below that surface to the rust beneath.

Sandblasting does not just remove the surface film of rust it also eats into the base metal which is where the laser leaves the
good metal intact although there could be rust in pitted areas that is still untouched.

Mildly_Miffed

The reality:

https://www.laserax.com/blog/what-is-laser-ablation
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/laser-ablation

Basically, the laser heats the surface so hot that the top layer is burnt away, leaving the lower layers. It has to do this so quickly that the under layers don't heat up. Basically, it's burning the outside of the sausage on the too-hot barbeque while leaving the middle cold.

It's used all the time in industry - see those QR codes etched onto the surface of car parts? They're laser ablated.

And, yes, there are companies offering it as a commercial cleaning service.
https://lasercleaning.co.uk
Bet they aren't using £100 boxes they bought from an ad on the soshuls.