Laser engraving, up close

You know you're not supposed to watch your laser while it's cutting or engraving. But [Alex] hosted Wired in his studio and showed them how lasers etch metal with a fiber laser. You can see the video below.

If you haven't used a fiber laser, you might be surprised to find that a 60W model can burn metal, but does absolutely nothing to [Alex's] hand. By the way, we wouldn't try this with the common diode lasers you see in most hacker labs these days. The video isn't terribly technical, but it's interesting to see different metals succumb to the powerful laser. There are some tips on marking different metals in different ways and how to deal with thermal expansion and other effects.

Fiber lasers aren't as common as diode engravers in private stores, but we guess it's only a matter of time before they get cheaper. Not to mention their widespread commercial use, surplus units may also be available.

If you are interested in lasers, [Alex]'s YouTube channel has many great videos to watch. If you need more power, how about 200kW? Again, even 20W will get you something useful.