I can’t stop watching this guy burn through different materials with a preposterously intense laser that he built into a Zippo case. Metal, plastic, wood, rubber — these are no match for the laser lighter. Uhh, this is dangerous.
The video is a tad slow, but the destruction is worth it. (It starts to get good about 1:30 and continues for another 13 glorious minutes.) Given how cavalier people are with ordinary 5mW laser pointers, I probably shouldn’t direct you to the posting on Xtrem-Experiences.com that explains how to make this thing. This is basically a weapon.
According to the poster, the lithium-ion battery-powered, 2W M-140 blue laser diode blasts a laser, which scales up to 2,000,000 watts per square metre. (I’m no physicist, so I’m trusting his maths here, honestly.) What does that mean? Well, when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, its light hits the Earth’s surface at approximately 1000W per square metre. In other words, this little lighter is blasting surfaces with 2000 times more intensity than the sun that licks your face at the beach.
That would make for one hell of a burn on your skin! At first I wanted to call this guy out for not actually lighting a cigarette with with his laser lighter — isn’t that the point? — but come to think of it, I wouldn’t want that thing any where near my face either. [Xtrem-Experiences via Hack-a-Day]