Can you call it a bandsaw if it has neither band nor saw? [WeldingRod1] does, with his entry in the laser contest — a manually-controlled laser cutter that he’s dubbed a Laser Bandsaw. Some might quibble that it’s not actually sawing with the beam, and others will inevitably find the safety implications rather frightening. We think it’s a fun project and that [WeldingRod1] can call it what he wants, as long as he follows his own advice and keeps his laser goggles firmly on his precious vision orbs.
He has actually put some thought into what started as the physical manifestation of a joke in a podcast. The blue diode laser — a NUBM44 diode rated at 7 W — got a custom-made copper heatsink. It’s also got a hefty beam dump in the form of a stack of box knife blades. That’s very necessary to keep the beam from reflecting where it shouldn’t, especially when you consider this operates like a regular band saw: you turn it on, and it’s ready to cut. With only 7 W of laser power it can’t cut that much, mind you, but apparently it’s great on balsa wood and blasts black paint off like nobody’s business.
Now if this was our shop we’d probably want to put the laser diode onto some kind of CNC platform, be it Cartesian or SCARA. But we’ve seen that done many, many times and if you’ve got the motor skills this might be just the tool for you. There’s a pinout and STLs for the 3D printed frame on the project page if you’re interested. If not, why are you still here? The article is finished. Go make something lase and send it in. The deadline for the 2026 Frikkin Laser Contest is fast approaching!
In terms of size, gestalt, and semi-plausible use cases, it seems a lot more akin to a laser scroll saw than a laser band saw.
(as a bonus, the “scroll” part remains just as accurate when it uses a laser, since it refers to the style of cutting, not the type of blade)
I’m not worried if he blinds himself, possibly due to an unexpected specular reflection. But this contraption could easily blind someone else nearby. It only takes a microsecond, and saying “oops, sorry” wouldn’t be acceptable.
5mW is usually on the limit of being eyesafe; this is 1000 times more powerful than that!
IMNSHO, hackaday should not provide any publicity whatsoever for devices that could easily blind random passers by.
As the old safety poster put it, “do not look into laser with remaining eye”
eh, i am really upset also at this project but i wouldn’t go so far as to say hackaday shouldn’t spread projects with a significant safety problem. an awful lot of hacks here are dangerous, that prohibition would cut a wide swathe
maybe it was just a fluke but personally i thought it was brilliant how my middle school hired the 9-fingered man to teach shop class. “kids, this is dangerous” is a worthwhile exposition imo.
i’m not sure what to think of the fact that fooling around with lasers hasn’t produced a bunch of half-blind youtube stars…maybe you’re right and it makes it appear safer than it is but also maybe it is safer than it seems?? idk
Glasses always. Based on wavelength. For everyone in the house, including cat 😂
As a scroll/band saw doesn’t cut until something is pushed into the blade, this should function likewise. I suggest an optical mouse sensor be used to detect movement of the workpiece. No motion, no laser. If you want to be really fancy, you could modulate the power of the beam based on the speed of the motion.
yeah good idea. might be even easier to have a temp or photo sensor on the ‘beam dump’ side of the thing to detect if when it’s made it through
blades as a beam dump? any reason why? (i did not see an explanation of the choice in the project page and i will not be watching the video sorry thanks)
The sharp edges means minimal reflection(top surface width) and the tight angle of the blade faces means reflections are channeled further into the stack of blades and not reflected sideways.
The video in case anyone was looking for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sBeiYIkn4k&cc_load_policy=0