I'm incredibly concerned about these laser cutters...

I watched the video and those were almost my exact thoughts on laser cutters.   I originally tried using one indoors but the first time I tried etching on wood, I thought my wife was going to kick ME out of the house.  And with the laser is exposed, my kids kept seeing the light emitted and wanted to go up to it and watch.  (I never even let them in the room). In the end it was just too much for me to deal with so I gave it to a friend that has a shop and no kids. 

It’s funny that you’ve got a picture of the Creality falcon in your post, I just bought one of these. I’m excited by the possibilities that the laser will add to my ability to make things but I am definitely taking extreme caution with it. I’m planning to make an enclosure with an exhaust system and until then I’ll only be running it in the garage. Thanks for all you’ve done to inform your audience of the dangers, I certainly have learned a lot from you!

I haven't (yet) ordered a laser cutter head for my Kingroon KP5L FDM printer, but I have been tempted on several occasions. I acknowledge the hazards and your statement that manufacturers have done little to nothing to address safety hazards, much less sought to mitigate them. That said, the main thing that has kept me from purchasing is the relatively low power output of the lasers available as printer options. It may be counterintuitive to indicate that I would purchase a higher power laser cutting head knowing how little thought has gone into making them safer. However, I'm also not a fan of prohibiting people from purchasing much of anything (OK, a nuclear weapon is probably at least one exception) once they have acknowledged and accepted any hazard(s) involved.

I have no children, only a dog whose presence I can manage, so safety precautions are something that would be my responsibility, always assuming the hazards are clearly known. I certainly don't want to end up in Madame Marie Curie's boat due to any unknown unknowns which might be present. I don't think that's the case with consumer grade lasers (I have several low power laser devices or attachments which I use periodically and have taken more than one DVD apart). Having read your precautions when testing your saw equipped "robot" (Holy Cow!), I doubt you would consider my safety measures adequate. But that would be my risk to assume, again providing I didn't knowingly expose another living creature to the consequences of any of my mistakes. All this is a long winded way of stating that "yes, I would purchase a reasonably priced, more powerful laser cutting head if such was available."

Sorry your "robot" (quote marks reflect my prejudice that remotely controlled devices don't qualify as true robots; I believe some degree of autonomous action is required) was defeated by the CO2 powered flipper. I had seen a similar robot take on another saw equipped robot with similar, if less spectacular, results. After taking a beating (sawing?), the flipper managed to get its shovel under the sawyer and flip it onto its back. The later had no way of righting itself. Pity. I was rooting for the sawyer. How about replacing your saw with a pneumatic or CO2 operated nail gun. Or world that be considered too dangerous to employ? How satisfying would it be to exclaim "nailed it!"

Enjoy your work. Look forward to development of your site. Kind regards - Jim Warters

Hey Angus, what was the air filter you were using in the first video? I've been looking but struggling to find a good air filter, available in Australia, that is reasonably priced. 

Inn answer to your question, these open frame lasers scare me. One of my mates bought a snap maker with the laser, and I calculated the NoHD, I don't remember the exact number, but the long and the short of it was an unlucky reflection could blind you from the other side of the room. Absolutely terrifying.