Yahoo Autos This Hand-Held Laser Makes Rust Literally Evaporate
Rust is the bane of any hobby mechanic. If you work on your car-whether it's a beloved classic or just your daily beater-you've probably stared at stubborn, inevitable corrosion and wished you could banish it with the wave of a magic wand.
Sadly, we don't have magic wands. What we do have is a hand-held 1000-watt laser that blasts away rust, paint, and any other coating, revealing virgin bare metal in seconds.
Yes. Frickin' lasers.
This amazing device is called the P-Laser QF-1000. Like its rigid-mounted counterparts, the hand-held instrument is meant for industrial applications, like preparing metal for robotic welding or removing residue from manufacturing molds. As such, it's very expensive: P-Laser told R&T that a low-power QF-50, with only 50 watts of muscle, costs 47,800 Euro, or more than $53,000 at today's exchange rate. We assume that's outside your tool budget.
How's it work? A P-Laser spokesperson explained that the system uses short pulses of laser light. When aimed at a metal surface, "the dirt layer and any oxides underneath will absorb the energy and evaporate." The metal underneath will not absorb the laser energy, leaving nothing but a clean surface ready for welding or painting.
We know what you're thinking, and the answer is no: This thing won't vaporize human flesh. Amazingly, aiming this laser blaster at your finger doesn't even hurt at all.
Still, if we got our hands on one of these babies, we wouldn't be able to help ourselves. We'd be quoting our favorite scene from Goldfinger with every pull of the laser-trigger: No, Mr. Rust, I expect you to die!
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