Laser

I have had extensive experience with developing solid state laser systems applied to special hi-tech metal removal applications. I have never worked with applications associated with rust removal. There are some on line videos of this applications which appear to be using some type of CW (continuous wave) gaseous laser. Most likely this would be a CO2 laser. The online videos donot mention what the extent of rust removal capabilities are. The cost of a system is more than likely not something people at the hobby level of antique restoration can afford.
 
We have had a demonstration of a laser welder in our workshop. It was very impressive, welding from very thin sheet metal to several millimeter stainless steel was no problem. Even i was able to weld two 1mm aluminium sheet plates together. I would think that the 'rust remover' laser system will be in the same ballpark, power and price wise. The equipment would have cost around €55.000,-. Any lasersystem produced in the far-east for $300,- will not do anything.


And don't forget all the safety precautions you need to operate the laser.
 
I saw one at a local auction and spent some time going down the rabbit hole of investigating if it would work better than manual or media paint and/or rust removal.

I watched about 10-12 videos of them in operation and testing on YouTube and came to the conclusion that there was nothing that warranted me spending several thousand on the used laser at the auction vs what I could already do.

It looks cool, but based on what I watched, pretty limited in its usage.

And, like TominCologne said, if you're looking at one of the low-end ones from Amazon, it will not likely do much at all.
 
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