Lasers and Museum Ships - Modern Preservation Solutions!

[@Drachinifel]

Pinned post for Q&A :)

[@williamsledge3151]

Not sure if this has already been asked before but do you have any strong opinions on how naval vessels are depicted in fiction?

[@MarcusAgrippa390]

Are torpedoes still a viable option in modern naval warfare and if not when were they phased out? I'd imagine that some smaller Navies may still have them on older vintage vessels. P.S. I know this is beyond the scope of the time period the channel covers but I thought I'd ask since it also covers (potentially at least) historical events. Thanks! (Not including submarines) Lol

[@unaussprechliche_Benutzernamen]

Whenever interwar cruiser design (and destroyers) are discussed, almost every navy seems to be deeply unhappy with the tonnage limits dished out by the two naval treaties - was this because more political minded people did the negotiation without consulting their naval design departments? Or rather that the design of warships shifted too rapidly from what every country agreed where reasonable ship displacements? And if there were tonnage allowances for ww2 ship design from the start on, would this, in your opinion, have lead to even heavier ship designs in WW2?

[@prussianhill]

Sinking vessels to preserve them. The USS Niagara was sunk to preserve it in the 1820s. Why would a navy want to sink a ship to preserve it during the age of sail, instead of simply hauling it out of the water? And how common of a practice was sinking wooden ships to preserve them?

[@little202]

Where there any notable paddle wheel Ironclads? And what made them notable?

[@CanalTremocos]

My man Drach living the dream. Firing lasers at battleships.

[@michalkordek5322]

Now, if we can get THE LazorPig to make a guest appearance, it would ba RAD.

[@Vtarngpb]

*Laz0r

[@Tomyironmane]

or firing lasers aboard battleships.

[@Eisengeboren]

"I'm not going to take my arm off because I value my limbs" You defy the Omnissiah with this heresy. The flesh is weak.

[@imapopo2924]

"From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine."

[@Mjolnir117]

(Admech theme music intensifies)

[@dougjb7848]

FOR THE EMPEROR

[@magosryzak7477]

​@@imapopo2924Your kind cling to your flesh, as if it will not decay and fail you.

[@jdrobertson42]

“The advantage of the laser is that it pretty much vaporizes everything that you want vaporized.” Not a sentence I expected to hear on this channel, but I’m here for it.

[@jeffbangle4710]

It's only a matter of time until he tours the Space Battleship Yamato...

[@chrismaverick9828]

I'm actually surprised that the phrase hasn't come up before in some manner.

[@ronaldfrechette2045]

​​@@jeffbangle4710You said it before I could! I need a 5 minute guide to the EDF's Andromeda class.

[@WhatIfBrigade]

Paging Spacedock

[@LuvLikeTruck]

I love that Drach's channel has grown enough to be able to do cool things like this. The content just keeps getting better

[@morlock2086]

Naval historiographer, naval preservationist, and a laser gunner!

[@jehl1963]

Cool to see. I work in a different segment of the laser industry, and it is important that the user and people nearby are wearing the appropriate eye protection for the wavelength of the laser. Rust removal lasers usually have wavelengths of about 1064nm. This is in the infrared part of the spectrum that humans can't see. A 4-watt laser at that wavelength can be dangerous to the unshielded human eye at a few feet distance. And being infrared, you won't see it or know it until the damage is done. As you point out, 150 watts is no toy. Always wear appropriate eye protection and put screens.

[@bluelemming5296]

@jehl1963 What about reflections - how do they affect the need for eye protection from the sides? How much potentially dangerous reflected energy is there? I would imagine that some energy could bounce off these surfaces, maybe with some scatter in different directions due to surface properties. There are complex surfaces being worked on here, including curves, which implies complex reflection paths - possibly with multiple points where energy could be reflected multiple times, such as off some potion of the barrel, then off some portion of the gun shield, then who knows where ... Is this a situation where protective goggles would be a lot better than just protective glasses? In other words, could reflected energy following a complex path get reflected behind the front of a set of basic glasses and into somebody's eye from the side, thus bypassing the surface of the glasses?

[@jehl1963]

@bluelemming5296 All good points. Reflectance is often a function of the wavelength and the material. I'm no PhD, so I don't know all of the derails. Appropritae safety glasses are defined by the wavelengths that they block and generally fit in such a way that light doesn't go past them. Just plain sunglasses won't work because they may be transparent in (this case) infrared, but attenuate visible light. These are all excellent questions for the vendor of the laser system. They will know.

[@tonyInPA]

Agree on eye protection. In a different life i worked for a company that marked metal with lasers. With only ~8 watts continuous vs the *150* watts of Drach’s unit) it worked quickly, and they learned the hard way that even small errors in the fixture led to holes bored INTO the metal (!)

[@michaelwerner2489]

Agreed. I work in laser micromachining and flinched when I saw those onlookers without eye protection. Near Infrared is invisible but still gets transmitted and focused by the eye lens, and with the reflections off the cleaned pitted metal surface being pretty much uncontrollable I can easily imagine somebody getting eye damage. Maybe I'm a bit overcautious, but I know that just a little reflection off 100W visible green (532nm) laser looks scary AF, and this is the same power range here - and there's no eyelid reflex for the invisible light.

[@dees3179]

We use laser for cleaning in museum conservation too and have endless safety precautions. Everyone wears eye protection etc and the location is approved by the safety officer for use. Lots of procedures are gone through. Not a solution to everything and you have to be very careful and responsible, but they do have a lot of useful applications.

[@jimsackmanbusinesscoaching1344]

You need to helmet mount the laser so we can have "Frickin Drach with Frickin Laser Beam on his head"!

[@crazyguy32100]

I don't know what's more impressive. The laser itself or the fact Drach was able to get it through security and across the pond in his carry on.

[@Drachinifel]

Explaining exactly what it was to the TSA was fun 😀

[@zalandarr]

weapons of mass derustification

[@annrn6148]

@@zalandarr good one

[@dersaegefisch]

"So what you're telling me is: You brought a dangerous laser with you and you plan to shoot it at Us naval assets..."

[@ssgtmole8610]

@@Drachinifel Were TSA LASER savey enough to ask you to demonstrate it was fully discharged before they let it on the plane? Or was that a requirement of the commercial airline?

[@ashhawk7489]

Going to have to show this video at my workplace we do a lot of rust removal on old firearm and this could be a good addition to our tools.

[@jeffsr8300]

True preservation, removes the damage leaves the equipment intact.👍👍

[@genericpersonx333]

Not exactly: the damage is already done and all the laser does is offer a more convenient and precise method to remove the damaged material. Preservation is what comes after the laser treatment, when a chemical barrier is applied that will keep the metal from reacting for a time.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@genericpersonx333 Indeed. Sanding or a laser do the same job removing the rust, but a laser is less physical work, and tends to do less harm to un-rusted metal underneath.

[@Tyler-gv6zf]

🤓☝🏻

[@nomar5spaulding]

God, Drach doesn't just get to go around and do things like chat with Ryan or Mat Easton. He gets to laser beam Ryan's battleship under direct supervision. What a world!

[@leftyo9589]

the burning grease LOL. looks like a great tool for the job. however it would probably work best on a disassembled gun.

[@michaelmoorrees3585]

Get Ian, from Forgotten Weapons, there. He'd have it disassembled, in under a minute. Othias, of C&rsenal, can take it down in a short time, too, but that comes with a 2 hour history lesson.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

This assumes that someone there knows how to disassemble it, and that it is not seized together or even intentionally welded together.

[@seanquigley3605]

I know the US Navy used to use two separate lead based preservative paints. White and Red lead( hense the pink submarine in Operation Petticoat). Think that paint you got down to just before bare metal was probably the original white lead preservative coating from the factory. Awesome work bringing new tech to light for those in the preservation field.

[@Khalifrio]

So we just watched an ad for Drach's lazor cleaning service.

[@hektor6766]

Knives, garden tools,..makes your silver tea set sparkle again!

[@Stant123]

10:00 Point of note, the US is wired to the house at 240 volts and split at the meter to two 110/120 legs, and run down the breaker box alternating between these two legs. (Commercial and industrial buildings are wired at 277/480 volts requiring the voltages be stepped down before being distributed throughout the building.) This why in US houses, your electric laundry dryer or electric stove or electric heater (not a space heater) or your A/C unit (and older electric water heaters) or welder or any other shop equipment for those that have garages with good tools in them, and even pool pumps for those that have that sort of thing, needing to be 240 volts, uses a double sized breaker as it'll pick up both legs and give you your 240 volt circuit without needing any additional equipment like the mentioned step up device in this video. The reason Drach needed to get that device for the USS NJ is because he was plugging into a common outlet (and possibly using an extension cord) instead of an outlet set up as a 240 volt circuit, not that the US just cannot accommodate it as stated. We do have lots of 240 volt stuff here as I've already listed.

[@michaelholt8590]

I read the post wrong. I read it as "protecting museum ships with lasers." I thought, "This will be interesting." And it was but just not how I assumed it would be.

[@OtakuLoki]

I had assumed it was some kind of bird deterrent system when I saw the title. But a great video, even if not quite what I assumed.

[@SudrianTales]

Vandal or bird: Tee Hee, im going to mess this ship up. Guard with a laser strong enough to melt a tiger tank: You Yeed Your Last Haw

[@BleedingUranium]

On this tangent, I had a thought a while back. Once lasers get good enough to be used as CIWS (etc), would that not tip the "balance of power" away from aircraft and missiles and back to guns? Think about it, a laser is a constant beam (the ideal anti-flying-thing rate of fire) and would, in this case, be powerful enough to knock "slow"/fragile things like missiles or aircraft out of the sky... but no matter how powerful they are, they're purely line of sight weapons. Which means lasers can't counter a ship that's over the horizon (or behind something), nor would they be feasible against shells flying through the air. So don't take this fun thought experiment _too_ seriously, but in short, a battleship with laser CIWS might actually be rather viable in the future.

[@dgthe3]

150W laser: cleans Oerlikon 150kW laser: replaces Oerlikon

[@VKiera]

Bet the crew on Texas would have found this interesting last year when disassembling their guns for conservation. Though now I think they are helping Kidd with her guns.

[@thomashambly3718]

10:06 Ryan Szimanski (Curator for Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial) jumpscare

[@notacleverman9438]

*inhales* BATTLESHIP NEW JERSEY RECEIVES OPERATING SUPPORT FROM THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF STATE ALSO FROM A NUMBER OTHER BUSINESSES AND INDIVIDUALS LIKE YOURSELVES!!

[@stephenbritton9297]

@@notacleverman9438 Now we know what's on his fundraising wish list!

[@drcovell]

Drach, in the late 1970s I was working for a company (Alpha Cleen) and cleaning grease, paint, and rust off of rail cars that were due to get new bogeys, with sealed wheel bearings, by using a high-pressure washer (3600 psi). I cleaned these with a two-stage chemical process, the first an acid wash that broke down 20+ years of surface films, then a HEAVY chemical base with Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) to cut the grease and most of the existing paint. Before eco-freaks blow a gasket, these two chemicals, acid and base, will neutralize each other when they pool together on the concrete pad. The final wash was a clear rinse and the cars were ready to go to final sandblasting and repair. The rail-yard bosses were VERY HAPPY with this process, as they didn’t have to employ armies of men to scrape off the caked up grease. I could clean 4-6 boxcars per day, which was about as many as their paint shop could process. Wonder why the USN can’t use a similar process? A strong H2O2 solution should cut rust VERY effectively.

[@dougjb7848]

This would work great in many places outside, but any liquid that runs off your work area will pool somewhere and cannot be left to evaporate, so would need to be absorbed and disposed of properly. That is a lot of extra work. It may work well inside the ship, but will make a liquid mess that will not evaporate and instead needs to be absorbed and then transported to main deck outside and then on to disposal. A LOT more work.

[@spacepickshovel]

Oh shoot! I was just modeling that Oerlikon for Leander Class Frigate work of mine, this video will work as a reference for me now 😅😅😅

[@jimtalbott9535]

Lol, nice!! Great close-up views, that’s for certain.

[@Br4ndini555]

If I had the dough, I would spring for one of these to use at the railway museum I work at. It seems like it would make the cleaning of valve parts and welding prep so much easier.

[@myparceltape1169]

He has got a Type IX submarine to clean first. Ask for his hourly rate.

[@kentvesser9484]

You should have given Ian at Forgotten Weapons a call to come out and field strip the Oerlikon so you can get at all the parts like those springs. I bet he would have enjoyed breaking down an Oerlikon.

[@jacobdill4499]

I second this

[@ChrisAnderson-ez4yk]

Informative, entertaining and service to others. Trifecta! Nicely done, Drach

[@BlahCraft1]

10:46 Supervising Ryan Szimanski (Currator of Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial).

[@peterjohnson8106]

Those lasers are usually Class 4 and while not very dangerous to skin will cause immediately and permanently blindness if it gets in your eye. Use welding screens to protect those around you and laser safety glasses designed for the wavelength of the unit.

[@classicalextremism]

^^^ I cringed a bit when I saw spectators with no eye protection at close range. I don't know this unit, but my experience says the indirect bounce of the laser is still harmful.

[@pilkycrc]

The graphics in this new Powerwash Simulator DLC are incredibly realistic!

[@jimtalbott9535]

16:00 - Seeing the results around this point, it’s clear to me now that I have a new windmill to tilt at - in terms of getting one of these lovely “toys”(not a toy!).

[@thekidfromcleveland3944]

Mrs Drach figure will be preserved as well god grant Hopefully her recovery is going well. No naval plushies i could find. But theres a couple stress squeezers out there.

[@scott2836]

Fascinating presentation, Drach. I can see this having applications in several parts of historic preservation, as well as more mundane restoration and repair work. This broadens the marketplace and makes the use more common which improves not only the knowledge base but also helps keep pricing stable.

[@Kevin_Kennelly]

Drach arrives at Phila International Airport Customs Gate With a backpack laser in his luggage. "Anything to declare?"

[@NetTopsey]

American customs probably wouldn't bat an eye at a portable laser pistol. Kinder Surprise Eggs on the other hand...

[@stephenbritton9297]

I flew with a navigation sextant once... Pre-TSA. Security guard asked me what it was. She then asked if it could be used as a weapon. "Ma'am, it's a thousand plus dollar precision instrument, I supposed you could hit someone over the head with it, but then it would be a $5 piece of junk." "Ok, have a nice flight."

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@stephenbritton9297 I once got a cop angry enough to reach for his pistol. I was sitting on the rear bumper of my car, parked in a parking lot at the college I was attending, with a valid parking permit. The oddity was that I was sharpening a hatchet that I used in my job landscaping. The cop asked if I had any other weapons in the car, and I answered, "Depends on what you define as a weapon." My thought process was based on a recent reading of my state's "dangerous weapons" statute. His thought process was probably either, "He has a bomb!" or "I'll show this smartazz a thing or two!"

[@ostsan8598]

​@@MonkeyJedi99 The cop probably wouldn't have reached for his pistol if you had just explained that you had gardening tools for your landscaping job. Might have still asked to see them, but probably wouldn't have been anxious.

[@daguard411]

The best system for removing rust and paint from metal is white vinegar. It does need to be completely immersed and I normally leave it overnight in a sealed container, the next day I use a soft brass brush to remove what I can. On really corroded items it may take several treatments for complete removal but I typically keep the vinegar in the tub or tray and the benefit is that when it is done, you can just pour it out. The major reason why I would recommend vinegar for these type of jobs is because all of the mechanical methods create some form of particulate materials and it may expose one to lead or asbestos as both were used in the past to formulate paint for high temperature surfaces.

[@jaydugger3291]

Weak ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) solution does the same for brass.

[@AugmentedGravity]

I honestly want one of these so bad now. I have thought about this before but kinda forgot about it. Seeing it in action just makes me feel like i need this. I work on alot of rusted automotive parts, and having this would honestly be a godsend if it works the way and as efficiently as it looks.

[@matthewstreeter5169]

Now waiting for the journal article co authored by Drach and Ryan.

[@irishtank42]

This could be used for vehicles as well! This tool is amazing!

[@NetTopsey]

Very cool. I came for the naval history, but stayed for the experimental materials preservation and restoration demonstration. I can see lots of potential applications in any area that you might get large collections of metal, eg armour, coinage, tools, machines and machine parts, fine gears, etc. All of which leads me to wonder how well it would clean corals like one sees on submerged bronze statues, or something like the Antikythera mechanism.

[@gregcollins7602]

Now I really want to see Drach in his armor

[@mrricky3816]

Thanks!

[@michaelinsc9724]

Cool factor is off the charts: lasers AND a battleship AND a Drach!!!! Very fascinating and useful piece of kit. Since it's yours, should we expect more Drach restoration videos?

[@seabeeusn76]

Ive been looking for years for one of these things and now I found them with your help. I may even start a business doing rust cleaning. thx

[@dukeofgibbon4043]

Well done! Next, you need to get NJ a fiberglass pipe liner system so they can keep the rain out

[@donaldhill3823]

Thinking this would have made life so much easier when I was in Navy in 1980/90s

[@jaydugger3291]

Agreed. The BM rating would have been a lot more popular if they'd gotten to work with laser guns instead of needle guns.

[@ATW090]

just like the supportive and positivity of this channel. I love the contents (of course) and i like to see the viewed and liked ratio during the first hours after video is uploaded and funny comments section

[@jamesbrown4092]

Amazing bit of kit. I didn't know such a device existed. It's so futuristic that the average person could be excused for initially thinking that it was something Mr. Scott used to clean space barnacles off the Enterprise.

[@JK50with10]

Drach, that does not appear to be a Departmento Munitorum issued Lasgun. The Commissar may like a word.

[@catherinehowell2163]

This is really fascinating! 😮

[@jimmyjames8736]

Drach letting his inner engineer run free.

[@jaydugger3291]

This tool would have made rust busting while I was enlisted in the Navy enjoyable.

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

battleships finally get laser defences, excellent

[@Claymore5]

Lasers and battleships - how cool is that....!!!

[@doogledog1740]

Very interesting, Drach. I wonder how the laser cleaning would work with semi-rusted bluing on parts of firearms? I've noted that bead blasting and other abrasive methods can be death to bluing, in fact taking away the entire blued surface leaving a terrible grey pitted finish which would require refinishing, ie: repolishing and re-bluing to rectify.

[@Drachinifel]

Haven't used it on a blued surface yet :)

[@steveclarke6257]

Drac values his limbs because he wants to still play with swords and polearms with Matt Easton

[@Alsadius]

Don't we all?

[@anatolib.suvarov6621]

I wasn't aware of this technology. I restore, and maintain old military vehicles, and this would be VERY useful for that type of projects!

[@peteblack50]

Frickin later beams!

[@bamafan-in-OZ]

I could just imagine the conversation at Customs, why do you have a laser, Because the sharks in the UK are too small.

[@nsd935]

Lol. You answered my question in the last 10 seconds of the video!

[@goldfinger209]

I want one of these

[@frankgulla2335]

Drach, you are clearly a true "Renaissance" man! Naval history AND laser cleaning. Amazing. Thank you for the demonstration. One question, how did you get the "New Jersey" folk to allow you to play with the 20mm?

[@Drachinifel]

I got the appropriate training to operate the laser, then asked if I could give it a shot :)

[@WarmasterDeath]

e3ver since i heard about laser ablation, ive been trying to persuade my various employers to get one of the backpack units, sure it was like AUD$12,000 or something, but removing powdercoat back to bare metal to recoat from fresh (without spending a bazillion years sanding with orbital sanders or using chemicals) would pay for itself over time. so far no dice, but i'm still enamored with the things, so its super cool to see them used in this environment as well!

[@jacobdill4499]

Maybe show them this video.

[@henrikoldcorn]

Definitely seems better than the needleguns that often get used.

[@01ZombieMoses10]

I cannot stress this enough: What I have just seen might as well have been magic. Yes, there are limitations, but it is so incredibly versatile and handy. It's rare that cutting-edge science is not merely fascinating, but so demonstrably impressive.

[@dougjb7848]

12:14 HEY!! Who laser-engraved “HMS Thunderchild 4 Life” on the headmaster’s door again?? (Drach pointedly looks away)

[@bishop9757]

Military investing in laser weapons: "can it shoot down missiles?" "Probably not, but I can clean the rust off it before it hits us."

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Instructions unclear, used the rust-removing laser on my Ford, now have an empty parking spot.

[@camenbert5837]

Or tune it to zap the metal not the rust. And then het taken dpwn by the scrottiest ship in the enemy fleet that really was being held together by rust...

[@coldwarrior78]

Cool tech. Never knew of it. Thanks for bringing it to us. Lasers and battleships, who knew?

[@kyleglenn2434]

looks like it's a perfect thing for oilfield tools

[@NicolasCrouch]

Trust Drach to just own a laser, and to use it to clean everyday items with. Never change.

[@Beaguins]

That gun looked quite lovely by the time you were done with it, and I think that technology has a lot of potential! It's amusing that the video explains this technology as though we'll all get our own lasers and preserve our local museum ships with them. I guess for me that would be the icebreaker ship Mackinaw, but if I walked onto the deck with my laser I think I'd get some funny looks.

[@brivas3343]

Would be curious to see how this lazer process compares to dry ice blasting. Wiith the lazer at least there is no buying material over and over.

[@brivas3343]

Nevermind. He answers the question later in the video.

[@martinswiney2192]

They could have used your help cleaning up the hull a few months ago. 😅

[@St.Petrock]

Naval Historian with a side line in tattoo removals

[@patricknix5975]

Drach just got a new job as a laser technician! No museum will let him out until he gets the job done!

[@dionysiandaze]

Hey drach, hopefully you enjoyed Philadelphia while you were here! I’m the guy who gave you the Sidewinder sign from the Kennedy lol (:

[@mastathrash5609]

Why are we looking at a 20 mm oerlikon? Why not! This is definitely one of the most interesting fun fridays you've done in a while. Watching you scour the barrel was incredibly satisfying!

[@MrVern814]

Never heard of lasers for cleaning off rust and patina, but it is a great idea. Any other method I know of will remove material from the item as well as the rust. Would work great to recondition handguns and rifles

[@kebabsvein1]

FIRING MY LAZOR

[@MonkeyJedi99]

This would really help with de-rusting those metal garden benches and tables. You know, the ones that look like iron lace?

[@greenseaships]

S--t's getting real- Drach's got his hard hat on!

[@Token_Civilian]

Sharks with frikkin' laser beams...... Great episode Drach.

[@henrikoldcorn]

It puts the paint on, or it gets the laser again. This is amazing tech!

[@Matt_The_Hugenot]

I need one of these so bad.

[@HandFromCoffin]

What's also amazing is an amateur can use it effectively, and safely, with quick training.

[@asmo1313]

I operate and program a laserwelding robot for a living so this is very interesting to me. Probably also for my boss. so some questions: how much did it cost? and what wavelength is it able to operate?

[@ThatSlowTypingGuy]

Good, glad to hear it has a dead man switch. Was wondering what safety precautions it had if it was powerful enough to take rust off.

[@Guru4hire]

I wonder if we could suspend the ships in a oil or tar bath and rapidly remove the water from the top or bottom of the container like that device that pours the broth from under the meat fat. so as to make less fatty soups.

[@MarcusAgrippa390]

Okay I have got to get me one of those

[@silvermikeGA]

This is a fantastic tool! Were your glasses also protecting from the laser light at the frequency you were using?

[@dmcarpenter2470]

This would be great, for cleaning Mk51s, as so many have layer after layer over everything, from optics, to the body of the system.

[@F-Man]

New Jersey! 😍

[@tombogan03884]

That was very interesting.

[@johnemmert9012]

This would be a godsend to the reenacting community, especially when it comes to restoring old gear or helmets. There's something about modern reproductions that can't touch originals for weight and feel.

[@Drachinifel]

I use the laser regularly on my own reenactment equipment :)

[@carltontweedle5724]

Drac the laser rust remover. Could do with your services on my motorbike wheels. Great video of helping living history stay living.

[@dvpierce248]

WANT!

[@fouraces9137]

Very awesome, a lot of applications. Probably need to wait till they show up at home depot though. Thanks Drac always learn somethin. How long was it before Ryan was online ordering some of those :)

[@BIG-DIPPER-56]

Fascinating 👍

[@TheCaptainbeefylog]

Layzorrrrrrrs!

[@ThrawnFett123]

Unironically, I imagine a fairly interesting subset of people doing this for museum work. Basically people that are in between the professional mentioned in the video and the amateur levels sort of like this video, where retired or semi retired enthusiasts will buy their own gear and train with it on their own dime. And museums/museum ships will be getting this as a service for essentially flight plus room and board. If the quote for a professional would be 10k for 3 days, 3k for 5 would probably be an enticing offer for them, even if it takes all 5 to match 2 or 3 days of professional work.

[@colvingazelle]

What does this miraculous contraption cost, prey tell?

[@antoninuspius1747]

Amazing!!!! But makes me sad. As an old fart and former engineer, I can envision all of the marvelous techmologies that are just around the corner that I won't see, or be too old to benefit from. We won't even recognize today 10-20 years from now. I'm jealous!!!!

[@whya2ndaccount]

Surely you need to still strip the gun so the laser can be used on areas not externally visible? Also if it is a Class 3 or higher, there should be safety measures in place to prevent people just walking past accidentally looking at the beam (for example, at 8:20 its basically pointed at the camera)? Ultrasonic cleaners might also have an application in this space.

[@thomascraig6655]

I visited the USS Salem yesterday and it could use the laser treatment, especially the twin 3" mounts which are mostly in rough shape (which is sad as there are likely very few of those twin 3" mountings in existence versus, say, 5" twin turrets or dual 40mm Bofors). It feels like using the laser is far less labor-intensive, a major issue when dealing with less popular or well-funded museum ships.