Woo tiny blue-ray complete!

So I posted a few weeks ago about my first attempt...

Got 2 X-box drives and destroyed them... only 1 diode survived... but I managed to get a working laser. Dr. Lava's driver was used and I had to do extensive dremeling to get it into the case.... I put the cover mineral lens on it (will reduce power I know) but I can/and intend to carry it on my keychain. Yes it's a twisty and runs on 1 CR2. (guess I can use RCR2 also since I'm using Dr. Lava's driver) Did I mention the tiny solder work in pretty tough? I'm impressed now with what you guys do, it can be nearly as difficult as procedures I do on people.

I apologize for the poor pics, I don't know how to do beamshots etc. I don't know what power the laser is running at because I don't have a multimeter. I just used the default setting on the driver, which I assume is ~90ma, given that the min is 32 and max is 150.

My next project will go alot smoother (no more dead diodes), I just don't know how much smaller I can make it.  I have a Lummi Wee.... but that thing is smaller than a CR123, diode would prolly fit right into it, but I don't think any amount of sanding would work.

Anyways here's some pics. I'm busy playing with it now.

here's my lame attempt at a beamshot

Well done. The secret to beam shots is to put some distance between the laser and what the beam is striking.

I was looking at a similar host today.

thatss tiny

getting everything to fit in something like that is a real challenge

Excellent work! I'm still trying to decide what body to use, but for my next project I'm also going to be making a pointer around the cr2 battery. I've got a few cases of these batteries laying around.

Thanks guys, couldn't have done it without the people and the info on this forum.

I'm not sure if you can fit a laser in something smaller than a CR2 body... This was pushing it. had I gotten Jil DD, I don't think it would have fit. I didn't want the azixis module lens to stick past the old mineral glass lens. I know it reduces power, but this way I can carry it on a key chain and it's splash proof.

Now I want to make a smaller one lol, but I'm not sure how.

Would it be possible to make a bullet blu-ray from one of the cheapo reds?

fibrizo said:

Would it be possible to make a bullet blu-ray from one of the cheapo reds?

Click to expand...

That would be tricky. You need to fit the driver, diode, lens and batteries in there.

You might be able to rig a tiny driver, squeeze in the diode and find a tiny lens apparatus. But the batteries... those little button ones wouldn't have the power.

So I wouldn't say it's impossible, but it would certainly be a serious project

Get ready to recharge that battery often. I'm using a PHR-803t diode paired with the lava drive in a 1xCR123A body running at 95ma. I only get about 10 minutes of on-time before I hit the 2.5v cut off and the diode starts blinking. Not a big deal, but it sucks down batteries fast!

Murudai said:

[quote author=fibrizo link=1212794387/0#6 date=1212812351]
Would it be possible to make a bullet blu-ray from one of the cheapo reds?

Click to expand...

That would be tricky. You need to fit the driver, diode, lens and batteries in there.

You might be able to rig a tiny driver, squeeze in the diode and find a tiny lens apparatus. But the batteries... those little button ones wouldn't have the power.

So I wouldn't say it's impossible, but it would certainly be a serious project


[/quote]
It has been done before, the member catdog made a Blu-Ray pointer using a small button cell laser pointer with a ps3 diode.

fibrizo said:

(...)
Would it be possible to make a bullet blu-ray from one of the cheapo reds?

Click to expand...

If there were lithium batteries in the same sized package as LR44/357 watch batteries it might be possible to fit everything into a keychain package. You could build a DDL circuit using SMT parts. Or petition drlava to design a truly tiny driver.

Here are a couple of 'packages' I'd like see a 405nm pointer in:


On the far left - the CR2 based ion (LED flashlight), in the middle is my modded keychain laser (http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1212270770)

There's a huge market for keychain pointers. I've got a friend that I'm going to be building a violet pointer for, and he wants it in a keychain package. The diode itself is so small, there's no reason these pointers could not be made very tiny, especially is one doesn't mind a very short runtime.

Unfortunately most lithium based watch batteries are in a package with too large a diameter. I looked at the Lummi wee - that would be an ideal package, with it's tiny 10180 cell (http://www.lummi.co.uk/wee.php) - if you could come up with a decent driver that's small enough.

fibrizo said:

it can be nearly as difficult as procedures I do on people.

Click to expand...

Nice laser. Are you a surgeon or something?

Man I wish it would let me post links. this drives me nuts.

I'm not a surgeon, but I'm a doc and I do some basic procedures on people.

The Jil is about the same size as the ION, So you should be able to fit it. The biggest problem I had was demeling Dr. lava's driver down without destroying any vital leads and getting it to fit into the barrel flat. the inner diameter was significantly smaller than a dime.

When I can finally post links I'll post a site with the innards of the light so you can see how I fit it together.

Having to use the head and lens from an azixis module also limits the minimum size I can use.

A few odd questions. When I focus the beam down, I can smoke/melt black plastics... but over all the beam appears dim. I assume it's just because it's near ultraviolet. I can't even see the beam in a dark room. Should I turn up the power? I assume cause it can burn black plastic when focused down, it's putting out decent power. It does have an 803 diode in it. I have no way of gauging the power though.

Also I notice I cannot focus my eyes on the dot when across the room. it always appears blurry until I get closer (I leave the laser where it is and walk up to the dot) strange effect. anyone else notice?

Guess I should order some more from geeks before they run out. (Or check for diodes that people have harvested on forums and save myself some time and effort lol.


Here's the Wee light I wanted to use. The LiON battery gets about  15 mins of 80 lumens lol prolly enough to run a blu-ray diode for like 2 mins

And yes that's a CR123 in the picture. it's tiny Not sure how I'd get a board small enough. The pil board inside literally is as small as a pill.

Hi, nice build and nice Flashlights!

It's normal that the beam is very dim, some people can see it better than others, it all depends. Also it's normal that the dot looks blurry, the lens in your eye is not entirely achromatic at that wavelength Try focusing your eye further behind the dot and it should come more into focus.

Ok I thought buying flashlights was the horrible disease that was going to damn me to be broke forever. (until I finish residency and pay off my 190k loans) Looks like I was wrong. There's much worse... I just bought more drives and driver boards.... I'm sick... I should try selling this CR2 host PHR-803T on BST or ebay to recoup my costs lol. Wonder if anyone would actually be interested.

You should have no trouble at all moving a laser like that. It is quite unusual to find such a small blue laser. The trouble is deciding how much money all of your labor was worth. If you price it at your professional level, no one will be able to afford your product. If you price your labor at the average skill level required for this type of work, you might be short changing yourself. And that is all I can offer. Commercial blues are costing hundreds and are not even being produced in the 405nm range that I have seen. That inflates the value of your product in the wider population of not so knowledgeable folks. Oops. Looks like kaidomain.com has a 20mw blu-ray for about $700.

Well, congrats on a great looking little build. And good luck managing your new habit.

JeffP