The "LaseRelic" - Ancient Light Series - 445nm

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"LaseRelic" - 1.45W 452nm Build

This is a very special laser, in the vein of my "Ancient Light" builds. I've been told that this host is over 75 years old, but I'm yet to be able to nail down it's exact origin. It might actually be a bit older than that at this stage. It is a very substantial made-in-the-USA host, with good heft, and a good sized heatsink inside. I built it conservatively, at moderate-high power, with a 452nm wavelength diode. My dream would be for this build to last another 75 years if treated properly

(though I'm not guaranteeing that!)





There's something very special about the host. The original torch was built, many decades ago, with an "safety switch"! It hides the actual "switch" portion inside the head, until you side swipe a locking mechanism to reveal it. At that point, you have the option of tapping the button for momentary activation, or pressing it in entirely for constant-on. When you swipe the locking mechanism in the other direction, it automatically releases the constant-on switch. Remarkable engineering for it's day. It's difficult to explain the coolness and function of this mechanism, so I've recorded a video to illustrate how it works. In creating the build, I completely restored the switch to its original glory, cleaning the contacts, and making sure that the mechanism moved smoothly and consistently. Video here: LaseRelic Demo - YouTube



This guy runs on the lithium equivalent of two D cells - and since that's a size most people won't have access to, I'm including two adapters that allow you to use 14500 cells. The build features a beautiful custom focus knob machined by the multi-talented Sir Lazeerer. It LPMs at 1450mW on my LaserBee and a bit over 1500mW on the Ophir. It spectrometers at 453nm. (both charts attached)

While this may sound like an obvious comment, I'm going to cover my arse and say it: This host is really old! It's ancient. It is scuffed, it is weathered, it is dimpled, and worn. It looks like an antique! That's the deal with this guy, that's its magic. If you're not down with the ancient-ness, then this isn't your bag.

Price is: $275 + shipping. I only ship via fully tracked and insured methods. Please PM me for a shipping quote.
Lowered to $250 + shipping

You MUST own laser protection goggles appropriate for this wavelength, and
You MUST be over 20 years of age, and
You MUST be familiar and experienced with the appropriate safety precautions to take with lasers of this power.
You MUST NOT be a resident of Canada

This is not a laser pointing device. At all times, protective laser safety glasses appropriate for this wavelength must be worn by the operator. This laser should not be used around 3rd parties (non-operators) pets, or for any recreational purpose.

Nope, 14500 is AA size, not AAA.

That's why I mentioned that the 14500s can be used _with an adapter_ though. The adapter allows AA sized 14500 cells to fit a space intended for roughly 32600.

I'm a little confused, a 452nm diode? I thought there was only the osram 450s and that they could only be pushed to about 350mw.

RHD measures his diode(s) wavelength , you all ways get some + or - deviation within reson.

Ah ok i feel kinda stupid now, since im already on a role does that mean this will show up the same shade of blue as the osrams?

ped said:

RHD measures his diode(s) wavelength , you all ways get some + or - deviation within reson.

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It's kind of a "dirty little secret" too, in that a lot of people don't pay attention to wavelength. The reality, is that wavelength can play a bigger role in the impact of a beam, in its visibility, than power output. Because it's a bit (though not a lot) more challenging to test wavelength than power, the wavelength generally gets neglected. The problem, is that the difference between say 443nm and 453nm can be very dramatic in terms of visibility, and can very quickly equate to an impact similar to very high differentials in power (maybe 30%, 35%).

Investing in a spectrometer was the best laser investment I've made!

I had a feeling you'd make another one of these types of lasers soon... have any more planned? :shhh:

I like the ancient series RHD builds from past to present, very impressive ! :wave:

Wow. Awesome host! (And the laser isn't half bad either! )

Wish I could take everyone of those ancient light builds off your hands. I've just recently picked up another really interesting old flashlight myself. Nothing as cool as this one though.

ZRaffleticket said:

I had a feeling you'd make another one of these types of lasers soon... have any more planned? :shhh:

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Not planned - but I do have one more host tucked away for a rainy day. Maybe if I get some free time

Nanolaser said:

I like the ancient series RHD builds from past to present, very impressive ! :wave:

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jcranmer said:

Wow. Awesome host! (And the laser isn't half bad either! )

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Thank you muchly, I appreciate that guys

rhd said:

Not planned - but I do have one more host tucked away for a rainy day. Maybe if I get some free time


Thank you muchly, I appreciate that guys

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If I were you I wouldn't waste it on any current diodes . Save it for the next big diode that comes along!

benmwv said:

If I were you I would waste it on any current diodes . Save it for the next big diode that comes along!

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That is absolutely the plan

Long term, I'd be quite happy to only collect my own Ancient builds, and the few oddball wavelengths that I have to get from non-DIY sources.

It was sort of an anomaly that I duplicated a wavelength I already, when I did the build in this guy. I've never sold an Ancient build before (it's kind of a strange build to try and sell). The long story short, is that I really intended to use this host for an IR build, since there wasn't an IR diode build in my Ancient collection. Then, at some stage (after I had started working on the host), I had a change of heart. I didn't want to waste this host on a non-visible wavelength, and I also decided that I just didn't have an interest in IR period. So, this guy got built with a 445.

I'm torn though. I like this build a lot more than my original 445nm build (the first one I ever did). This is a cooler host, more unique, more ornate, and has the gorgeous focus adapter. But I can't justify duplication, and I have a sentimental attachment to the first Ancient build I ever made. It was a toss-up which one to sell, but I chose to keep the sentimental build (the original), over the ostensibly cooler build (this one).

rhd said:

That is absolutely the plan

Long term, I'd be quite happy to only collect my own Ancient builds, and the few oddball wavelengths that I have to get from non-DIY sources.

It was sort of an anomaly that I duplicated a wavelength I already, when I did the build in this guy. I've never sold an Ancient build before (it's kind of a strange build to try and sell). The long story short, is that I really intended to use this host for an IR build, since there wasn't an IR diode build in my Ancient collection. Then, at some stage (after I had started working on the host), I had a change of heart. I didn't want to waste this host on a non-visible wavelength, and I also decided that I just didn't have an interest in IR period. So, this guy got built with a 445.

I'm torn though. I like this build a lot more than my original 445nm build (the first one I ever did). This is a cooler host, more unique, more ornate, and has the gorgeous focus adapter. But I can't justify duplication, and I have a sentimental attachment to the first Ancient build I ever made. It was a toss-up which one to sell, but I chose to keep the sentimental build (the original), over the ostensibly cooler build (this one).

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I can understand not doing the IR build. I'm not a big fan of IR builds, all you can do with them is burn and they have horrible beam specs. I would like to make a nice IR night vision laser like one I saw that fiddy made but that's about it.

Maybe in the next few years direct greens will be available in high powers like the 445 diodes and you can put one of those in it!

benmwv said:

I can understand not doing the IR build. I'm not a big fan of IR builds, all you can do with them is burn and they have horrible beam specs. I would like to make a nice IR night vision laser like one I saw that fiddy made but that's about it.

Maybe in the next few years direct greens will be available in high powers like the 445 diodes and you can put one of those in it!

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I was thinking about that the other night, and came to the conclusion that, assuming scientists could reach almost any power level that they *wanted* to invest enough R&D into reaching, it still wouldn't be any particular power level that they would be shooting for as a target for direct greens (multi OR single mode). Rather, it's going to be a target based on simple old fashioned relative brightness, with the comparison being made to the available power ranges for the other two colours of diodes that a particular wavelength will be mixed with. If you look at the Nichia 445s, they're rated for 1600mW, with a central wavelength of 450nm. If you look at the relative brightness of that dot, compared to a 638nm dot (so no Raleigh factored in), the equivalent is around 300mW of 638nm light.

Now, that might be coincidence (that 300mW is one of the most common 638nm multimode diodes being produced for projection right now), but it might also be the reality that they're pushing each wavelength only as far as it makes sense to really push them, based on what could be counterbalancing them in their intended use case. It's probably not quite as "deliberate" as I make it out to be, but I'm sure that's the general balancing act that everyone is working around when determining how desperately they need to allocate resources to pushing a wavelength's R&D further.

So, if there's truth to that, then the equivalent in a 525nm direct green, is somewhere around 70mW. That's a bit more powerful than where they're at now. But it's not exactly a 1500 mW 510nm multimode

Oh look, I de-railed my own thread!

Hey guys,

I lowered the price on this build by $25, it's now sitting at $250.

PM incoming.