DIY 473nm / FRANKEN-TEK B&W Transplant To Handheld With TEC

Firstly, this project has been on my mind since acquiring my first 473nm labby made by
B&W / CNI.

I decided to gut a working labby which I had previously re-aligned. To minimize the guess work
I wanted the best crystal set I had out of the surplus lot purchased. I machined the head
taking extra care to get the mount good and centered. With a manual mill, this can prove
difficult at times.

So far I have only mocked up the head, and am not at the point where I begin hard mounting and
alignment.

My first sought after achievement on this was getting some 473 light out. I have the pump,
a 3W CNI 808 with FAC and collimator as the muscle currently running at a mere 600mW.
As I progress on this build, I will slowly increase, but only during the final fine tuning stages.

I have yet to wire the control for the TEC, and the diode is running on bench supply for
the time being.

Anyways, enough rambling, here are some pics and a short video filmed through my 808 goggles
which is what it appears foggy.

Hope you all enjoy :beer:





Some pics...















I will update as this goes. No idea on the output yet, but its already putting out a mW or so
with 600mW in. The alignment is still crude, and the TEC has to be setup. For now I am
very happy with getting any light at all. Thought this was going to be a tad more difficult :san:

Re: FRANKEN-473 A B&W TEK Transplant To Handheld With TEC

op: op:
Very nice job !
+1 :beer:

Jim

Re: FRANKEN-473 A B&W TEK Transplant To Handheld With TEC

Wow! Im speechless

Re: FRANKEN-TEK A B&W 473 Transplant To Handheld With TEC

That is very admirable to have accomplished that!

Did you have any issues or concerns with the hygroscopic nature of the crystals used in 473nm as mentioned in the thread below?

Is there a way of avoiding their exposure to the open air when working on a project like this? I guess I don't know enough about what's involved in working on a 473nm labby... I wouldn't ask you to explain it all though, just wondering about if there was a risk of moisture absorption...

http://laserpointerforums.com/f40/473-nm-moving-crystals-73716.html

Re: FRANKEN-TEK A B&W 473 Transplant To Handheld With TEC

jimdt7 said:

op: op:
Very nice job !
+1 :beer:

Jim

Click to expand...

rangedunits said:

Wow! Im speechless

Click to expand...

Appreciate it :beer:

ElectroMagneticFreak said:

That is very admirable to have accomplished that!

Did you have any issues or concerns with the hygroscopic nature of the crystals used in 473nm as mentioned in the thread below?

Is there a way of avoiding their exposure to the open air when working on a project like this? I guess I don't know enough about what's involved in working on a 473nm labby... I wouldn't ask you to explain it all though, just wondering about if there was a risk of moisture absorption...

http://laserpointerforums.com/f40/473-nm-moving-crystals-73716.html

Click to expand...

From what ive seen on the batch that I have, they appear to have been nitrogen filled.
If you pull the front plate off, exposing the IR filter, you will notice what appears to be the fill port.

Moisture may be an issue if left exposed to such an environment.. Once this head is
ready to mount in the main body, it will spend the night in a desiccant box, and be sealed up
after assembly.

Ive also had crystal sets including LBO which I use for mock up in a drawer for over
a year, and they still work. Im not sure of degradation, or amount of exposure in
my case, but im sure it takes its toll over time.

Re: FRANKEN-TEK A B&W 473 Transplant To Handheld With TEC

Interesting, I see thanks JLSE. I guess it's not like it immediately melts away in a pool of absorbed water then. That's good. :yh:

I really enjoyed seeing the photos, best of luck on the rest of the project! :beer:

Re: FRANKEN-TEK A B&W 473 Transplant To Handheld With TEC

That's great work! It's not easy working with higher powered IR like that. For one, it's hard to see exactly what the beam is doing. I think you have it down though!! Subscribing to keep up with your project.

:gj:

Re: FRANKEN-TEK A B&W 473 Transplant To Handheld With TEC

As soon as I saw the title, I knew it must've been a project from you. Good work! Keep it up, because I am dying to see the final product!!

Re: FRANKEN-TEK A B&W 473 Transplant To Handheld With TEC

I knew it was possible.

Ah well, Good job JLSE.

Re: FRANKEN-TEK A B&W 473 Transplant To Handheld With TEC

Great work. I am very interested in how you will be powering the TEC.

Re: FRANKEN-TEK A B&W 473 Transplant To Handheld With TEC

532 with Envy said:

That's great work! It's not easy working with higher powered IR like that. For one, it's hard to see exactly what the beam is doing. I think you have it down though!! Subscribing to keep up with your project.

:gj:

Click to expand...

Getting the IR setup is a PITA, so far I have had to use a cam and low
power just above threshold to find the fine point. I have yet to run over
1W, and wont be until the main mount is seated, and im ready for fine adjustments.

Fretwrecker94 said:

As soon as I saw the title, I knew it must've been a project from you. Good work! Keep it up, because I am dying to see the final product!!

Click to expand...

Appreciate it.. You and me both, these kinds of projects tend to get me anxious.
At least until they are finished.

Le Quack said:

I knew it was possible.

Ah well, Good job JLSE.

Click to expand...

I knew it wouldn't be exactly easy, but not impossible either. I read what
was posted in your thread.. Two points of why it would not be possible
are false so far, if what was written was true, I'd have no 473 after 5mins
of crude alignment.. :beer:

DTR said:

Great work. I am very interested in how you will be powering the TEC.

Click to expand...

Its a simple controller I saw on the net a while back.. When I get a chance to
draw it up, I will PM you with it.

Re: FRANKEN-TEK A B&W 473 Transplant To Handheld With TEC

JLSE said:

I knew it wouldn't be exactly easy, but not impossible either. I read what
was posted in your thread.. Two points of why it would not be possible
are false so far, if what was written was true, I'd have no 473 after 5mins
of crude alignment.. :beer:

Click to expand...

Again. Like I said, if you've done it before (or you know something about aligning a DPSS system), it shouldn't be toohard.

Also, LBO does not crumble to dust after five or so minutes of exposure. Nonetheless, moisture exposure still isn't good for it.

My point was: give a bunch of crystals and a pump diode to the average guy here to realign and they wouldn't exactly be able to get it working again. Try to do it in an existing small-form-factor 18650 host, and, well...

Actually, that can be your next challenge. :beer:

But good work nonetheless. I look forward to when you start cranking the pump diode on that thing.

Oceansoul said:

Again. Like I said, if you've done it before (or you know something about aligning a DPSS system), it shouldn't be toohard.

Also, LBO does not crumble to dust after five or so minutes of exposure. Nonetheless, moisture exposure still isn't good for it.

My point was: give a bunch of crystals and a pump diode to the average guy here to realign and they wouldn't exactly be able to get it working again. Try to do it in an existing small-form-factor 18650 host, and, well...

Actually, that can be your next challenge. :beer:

But good work nonetheless. I look forward to when you start cranking the pump diode on that thing.

Click to expand...

The same could be said for diodes and drivers.. Many members are at various stages
of learning, but I wouldnt count them out so easily.

I know of a few members who have successfully re-aligned the CNI 473 labbies with
nothing more than some advice in thread and patience.

There has been some discussion on a few threads in the forum..
http://laserpointerforums.com/f40/b-w-tek-bwb-10-oem-473nm-help-69642.html
http://laserpointerforums.com/f48/35-80mw-peak-473nm-module-ebay-67605.html


As for my build, I went with a larger mount to accommodate the larger pump
and its heat as well as room for the TEC. I thought of a pen build but this
one will be added to my collection, and dont want low mW and stability issues.

My goal on this build is moderate size, clean and stable beam, and a
high output.

Shrinking it down would not be any more of a challenge, probably easier
as it would eliminate the TEC, and its controller. Problem is, I want it to last
and be a reliable laser, so im compromising for a bit of size... :beer:

Wow, that is a really challenging build!
You pulled it off and SO professionally+1

I was hitting 90mW of 473 last night, though I forgot that the labby the parts
came from was making 2 separate beams.. I thought at first it was a split beam
at the output of the LBO, but you can see 2 beams also between the LBO and YAG. :thinking:

I really wish I noticed this before hard mounting everything.. I tried a few different
LBO crystals with the same result, so im assuming the YAG is at fault.

After some moving around I was getting a steady 60mW, and was able to eliminate
the stray beam, but at the cost of some power :undecided:

Damn man... Looks great!

I was thinking about doing the same with my set of 473 labbies. But I need to read up more on procedures of alignment.

Looking good man! Keep it up!

EDIT: Also would a dicro (block blue) before the YAG be beneficial? The crystal emits both forward and backwards... so would reflecting the light back into the crystal be beneficial in anyway?