Cool Projects from the Photon Aviary :P

Hi all :wave: Lazerbeak here. New member wanted to say hi and start sharing with the community. I've been following the quest to combine multiple diodes for exotic colors and different beam characteristics. I was intringued and so impressed by the ingenuity and craftsmanship in many of the great designs and ideas by many forum members; Arglaser, IssacT(a.k.a. Wannaburnstuff) , mrcrouse and Multimode to name a few. I think it would be cool if people could just post random cool ideas and info for the benefit of all here.


Here is a pretty useful chart of colors and corresponding types of lasers... Laser wavelength charts - Lexel Laser

If you want to learn more about combining laser beams, please read this very informative article on combining beams by ARG https://sites.google.com/site/argslasers/guides/how-to-combine-lasers.

~ LB

Edit...combining posts.

I found a 3d printing company a while back Shapeways - Make, buy, and sell products with 3D Printing I have followed some of the really amazing work printing custom cases and parts by ARG and mhemling33. I'm no where near there. Very cool project (Everyone should support them), I would like an ARGmeter . http://laserpointerforums.com/f70/argmeter-open-source-laser-power-meter-80606.html This is something a little different. Hopefully some of the more experienced members will be interested in participating or contributing at some point. I've really enjoyed the debate concerning heatsinks and the best metal to use; aluminum, copper or silver. Well shapeways prints in metal as well as numerous other plastics. I would go with a forum member for plastics unless the tolerances for the project are very small. I believe we could create some crazy surface area with a silver printed heatsink. Here is an example of what I mean...
Hollow, printed in one piece, crazy tolerances and your choice of materials; silver, stainless steel, bronze, gold-plated (I believe that is plated over the bronze) and aluminide (which is their WSF plastic impregnated with aluminide powder) Hope this generates some interest. I think there is some real potential to make/do something really cool. :beer: There are some excellent posts related to this, here are a few; by TheDukeAnumber1 http://laserpointerforums.com/f54/copper-vs-aluminum-vs-ect-76259.html
by RHD http://laserpointerforums.com/f54/i-want-copper-copper-copper-well-maybe-not-72698.html
& Teslanium http://laserpointerforums.com/f72/use-silver-heatsink-79356.html :horse:

update...

I have what is more of a novelty proof of concept for metal 3d printing. I have uploaded some 3d models to shapeways. These will be micro heat sinks for drivers. No idea what sizes the community is looking for, but resizing is pretty simple in the puter. First time so uploads aren't working. Waiting for support to contact me. Should be fun. I'd like to see just how small they can go while still retaining tolerances.



Please, experienced builders who understand the intricacies of thermal conductivity and or especially, members of the silver vs copper vs aluminum brigade this should be a good test. May reveal nothing but it should be fun. We'll see What dimensions are good for driver heatsinks? I'll update as soon as I successfully upload a file

I'm not looking to sell anything at this point or "compete" with anyone. This is just a proof of concept for larger future projects, but thought this would be fun for the community. I have some people in mind to run some tests. The printing is expensive, but that's why I'm trying something small.

Wear your goggles & Lase on!



Edit 4/29

Yay! after 10 versions little sleep and working with Shapeways support... Success
Model uploaded successfully, looks awesome. Will try some prints soon.



dimensions are a little over 9mm x 5mm a silver print quote was $40+ .

Update 5/3/13

Got an email from Shapeways today. 3 of the 4 pieces could not be printed. The fins were to thin. here is what shapeways support said about that...

We're really sorry to let you know that there was a problem with your recent order. These design(s) could not be 3D printed in the material selected:

Shs10 in Stainless Steel
Reason: Thin walls
Additional information: The model is too thin to print. Increase wall thickness to at least 0.03" / 0.762mm in all areas. For more info on design tips and guidelines, visit 3D Printing in Stainless Steel on Shapeways
Shs10 in Gold Plated Matte
Reason: Thin walls
Additional information: The model is too thin to print. Increase wall thickness to at least 0.03" / 0.762mm in all areas. For more info on design tips and guidelines, visit 3D Printing in Stainless Steel on Shapeways
Shs10 in Antique Bronze Matte
Reason: Thin walls
Additional information: The model is too thin to print. Increase wall thickness to at least 0.03" / 0.762mm in all areas. For more info on design tips and guidelines, visit 3D Printing in Stainless Steel on Shapeways
Please take a look at the attached images for further explanation. We've highlighted a few areas that will cause issues when printing.

Given the nature of 3D printing (converting digital files into physical products), every now and then we catch designs that will be too fragile to create in certain materials. Though we do our best to defy the laws of physics and try to find these issues as early as possible, some are only found during the manufacturing process.

We have credited your account, which you can use to purchase anything on Shapeways. If you do not wish to order anything else at this time, please let us know and we will arrange a refund.

Amount Credited: $36.27

Click to expand...

It's interesting to note that the silver apparently can print at a higher resolution than stainless steel, gold (actually gold plated bronze i believe) and bronze. I can either use the credit to print another silver heatsink or go back to the drawing board and thicken the fins. Will probably print more silver as it seems to work. Anybody who might be thinking of printing something note the recommended thicknesses from support.

Increase wall thickness to at least 0.03" / 0.762mm in all areas.

Click to expand...

I'm actually pretty pleased the silver actually printed. We'll see how it looks, lead time is a while though. What kind of build would the vets use to test the efficiency of a 9mm x 5mm silver heatsink and is it even practical or usable?

:thanks: for looking look forward to any replies

~LB

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

That would be one epic laser. Head on over to DTR's laser shop. He can send you an entire box of knife edge arrays.

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

Price not including the one lonely mirror and the pbs cube and the power supply would be 1025 dollars shipped.(roughly)

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

Speedy78 said:

That would be one epic laser. Head on over to DTR's laser shop. He can send you an entire box of knife edge arrays.

Click to expand...

Saw those, and the diodes. DTR will be my first stop next week once pay day comes. I'll have to build my first and then work my way up. It will take me a while. Builds like Lazeerer's 405nm are reassurring. Hopefully at least a 2 diode with a mirror and PBS for my first build. If I'm brave. I saw someone made a handheld 2 diode. very impressive.

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

wannaburnstuff said:

Price not including the one lonely mirror and the pbs cube and the power supply would be 1025 dollars shipped.(roughly)

Click to expand...

That's what I figured too. 1000+ just for diodes and drivers. I'll be building up to that. Been keeping a close eye on diode and driver developments to. The multiple diodes are just because present limitations of the hardware. Your name says it all by the way

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

Eh :/ I wanna change my username. I have kind of moved beyond the point of just wanting to melt anything I can point at. Holes in my blankets stand testimony to the times when my beamshot photoshoot hasn't gone too well because I wasn't thinking about the flammability of cotton.

Now my goal is to get handheld lasers that are the nonwavelength colors. Like the Neon Pink from mixing Blue and Red, or the White from RGB, etc. And exotic wavelengths.

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

Thank you btw Speedy78 and Wannaburn for the info and welcome.

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

Np Here is some welcome rep to get you on your way :beer:

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

wannaburnstuff said:

Eh :/ I wanna change my username. I have kind of moved beyond the point of just wanting to melt anything I can point at. Holes in my blankets stand testimony to the times when my beamshot photoshoot hasn't gone too well because I wasn't thinking about the flammability of cotton.

Now my goal is to get handheld lasers that are the nonwavelength colors. Like the Neon Pink from mixing Blue and Red, or the White from RGB, etc. And exotic wavelengths.

Click to expand...

Wow, that would be cool. And I appreciate that you've moved beyond such pursuits I hadn't even thought about those possibilities at this point. But yeah tuning the amounts of light from the different colors is very cool. Very advanced it seems.

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

wannaburnstuff said:

Np Here is some welcome rep to get you on your way :beer:

Click to expand...

Awesome Thank you! "Takes a swig" Cheers!

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

Your placement is poor. You'll end up with a line on one group of five and a thinner longer line on the other group of five. At least strive for something resembling a dot.

Not UV, by the way.

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

Cyparagon said:

Your placement is poor. You'll end up with a line on one group of five and a thinner longer line on the other group of five. At least strive for something resembling a dot.

Not UV, by the way.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the input. I will do my best in the future. Was not sure how close the mirrors will allow. A dot would be nice.

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

Well it doesn't matter how close the mirrors can get. If you put a bunch of dots in a line, they will turn into a line.

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

Cyparagon said:

Well it doesn't matter how close the mirrors can get. If you put a bunch of dots in a line, they will turn into a line.

Click to expand...

Gotcha I thought at first the lenses would do something about that but if I'm correct they just make the beam parallel (focus to infinity).

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

Thanks for the compliments. As for shapeways they are very expensive. I was designing a flashliht to get printed and just the handle and cap I got a price quote of $ 300+ and that was in stainless steel so silver would be a lot more.

Re: decadiode knife edge PBS 405nm idea

That is absolutely beautiful work Mhemling33. Yes, expensive and they're in the Netherlands. Lead time is pretty bad. That's why at this point I say "novelty" proof of concept. I was up till about 1:30 am trying to fix the mesh for my first upload. Support got back to me right away and I believe the issue was with them. My models upload now. I got a quote of $30 for a 9mm x 9mm piece pictured in my OP. The nice thing is there's no cost until someone wants a print, and models are pretty easy to edit. Definitely a niche market at this point but maybe we can make the first If someone invested in the print, would you be willing to try a project like that? That piece would look absolutely insane polished up IMHO. Thank you so much for replying. Hopefully this will make for some fun times.
Edit............

Hollowing out your part will save on the amount of material and cost, just leave holes for the support powder to drain.