DIY Spyder S3 Arctic Burning/Focus Lens

laser_freak · Aug 4, 2010

Gryphon said:
Wow! That doesn't sound good for a diode laser at all. I have lost 1W 808nm
laser diodes that way, i would sure hate to lose a spyder cause of back reflection.
Bad design flaw if you ask me

The only other option besides reflecting the light would be absorbing most of it. This would require (I assume) much more expensive material since it would need to withstand a large amount of the lasers power without burning.

DiRollin · Aug 4, 2010

Well I don't even use the training lens anyway so I'm thinking about gutting that lens and fit a converging lens in it.

Gryphon · Aug 4, 2010

laser_freak said:
The only other option besides reflecting the light would be absorbing most of it.

Or deflecting it off 90 degrees into the side of the laser. But reflecting most
of the laser light directly back into the laser is probably the worst solution
for limiting the amount of light emitted by the laser, especially in a diode laser

ZapU · Aug 10, 2010

DiRollin said:
Well I don't even use the training lens anyway so I'm thinking about gutting that lens and fit a converging lens in it.

The inside nut unscrews easily to remove the glass from the training cap, looking for a magnifying lens to fit in it now.
The training lens is 10mm and fits in a shallow recess. The cavity in the cap is 21mm.

ZapU · Aug 12, 2010

Took apart an old Bushnell to get an eyepiece lens

It's about 16mm

This is the training lens dismantled, the small grey lens is the one that came
with the cap. The Bushnell lens is next to it.

Short video of lens in action.

EmoticonFury · Aug 14, 2010

NM didnt see earlier post.

itw3ak · Aug 17, 2010

I like it. I'm still considering building my own "cap" to fit over the outside of the Arctic's lens and installing the best AR coated lens I can find that will focus it to a point at decent distance. It would also have a benefit of being extra protection for the outer lens. However I don't like the idea of adding an extra piece of glass to reduce the beam power, or worse yet bounce the beam back into the lens like stated.
Glad to see someone else tried this though!

itw3ak · Aug 17, 2010

After reading your post I was wondering...I have a few large pieces of anti-reflective glass I used for framing some art I have in my house. I used to sell the stuff at a framing shop and its REALLY effective at eliminating glare. Could I cut down a piece of it to fit in the training cap in place of the shaded lens? I suppose testing would be necessary to see if it will be a good candidate. But my intention would be to have a lens cap that would let more mW through then the "normal" lens does. And I like that the trainer lens has that inner black ring that reduces some of the "spill-over" from the beam and makes it a bit cleaner

Hegemony Cricket · Sep 12, 2010

Very interesting. I have an old pair of binos that are ripe to be cannibalized for something like this. Actually, I think I got them about 20 years ago as a gift from a fax paper company for ordering a whopping amount of paper for the employer I had already given notice I was quitting because he was a d-bag. They were crappy binos, but it was worth it to stick him with 4 years worth of thermal paper. Who know one day those cheap binos might play an important part in perfecting my death ray?

Before I read this thread though I had discovered just this morning that I could use my common magnifying glass to get a super fine, intense burning point. It's so hot it even does well at burning white surfaces instead of just dark. Admittedly, it is a two hand job, but I'm working to refine it. The magnification is great. The little "super magnifier" bifocal circle in it really kicks up the power several notches as well, but it's hard to hold steady in just the right position.

I'm pretty sure I still have a jeweler's loop somewhere. Now THAT might be just the right thing to fit easily on the end of the Arctic and provide great results. As with any of the ideas presented so far heat and bounce back might be an issue for the diode though.

Oh, my kingdom for Col. Klink's monocle right about now!!:crackup:

ZapU · Sep 13, 2010

Hegemony Cricket said:
Very interesting. I have an old pair of binos that are ripe to be cannibalized for something like this. Actually, I think I got them about 20 years ago as a gift from a fax paper company for ordering a whopping amount of paper for the employer I had already given notice I was quitting because he was a d-bag. They were crappy binos, but it was worth it to stick him with 4 years worth of thermal paper. Who know one day those cheap binos might play an important part in perfecting my death ray?

Before I read this thread though I had discovered just this morning that I could use my common magnifying glass to get a super fine, intense burning point. It's so hot it even does well at burning white surfaces instead of just dark. Admittedly, it is a two hand job, but I'm working to refine it. The magnification is great. The little "super magnifier" bifocal circle in it really kicks up the power several notches as well, but it's hard to hold steady in just the right position.

I'm pretty sure I still have a jeweler's loop somewhere. Now THAT might be just the right thing to fit easily on the end of the Arctic and provide great results. As with any of the ideas presented so far heat and bounce back might be an issue for the diode though.

Oh, my kingdom for Col. Klink's monocle right about now!!:crackup:

After reading about the diode being sensitive to reflected light, I don't use a focusing lens anymore. I just refocus the main lens. Read the review in my sig to see how it is done.

Markus Unread · Sep 13, 2010

If a lens is convex-side towards the laser, the back reflection should be more scattered, right?

Hegemony Cricket · Sep 13, 2010

ZapU said:
After reading about the diode being sensitive to reflected light, I don't use a focusing lens anymore. I just refocus the main lens. Read the review in my sig to see how it is done.

I'll have to read your very well done instructions a bit better tomorrow to learn how to refocus the lens, but I did check out my beam width at 20ft as demonstrated in the picture. If I interpreted the picture with the ruler correctly, it should be about a half inch at 20ft, right? Mine is pretty much right on the money with that, which makes me feel a lot more confident I got what I paid for from WL.

I think most of us are pretty happy with our new toys now that we finally have them, but WL certainly didn't do their reputation any favors the way they handled this thing. I mean, I can understand that they might have bitten off more than they could chew with such a ground breaking toy, but holy cow!! Until the day it arrived (no tracking number issued so it was a total surprise) I was convinced I had been ripped off. I swore I would never buy anything from them again, but now that I see they aren't criminals, just poorly organized, I might do business with them again in time.

Now that I have my death ray, all I need is a moat, sharks and some henchmen so I can really get on with my plan to be an arch villain. I've even named my laser "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die." Of course, if I'm going to be an arch villain, I'll need an arch enemy (preferably someone who is already a member of the Guild of Calamitous Intent) so that we can "arch" each other. One step at a time I suppose.

Markus Unread · Sep 13, 2010

Hegemony Cricket said:
I'll have to read your very well done instructions a bit better tomorrow to learn how to refocus the lens, but I did check out my beam width at 20ft as demonstrated in the picture. If I interpreted the picture with the ruler correctly, it should be about a half inch at 20ft, right? Mine is pretty much right on the money with that, which makes me feel a lot more confident I got what I paid for from WL.

I think most of us are pretty happy with our new toys now that we finally have them, but WL certainly didn't do their reputation any favors the way they handled this thing. I mean, I can understand that they might have bitten off more than they could chew with such a ground breaking toy, but holy cow!! Until the day it arrived (no tracking number issued so it was a total surprise) I was convinced I had been ripped off. I swore I would never buy anything from them again, but now that I see they aren't criminals, just poorly organized, I might do business with them again in time.

Now that I have my death ray, all I need is a moat, sharks and some henchmen so I can really get on with my plan to be an arch villain. I've even named my laser "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die." Of course, if I'm going to be an arch villain, I'll need an arch enemy (preferably someone who is already a member of the Guild of Calamitous Intent) so that we can "arch" each other. One step at a time I suppose.

Dude, NO WAY! You're Guild too! Sweet!
But really, don't go arching on another Guild member or you'll get a buttload of paperwork from Monstroso & Sons LLP. And trust me, that NEVER goes well. I still can't get the smell out of my cape.

Hegemony Cricket · Sep 13, 2010

Markus Unread said:
Dude, NO WAY! You're Guild too! Sweet!
But really, don't go arching on another Guild member or you'll get a buttload of paperwork from Monstroso & Sons LLP. And trust me, that NEVER goes well. I still can't get the smell out of my cape.

Hahahaha.....season premiere tonight, bro. It was the beautiful synchronicity of the universe that I just happened to be able to have a legit conversation about my new, dangerous laser on the same night.

I wondered how long it would take for someone to catch that reference. Turns out it was only a matter of minutes...and at 3am no less.

Markus Unread · Sep 14, 2010

"Hahahaha.....season premiere tonight, bro."
- Which I missed, even being 3 hours behind.
It's been like that all week. ESD'd a PHR, overloaded another. WTF?
I'm going back to my lair and curl up with a fembot.
What could go wrong?

DIY Spyder S3 Arctic Burning/Focus Lens

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