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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Got my orange out successfully!

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Title says it all. Got my 612nm HeNe out of its tube successfully. I eventually managed to heat it up slow enough, without damaging the tube to use aluminum sheet metal (roof flashing) to cut through it and push it out. I can finally get to work on fixing this beast once I get an LPM :D. But that's likely a ways off. On another note, it's a beautiful tube and my patience getting it out has rewarded me. Lots of plasma is visible as per usual with larger MG tubes, the bore is not frosted like many of the larger tubes but it does appear to have a rather wide bore. This must be how they managed the higher power while keeping power requirements down.

I can breathe easier now, but on that note. Pretty pics of this fiery beauty!

Bare tube at last! after much picking over, and trial and error, I finally got this stubborn on out. It was much harder than alot of smaller heads, and had pretty liberal injections of hot melt in it.
05-LOR-161baretube_zpse12439bf.jpg


05-LOR-161output_zps4d74b66e.jpg


Note the relatively wide bore:
LORBore_zpsf75e4cb7.jpg


What a Firey orange!
612nmdot_zps0ba66124.jpg


Looking closely at the dot, you can see its gaussian, but its faded ever so slightly in the center, making it a more 'taurus' like beam, but not completely the infamous 'doughnut mode' this suggests the reason for its low output is misaligned mirrors, though only slightly. or an overly large bore for the mirrors. shame as this is (as far as i'm aware) the most powerful orange tube ever made sitting at a spec of > 4mW up to 10mW. perhaps with some tweaking I can recover some of its power.
 
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Wow, what a beauty!!

I'm at the point now that I'd trade all of my lasers for a 594.1nm HeNe (including my 8line argon and LPM!). Totally jealous!
 
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If you don't need a powerful one, I could probably see if I could find you one. yellow and orange are quite expensive. I actually have another orange, but its -supposedly- multimode, but relatively tiny. only doing about half a mW. about the same size as my P-122. yellows I can ask around my local area for, they're more common, and i've seen a few. maybe someone will part with one.
 
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I'd only need >500uW that fires reliably and is relatively stable (not EOL).

I wish I still had a budget to flat out purchase lasers like I used to. These days I have to either find trades or sell what I have first. I haven't had any luck moving my argon either, despite it being a fully furnished and very healthy 8line 80mW unit with everything (over spec fan, step up tranny, ductwork, flanges, remote, head, psu, cords and umbilicals, etc). included.

If you've got a source for even a baby yellow I'd love to hear it, but I'd need to offload what I've got either in the process or first in order to act on it.
 
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I'd only need >500uW that fires reliably and is relatively stable (not EOL).

I wish I still had a budget to flat out purchase lasers like I used to. These days I have to either find trades or sell what I have first. I haven't had any luck moving my argon either, despite it being a fully furnished and very healthy 8line 80mW unit with everything (over spec fan, step up tranny, ductwork, flanges, remote, head, psu, cords and umbilicals, etc). included.

If you've got a source for even a baby yellow I'd love to hear it, but I'd need to offload what I've got either in the process or first in order to act on it.

idk about small yellows. but let me dig around and see what's near me. maybe I can find something.
 
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Well done!

This will become doughnut once you align it. Or perhaps a rectangle. Either way, yes, this is a multimode laser. See here.
Same dimensions as the 2mW variant, yet it has multiple transverse modes.

Sam's Laser FAQ said:
Models with a mode spacing of "NA-MM" run with multiple transverse modes (not TEM00) and therefore, they don't have a mode spacing specifications since the mode spacing differs slightly for each of the multiple modes. They output greater power for their size compared to TEM00 tubes and may be used for applications like light shows but are unsuitable for holography and interferometry.

You don't need an LPM to align these things :p You know that! Besides, there's a lot of bounce in the mirrors anyway, so since you're already just pushing one side, letting it bounce back, and repeating over and over, there's not much to check on an LPM.

How I do it? With a method I watched Sam do, on my 4 line, with a key ;)

In the metal mirror mounts, behind the mirror, there's going to be a thin rod of metal holding the mirror in place. Using a flathead screwdriver, key, coin, etc. Use that rod as leverage, to apply a tilting pressure to the mout itself.

Basically. Imagine you are looking down at the tube. Using the key example. Place the key on the "side" of the rod closest to you. In that gap. Then turn the key counter-clockwise. This will apply pressure to the mount to lean/tilt in the other direction.

Using this method, you can tilt the mirrors any direction. Start gentle, as you kinda have to feel for it. Though you will eventually warm up to applying the roughness you really need. You will either see a flash, a dimming, or nothing. Implying better alignment, worse, or nothing (respectively).

You will find that you will need to tilt beyond the flash, as the metal will bounce-back. So you need it to bounce-back to that flash. Try both sides, but remember to protect yourself from the electrical hazards, especially on the anode!

Wow, what a beauty!!

I'm at the point now that I'd trade all of my lasers for a 594.1nm HeNe (including my 8line argon and LPM!). Totally jealous!

I know of one for $175 shipped. I'll PM you.
 
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Well done!

This will become doughnut once you align it. Or perhaps a rectangle. Either way, yes, this is a multimode laser. See here.
Same dimensions as the 2mW variant, yet it has multiple transverse modes.



You don't need an LPM to align these things :p You know that! Besides, there's a lot of bounce in the mirrors anyway, so since you're already just pushing one side, letting it bounce back, and repeating over and over, there's not much to check on an LPM.

How I do it? With a method I watched Sam do, on my 4 line, with a key ;)

In the metal mirror mounts, behind the mirror, there's going to be a thin rod of metal holding the mirror in place. Using a flathead screwdriver, key, coin, etc. Use that rod as leverage, to apply a tilting pressure to the mout itself.

Basically. Imagine you are looking down at the tube. Using the key example. Place the key on the "side" of the rod closest to you. In that gap. Then turn the key counter-clockwise. This will apply pressure to the mount to lean/tilt in the other direction.

Using this method, you can tilt the mirrors any direction. Start gentle, as you kinda have to feel for it. Though you will eventually warm up to applying the roughness you really need. You will either see a flash, a dimming, or nothing. Implying better alignment, worse, or nothing (respectively).

You will find that you will need to tilt beyond the flash, as the metal will bounce-back. So you need it to bounce-back to that flash. Try both sides, but remember to protect yourself from the electrical hazards, especially on the anode!



I know of one for $175 shipped. I'll PM you.

the locking collars are pretty tight, but lightly pressing on the cathode end it changes a bit, but nothing fantastically brighter. it stays relatively consistant. i'll fiddle with it more and get back to you when i get home from class in a few hours. and as for getting them realigned in such a way you can do it without an LPM true, but with one you can fine tune it alot better.
 
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Things

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I've seen a torus shaped beam on my CO2 laser a few times, I put it down to being overdriven. It's a TEM mode as has been said and can be caused by a few things, maybe try turning down the power slightly?
 
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It's run at recommended current. It's a naturally multi-mode tube. Good suggestion though.
 
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the locking collars are pretty tight, but lightly pressing on the cathode end it changes a bit, but nothing fantastically brighter. it stays relatively consistant. i'll fiddle with it more and get back to you when i get home from class in a few hours. and as for getting them realigned in such a way you can do it without an LPM true, but with one you can fine tune it alot better.

You'll notice more of a difference when applying the right amount of pressure with the key method. They make actual tools for this, aligning HeNes by the collar. However, I only know of one set, and guess who has it ;)

I've been debating about using those dentist picks that they poke and prod your gums with. Especially the angled and rounded ones. I feel they'd work quite well, after a few wraps of electrical tape around the handles ;)

I've seen a torus shaped beam on my CO2 laser a few times, I put it down to being overdriven. It's a TEM mode as has been said and can be caused by a few things, maybe try turning down the power slightly?

This particular tube has exact dimensions as the 2mW 611.9nm MG variant. Both tube length, and diameter, are the same.

The major difference though, beyond power, is transverse mode spacing. That is because this laser operates in multiple transverse modes. Meaning the spacing will be different per mode. Resulting in non-TEM00 output :) This is likely, as mentioned, due to a wider bore in this model.

HeNes are often made with wider bores to get more power out of smaller tubes. I have a REO tube doing 0.5mW of multimode 543.5nm, out of an 8in tube. It's at least rated 0.5mW, I don't yet have a meter that low to check.

Regardless, this is a multimode tube by design. It will likely become a full doughnut once proper alignment is reached.
 
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You can scrape up some rarer HeNe's through MI, their prices aren't too bad if you ask them
 
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You can scrape up some rarer HeNe's through MI, their prices aren't too bad if you ask them

depends on the laser. I've found some of their lasers and accessories as great deals, others are just terribly overpriced. you just have to be a smart shopper. through I've considered starting a Ruby laser after this...downside is rods are crazy expensive...they're about $800 for 1/4" or so. upside is my source had them coated with new silicone dioxide mirror coatings which is a large portion of that cost. tough coatings too. we were able to scrub the coating with a pencil eraser and hit didn't hardly flinch at the abrasion-pretty tough hard coating.
 
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w00t! congrats!

That is a sweet unit... best of luck with the project. I'm looking forward to updates!

:)
 
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You can scrape up some rarer HeNe's through MI, their prices aren't too bad if you ask them

What do you mean by "rarer"?

There's not much beyond the highest outputting 611.9nm designated tube. Other than a b-tube (which they don't have) or an IR tube (which they do, for a ton of money).

Honestly, I wouldn't buy from MI as you can get anything they offer, for cheaper on ebay, if you wait long enough. All of their HeNes are overpriced relatively speaking.

Even Sam's prices are better than MI's.
 
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Honestly, I wouldn't buy from MI as you can get anything they offer, for cheaper on ebay, if you wait long enough. All of their HeNes are overpriced relatively speaking.

Even Sam's prices are better than MI's.

I normally would agree, but it also depends on the effort and what you want. Sam isn't running it as a full business. MI is a business, so naturally they're in it to make money. they cater to more than just random hobbyists.

I also note that while some things have been pricy from them, other things I've gotten good or even quite cheap prices on too, so it just varies on what you want and if you're a regular customer. they have alot more than what is just on their site.
 




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