First time buyer - need advice

Hi all

I'm completely new but extremely interested in getting into this hobby. I've done much reading and basically I'm down to two choices: buy something from one of those Chinese companies or buy a kit and self-assemble. In light of the recent negative reviews on several Chinese companies, I prefer buying a kit and putting it together myself but I'm not too handy (I can solder wires, that's about it. I can't mod things / machine things etc)

I also live in Australia, and our customs laws are very strict on lasers (they get confiscated!) so buying a kit allows me to accept shipment as components rather than a complete laser.

My questions are:

1) How do I go about buying a kit and self-assembling? I went to the pro buy/sell forums and noticed a few reputable guys selling kits but they all don't seem to include the diodes and/or some parts.

2) I'm very confused about what will fit with what. What is AixiZ? How will I know whether the diode I buy will fit my heatsink?

I would like to just get a kit from someone reputable here who can also supply the diode and everything else I need (send me a PM!) to put the thing together. Looking for a 445 or 405nm laser, around 300mw in power (could be more or less) and any other good features I have yet to discover I should have (still reading!).

Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to go about self-assembling this? Or send me a link to your sale thread (and explain what else I need) if you're someone who sells what I'm after!

Welcome aboard! do some more reading on this forum, setup a paypal account, check out the buy/sell links. Get some goggles. Practice soldering, after reading the how to thread. Then buy the parts from one of the members with lots of posts and a long green bar on the left. It's dirt easy, It's all here on the forum, It's fun and educational. Be safe, learn what to do before doing, have fun.

300mW blue or violet? The blue diode alone will be almost $50 and a 300mW violet will be more than $30.
I suggest you start small (PHR [405nm +100mW] ~$8) because it is really easy to blow your diode with ESD the first few times.

a axiz module is what holds your diode and is what your lense threads into to focus your laser all. the diodes that we use (5.6mm) will fit in the aixiz.

then in most of the kits the aixiz will go into the heat sink and have a set screw to keep it in place. but in some kits the diode is directly presed into the heatsink and the heatsink is threaded for your lense.

edit: take a look at some of jayrobs build and build tutorials in the pro shop. they might help a bit