laser pen idea

inuboi8 · Oct 11, 2010

hi i have been lurking on this forum for years and have made a few diy lasers but this is my first post: i was thinking about making a high powered laser pen (1w+) and was thinking about making my own driver and filling the remaining space within the host with a sort of heat dispersing foam or some other material, does anyone know of anything that i could use?

JLSE · Oct 11, 2010

inuboi8 said:
hi i have been lurking on this forum for years and have made a few diy lasers but this is my first post: i was thinking about making a high powered laser pen (1w+) and was thinking about making my own driver and filling the remaining space within the host with a sort of heat dispersing foam or some other material, does anyone know of anything that i could use?

A nice chunk of brass or copper, but keep in mind this is just adding some mass.
So going from a 'cold start' you will get a longer run, but I dont think it will
shorten the 'off' times. You are effectively still dissipating heat off the body,
and by adding some extra mass, your not increasing the surface area of the
pen where it exchanges heat into the air.

Another idea would be to fit the head of the pen with some fins...

Also have to look at the driver's heat and available current from the power source.
The smaller your host, the trickier everything becomes, and are limited by it.

inuboi8 · Oct 11, 2010

i was thinking about adding fins like a cpu type heatsink but my original idea was a pen sized high power laser that u could easily slide into the pocket of a pair of fitted jeans with ease

edit-i have a pic of what i was thinking

orange-module
gray-host
black-heat sinks
blue-battery
yellow-wire
green-driver components

and yes i know a driver consists of more then 3 components

JLSE · Oct 11, 2010

You can still go with the fins, it would be something that could be slipped
on and off when longer cycles are required.

If you dont increase the surface area of the host, your not going to change
how fast it will heat up. I have a small stainless pen running @ 400mW. When
its run for 30-40seconds, it heats up pretty good. At 1W your looking at a 5-10sec
on time, and thats not including the heat of the driver.

To increase surface area effectively, fins are your best bet. Adding to the
diameter of the body wont do much. That is unless it swells up to the size
of an 18650... but that just defeats the purpose with it being a 'pen' and all.

inuboi8 · Oct 11, 2010

what about a host that was like one of those police batons, that u could like extend depending on how long u wanted to use it....but then the driver would require longer wires, and the diode would still need more efficient heat sinking...im not gonna give up on this idea it has too much potential!!!

JLSE · Oct 11, 2010

An ASP / collapsible are hardened and really thick steel.
Cutting one up might make for an interesting heatsink, not
sure about a host though.. Drilling one out would be horrendous
work without a lathe.

I seen them on DX not long ago in their wholesale section.
Think they were under 10$. ea.

inuboi8 · Oct 11, 2010

u can get them from trueswords for like nothing and my friend's dad works for a machine shop and might be able to try it out, the only issue i would think about would be that the environment within the host might get too hot for the driver to operate properly/efficiently

Rafa · Oct 11, 2010

Why don't you make a copper host?

daguin · Oct 11, 2010

You also have to keep in mind that all that metal has to go somewhere when you collapse it. These are usually filled "solid" when in the collapsed position. Where are you going to put the driver and battery?

A second concern is the heat transfer between sections. A "friction" fit that can be fairly easily slid apart is NOT going to give you good heat transference.

Peace,
dave

Benm · Oct 11, 2010

Indeed, i doubt it would work very well. I imagine it would be like a telescopic antenna, and you can surely hold that on one end, while heating the other in a gas stove flame for quite a while. Its a bit of an extreme example, but the costruction must be such that heat easily transfers from one end to the other, otherwise it will contribute little to heatsinking.

One watt laser output requires at least 5 watts of electrical power te dissipated, and i dont think that is remotely feasible to do in a host that remotely resembles a pen if you want it to run continously.

JLSE · Oct 11, 2010

daguin said:
You also have to keep in mind that all that metal has to go somewhere when you collapse it. These are usually filled "solid" when in the collapsed position. Where are you going to put the driver and battery?

A second concern is the heat transfer between sections. A "friction" fit that can be fairly easily slid apart is NOT going to give you good heat transference.

Peace,
dave

I forgot to mention as well, to close them you smack the butt of it
aggressively on cement. Getting those things closed when new is a feat in its own.
After they are 'broken in' some slck develops, but after many open and closing.
Put some sensitive electronics in there and..... Opening is the easy part.

oic0 · Oct 11, 2010

Not to be a buzz kill, but how ill you power a 1w + pen?

Rafa · Oct 11, 2010

oic0 said:
Not to be a buzz kill, but how ill you power a 1w + pen?

2x Li-Ion cells will have no problem.

inuboi8 · Oct 11, 2010

daguin said:
You also have to keep in mind that all that metal has to go somewhere when you collapse it. These are usually filled "solid" when in the collapsed position. Where are you going to put the driver and battery?

A second concern is the heat transfer between sections. A "friction" fit that can be fairly easily slid apart is NOT going to give you good heat transference.

Peace,
dave

i didnt think about that, and im seeing that unless i want to have like 5 seconds on 1 min off this isnt gonna be a feesable idea.....:cryyy:
thanks for all the input tho, i didnt think this thread would get as much attention as it did

Toke · Oct 11, 2010

inuboi8 said:
i didnt think about that, and im seeing that unless i want to have like 5 seconds on 1 min off this isnt gonna be a feesable idea.....:cryyy:
thanks for all the input tho, i didnt think this thread would get as much attention as it did

Well, this forum is full of helpful people, and heatsinking is an important subject/consideration with lasers.

BTW: Foam is an insulator due to all the air bubbles in it, that is the opposite of heat conduction.

heat dispersing foam

inuboi8 · Oct 11, 2010

BTW: Foam is an insulator due to all the air bubbles in it, that is the opposite of heat conduction.

i wasnt sure if there was some sort of foamlike material that would help to disperse heat quickly but thanks for the advice

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