Laser project to make circle

Hello everyone I am new to the forum , it seems that you guys are the people who can help me. I am trying to build something to displays a circle for about 20-30 feet. I need it for a job that i am doing, I am going to run something from the ground of a building all the way to the roof. The issue is that there are wires and beams that might interfere with my job, so that is why I want to build something with lasers to display a circle from the ground to the roof . This way i can till if they beams , and wires are in my way or not. I bought a 5MW laser from ebay and works well . Please help :lasergun:

Making a circle is very easy, a simple motor with a slightly off-center mirror attached to the tip will do the trick. Just bounce the laser off that while the motor is running:



The only problem is that you're projecting a cone and not a cylinder, so you may not get an accurate idea of what's in your way. A better idea might be to draw out a circle on the ground and use the laser with a level to point it directly up while tracing the circular path to see if the area is clear or not.

^^^^ nice help there--+3

added info

if you glue a 'regular' mirror instead of a FS( front or first surface) you will get 2 circles- one dimmer than the other. So you may want to go with a FS.

These can be found cheap or even free if you know where to look.
A very nice one(also a 3vdc motor) in inside of every Poliaroid plastic One-Step Camera- Thrift shops hardly ever find any buyers as the film is now extremely hard to find- so don't pay more than 1$. These are thin & keystone shaped but can be cut into smaller mirror with a little skill.
There are several FS mirrors(thick) inside most every flat bed scanner- these can be found also at thrift shops and there too are hard to sell. I have even seen them in dumpsters.

If you cannot find any let me know & I will send you some mirrors.

making a circle is also called Tunnel EFX- a very cool one too. Especially with lots of fog or smoke. Pics taken inside the tunnel (facing the laser) are quite interesting. One tip-- turn off all 'air movers (ac/fans etc) this make the tunnel much nice as it give a very 'wispy' look, this is best done with smoke (like many incense sticks) rather than a fogger.

ALSO if you add a second (or more) mirror/motor you can create the Spiro EFX-
which is a lot of fun- especially if you can alter the RPMs and direction of the motors.+
Spiro become quite interesting if you can get more than one color laser onto the mirrors- this can be done using the knife edge combining- which again is done with FS mirrors.

hope I have been helpful.

hak

Very interesting to know that the mirrors of a scanner are FS. I must imagine that also old copyers must use the same type of mirrors.

Why not make a circle by twirling the laser with your hand? If you need to adjust the size of the circle twirl it wider.

Or you can use a laser with a focus knob on the end. De-focus the laser to achieve the size spot you want projected.

If you use a mirror you will not have easy adjustment. In fact you wont have any adjustment.

Eh... twirling a laser around isn't cool. Having it motorized means you can aim it at something and use it like a wand. I mean hell, you could twirl a laser around for a spiro and that's be equally as lame.

Bionic-Badger said:

Eh... twirling a laser around isn't cool. Having it motorized means you can aim it at something and use it like a wand. I mean hell, you could twirl a laser around for a spiro and that's be equally as lame.

Click to expand...

The problem with that is you have limited control of the circle size. As the area he wants to illuminate rises, the larger the circle will become. If he does it by hand he will have full control of the circle, and will be able to tailor it to his needs.

All in all its just an easy solution to the problem he has.

An easier solution is to buy a flashlight with a super tight throw.