Hello everyone, this is my first post here so I hope it in the correct place. I have been planning on doing this simple project for a while now but am no having some concerns about safety. I am building this project for home use but am concerned about damage to my own or family member's eyes.
The basic layout is as fallows:
2x Slow DC Motors (Roughly 45 rpm)
2x Defraction Gratings (2 Plain) attached to two plexiglass discs
1x mirror
1x Laser module with heatsink
The laser would reflect off the mirror which I may eventually have rotating, through the two slowly rotating defraction gratings attached to the motors. I believe this produces 25+ beams which in turn are again split, producing I believe hundreds of beams.
My concerns are the following. I REALLY wanted to use a 445nm laser because of the color. I purchased one from eBay which was originally intended to be one watt, however I asked the seller if he could tune it down for the use I had in mind. He was able to bring it down to about 250 mA of current with an output of 169mw max. I also know from shining my green laser pointer through one grating that the center beam is still relatively powerful.
Is this thing doomed to be an unsafe projector or can I modify it to increase the safety of it? Could I unfocus the beam to make it wider or reflect if off more surfaces? If not, I will simply convert to module into a laser pointer and get a significantly less powerful module at a different wavelength.
Thanks,
Laz
Edit: Here is the module for anyone curious: http://www.ebay.com/itm/180707971676?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
The basic layout is as fallows:
2x Slow DC Motors (Roughly 45 rpm)
2x Defraction Gratings (2 Plain) attached to two plexiglass discs
1x mirror
1x Laser module with heatsink
The laser would reflect off the mirror which I may eventually have rotating, through the two slowly rotating defraction gratings attached to the motors. I believe this produces 25+ beams which in turn are again split, producing I believe hundreds of beams.
My concerns are the following. I REALLY wanted to use a 445nm laser because of the color. I purchased one from eBay which was originally intended to be one watt, however I asked the seller if he could tune it down for the use I had in mind. He was able to bring it down to about 250 mA of current with an output of 169mw max. I also know from shining my green laser pointer through one grating that the center beam is still relatively powerful.
Is this thing doomed to be an unsafe projector or can I modify it to increase the safety of it? Could I unfocus the beam to make it wider or reflect if off more surfaces? If not, I will simply convert to module into a laser pointer and get a significantly less powerful module at a different wavelength.
Thanks,
Laz
Edit: Here is the module for anyone curious: http://www.ebay.com/itm/180707971676?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
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