focus (newbie) question

Hi to all,

I'm quite new to all this laser stuff, read much, tested almost nothing. and I can't find answers to a question, from which I think it is already answered. I would be thankful for some hints or links.

I plan to build a kind of DIY laser cutter (yes, I know, I'm not the first, I read almost all the threads) with a standard blueray diode (low cost, low power, it is a first try). But I can't find information about the minimum distance in which these can be focussed (with standard housings and lenses). This is important, because the housing of the cutter should stay relatively small, ideally the focus distance would be only 1 cm.
Now the real newbie question: Can't I use the original lens from the blue ray sled, at least this should focus on short distance. or not? There are so many reports and tutorials about taking the diode out of the sled - are there applications where one uses the whole sled or at least parts of it together?

so long for the first question. thanks in advance.

christian

Probably not because The sleds lack the sufficient heatsinking for constant use. It is really not that hard to extract one and if you want to make a cutter you should probably use s higher powered one. (6x and up)