IgorT Medium Lens Mounting

I finished mounting and testing the ‘medium lens’ for IgorT and it is on it’s way back to him today. (10/29)



The plan, is that Igor can now get these custom lens nuts CNC machined for his up coming lens GB...



The lens is very large in diameter. (7mm)

Because of this, I drilled out an entry aperture of .246 in. Then, in order for the lens to fit in comfortably, I sized the I.D. of the nut to .281 in.

I also had to shorten the lens nut for this modification…



Because of the diameter of the lens, there were no longer any threads left on the inside of the lens nut to be able to use the tiny threaded lens retaining ring. So I had to come up with a safe way to use the AixiZ focus ring to retain the lens in it’s position inside the modified nut.

It would be very ‘tricky’ if I tried to make a spacer/retainer out of brass or aluminum, as I do with my 405-G-1 modification. Because you want the focus ring pretty ‘tight’, so that it does not get loose. And you don’t want to put too much pressure on the glass lens, or you could break or damage it.

So, I found a different way to accomplish this…



I used a modified AixiZ spring and re shaped one end of it to fit the AixiZ focus ring. This was the perfect answer to mounting this lens inside the modified nut, which no longer had any inside threads for the stock retaining ring.



The finished modification shown below, gives an extra 2% increase in power vs the way that it was mounted in the plastic nut.

Igor had the suspicion that if the entry aperture was enlarged, that it could affect the output power of this 7mm lens, and he was right!




Igor will be testing with different diodes, and making power comparisons. So I will leave my power comparisons out of this thread, and just wait until Igor does his testing.

Oh, one more thing Igor... I had to run all three modified lens nuts through my 9mm X .5 die, so the threads will need a couple of wraps of Teflon.

I'm sure when you get the lens nuts made in your CNC batch, they can adjust the thread tolerance...

And with this design, all you need is the nut! Because the spring mount is easy...



It is measured and fit, for a 'flush pressed' diode to make sure that everybody will get focus.



Also, it is fit for an AixiZ focus ring. If you try it with any other focus ring (such as a Sure, or one of the DX look alike), it won't be screwed on the same, and it will affect the gap between the focus ring and the module.





Other lens news:

I have a 650-G-1 glass lens modification that is the same or better than Meredith's 'optimized for red' lens that they have discontinued. They only sell their new 'broadband' glass lens now. See here:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f64/f...modification-fit-aixiz-25-increase-46332.html

As usual, I am in awe

Nicely done, Jay

Peace,
dave

Thanks Dave! It was a pleasure to be part of this...

Nice work Jay!!!

Edit: So us n00bs can do this with a plastic nut and no lathe?

Thanks!

Not sure what Igor did to the plastic nut for his mount. I just took them apart and re-mounted the lenses...

But he had a couple of tiny o-rings in there to retain the lenses inside the nut. I just don't know if he had to modify the inside diameter. But I suspect that the lenses were not centered properly in the plastic nuts.

Igor will have to chime in on that question...

Very nice!

Tech_Junkie said:

Nice work Jay!!!

Edit: So us n00bs can do this with a plastic nut and no lathe?

Click to expand...

No one has to do anything, this was not meant as a tutorial..

I just asked Jay to make a prototype lens-nut for the "medium" lens (and the other two), so that i could perform proper testing, before deciding how to continue...

When i get the lenses back and test them on all diode models with their wavelength variations (to establish ranges of power increase vs. AixiZ acrylics), people can decide if they want some, and if we get enough interest for 50 pcs, i can have custom metal lens nuts made on CNCs, based on Jayrob's prototype.


To mount the lenses in plastic lens nuts, i had to reverse the lens nuts (to allow the lenses closer), use tiny 7mm OD/5mm ID o-rings Glenn found god knows where, and hold it all together with an opened up aixiz back plate..

Since AixiZ acrylics are also 7mm, the "Medium" lens was perfectly entered, but the other two lenses have a 6.33mm OD, so no matter how hard i tried they were always slightly off center.

But the plastic AixiZ lens nut and the o-rings reduced both the back and the front appertures to 5mm, which reduced the power increases the lenses were capable of...

I was hoping proper mounting would reduce the losses, and when Jay said he managed to squeeze 2% more out of it, i was very happy, because 2% more than in plastic mount was preciselly what i was hoping for once the Medium FL lens would be properly mounted!



Once again, thank you Jay, you're the best! :bowdown:

Can't wait to test the lenses properly!




P.S. The idea to use a spring was pure genious!
I was worried how the spacer thing would work out, if the focusing ring would be pressing it down... The focusing ring could get tightened too much by accident, and damage or even break the lens through the spacer! I thought that perhaps the spacer should end flush with the top of the lens nut, but then, again either the ring would press against it, or it wouldn't. If it wouldn't, the lens would wobble, if it would, it could get dangerous again.

But a spring will hold the lens in place safelly, regardless of how tight the focusing ring is screwed on the lens nut, since it always adjusts by itself....

Perfect!


Thanks again, Jay! :yh:

IgorT said:

P.S. The idea to use a spring was pure genious!
I was worried how the spacer thing would work out, if the focusing ring would be pressing it down... The focusing ring could get tightened too much by accident, and damage or even break the lens through the spacer! I thought that perhaps the spacer should end flush with the top of the lens nut, but then, again either the ring would press against it, or it wouldn't. If it wouldn't, the lens would wobble, if it would, it could get dangerous again.

But a spring will hold the lens in place safelly, regardless of how tight the focusing ring is screwed on the lens nut, since it always adjusts by itself....

Perfect!


Thanks again, Jay! :yh:

Click to expand...

Glad you like it!

And I'm glad your getting these custom fit lens nuts CNC machined.

Because it was some work to modify the nut and also make it shorter without damaging the threads...

So hopefully your CNC shop will get it exactly the way I have it, because when you test it, you will see that it is perfect.

Nice work Jay as always. Also, can't wait for that 650-G-1 Lens....

:thanks:

About the 650-G-1...It's basically going to be the same as the 'optimized for red' Meredith lens that they discontinued.

I still have a few of those left, but wanted to find another source for a lens for red like this, because it is a great lens for red!

Edit:

My 650-G-1 glass lens modification is here how!

Check it out:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f64/f...modification-fit-aixiz-25-increase-46332.html

thank you for that idea, jay! i have some random lenses (from sleds, mostly) around, its often a problem to insert/glue them into holders well (centered). will try your way next time too!

manuel

Whoa, Jay. You just keep 'em coming, don't you?

This'll be the JaygorT-G-1 Lens

:crackup:...

Just honored to have some part in this long awaited Igor lens.

nikokapo said:

Whoa, Jay. You just keep 'em coming, don't you?

This'll be the JaygorT-G-1 Lens

Click to expand...

And thanks a million for the great job on my new banner Niko! Can't believe you just did that out of the blue... Looks like a lot of work! Nice surprise, and a really nice job. I'm sending you a PHR Key Chain CR2 laser as a gift. (I can justify a gift) ... not selling lasers.

As usual JAY, you continue to out-do yourself with each project you undertake. Each one is better than the previous. You sir, are a font of genius & we on the Forum are lucky indeed that you're a member, 'cause it is us mostly who benefit from your genius. WELL DONE SIR, WELL DONE.................rob

Well I don't know about all that!

But thank you for the great compliment Rob...

I had a bunch of noob questions when I first came here. And still have some too! That's the beauty of LPF, there is so much combined knowledge here.

My favorite things that I have built, came from other peoples ideas. And some ideas of my own too.

But yeah... We all learn from each other. LPF is a great community!