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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

I got a pile of laser pointers, now what?

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Aug 19, 2011
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My Girlfriend bought a bunch of crap at an auction (3 trips with my Suburban so full I could only use the driver side mirror.) In one of the many boxes was a case of old keychain laser pointers, most of the batteries were ruined and the housings are pretty nasty but the guts (laser diode and switch) still work on all but the very worst.

Now, what do I do with them?

There are probably tons of cool projects I could do with one or two but I have like 50. I really think I'll get burnt out doing a bunch of little projects, so I wanna do something big with as many as I can.

Please give me suggestions of what I can do with these. They are just the regular 4.5v laser pointer key chains that come with different tips. I know they aren't powerful enough to burn stuff or anything like that and I do know how to solder and use a multimeter and other basic skills required to work with electronics.

Reasonable Ideas are fine I'm not expecting detailed instructions, just general ideas like, Movie-Museum-security style laser grid around stuff in the house, I'd need a fog machine too, or an array pointed at my front door from the trees in front of the house that move randomly like movie swat team snipers.
 





ARG

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Feb 27, 2011
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Mount them on a piece of wood or something in a 7x7 grid, then you can program them and projector some simple images with them! I don't think they are worth much without the batteries as the price of batteries is the same as a new laser from the dollar store with batteries included
 
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I don't think they are worth much without the batteries as the price of batteries is the same as a new laser from the dollar store with batteries included

Yeah, I know, I got about a dollar in them, just looking for ideas of what I could do. More than likely I'll be building a power supply and hard wiring them, instead of using batteries, or wiring up to larger batteries, like D-cells for affordability and longevity.
 
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Aug 19, 2011
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Put tape over the on switches to ensure that they are all lit up at once, then cram them into a blender, turn out the lights, and make your own laser themed episode of 'will it blend?'[/url]

Funny but looking for something more permanent, less destructive, and more likely to either scare the pants off someone, like roving laser dots triggered by motion detector, or something guests will be in awe of, like an ultrasonic fogger in a cylinder with laser beams shooting up from below surrounding a glass dome on a pedestal with something silly under the glass like an NES PowerGlove, or the TV remote
 
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Dec 9, 2010
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you could make a motion-detecting multi-beam, self-fogging, laser vortex...

Or better yet, if you met that dude (you know, while you were walking to St. Ives) that has seven wives, each with seven sacks, each with seven cats...

you could play with all those cats at the same time.

Now THAT would be impressive.
 
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Schnuh, I like that idea of the pedestal and the laser thing. Would be hilariously geeky. Make it an N64 controller though, and maybe plate it in gold or something lame. XD
 
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Schnuh, I like that idea of the pedestal and the laser thing. Would be hilariously geeky. Make it an N64 controller though, and maybe plate it in gold or something lame. XD

That sounds great, and I do have a few dead N64 controllers and there is a cheap gold leaf kit at the local hobby store that gives great results, but I thought a more obscure and useless control like the PowerGlove would be more fitting. there is a local game store that has all kinds of rare accessories for systems no one has like Atari Jaguar controllers and NeoGeo Arcade Sticks really cheap. The other day I spotted the PowerGlove there and wished I had a good reason to buy it. Lord knows there isn't any games worth a damn to play with it. I remember the first time I saw one in the trailer for the movie "The Wizard" and the cool factor appeal it had to 8 yr old boys everywhere.

I also thought it would be cool if I could use some magicians wire to suspend whatever it is so it appears to float within the glass dome maybe get a small motor to make it rotate or bob up and down or both.
 
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Aug 19, 2011
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Point them all at a single spot! 50x1mw = 50mw :p

Uhm, I'm not really familiar with lasers but that seems wrong. Are you being serious or just making jokes? Please don't laugh at me for being stupid . There is a difference between stupid and uninformed. Also what good is a 50mw laser?
 
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Uhm, I'm not really familiar with lasers but that seems wrong. Are you being serious or just making jokes? Please don't laugh at me for being stupid . There is a difference between stupid and uninformed. Also what good is a 50mw laser?

I wasn't being 100% serious but there is no reason it shouldn't work....
I don't know if that method is 100% efficient but you can increase power by using more than one laser if they are pointing at th same spot.

BTW I was making fun of the fact that you bought 50 laser pointers not anything to do with your knowledge.

As far as what good a 50mW laser is what good is any laser?
 
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Well I didn't buy them they were included in a pile of crap my girlfriend got at an auction because she wanted some small thing in a huge pile of crap and she probably paid a dollar for the whole pile. She will buy 100lbs of garbage for a dollar because she saw one tiny item she was willing to pay a dollar for. I also have a giant box of inappropriate temporary tattoos from the late seventies that have wonderful images of diving helmets and mermaids with the words MUFF DIVER in large red letters below. a fat pig with "kosher" in Hebrew on its side. This is the kind of crap I have to deal with. It's too funny to throw out but what will I do with it? Maybe I'll pass those out at halloween. The lasers were one of the better finds. Oh yeah I also have a few hundred walnut shells that instead of a nut inside they have a condom inside. "Bust a nut condom in a nut"
 

Cam453

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Jun 8, 2011
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Christmas- Let's break open some walnuts with the nut cracker
Family member- There seems to be something other than a nut in here what could it be... OMG!!!!!
 




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