My first diy laser build!

Twisted · Sep 9, 2011

Carl Witcombe said:
Look, no disrespect to you, Lasers are awesome, you want one, you want to build one, I take it that you are relatively young. thats fine.

Do yourself a favour, You asked us whether the items were correct to build a laser, I guessed that you have no experience with lasers and the accompanying drivers that power the Diode. I have given you information and a diagram on how I built my own laser driver.

This driver works, I guess you've seen the video of the laser working also, you have seen the proof that the laser works.

Now Go back to the 1st post in your thread, and read the entire thread until you understand it's content.

Peace

Thank you very very much, Anything I could do for you in return, And I'm 12 and have ADHD so I have a hard time understanding stuff, Sorry for giving you a hard time

Carl Witcombe · Sep 9, 2011

It's no problem at all, Maybe you could get your father to give you a little guidance from what is contained in your thread, you never know he might enjoy it.

I'm 40 and carry a 250+mw laser everywhere I go, it comes in handy when taking the kids to school, and pointing out the local wildlife.

Trying to explain to a 3 Yr old boy, where, in a line of trees a Squirrel is sitting gets very frustrating, expecially after the furry little git does a runner.
with my laser, there is no difficulty in spotting the little red dot, from 50-60 yards away.

Good Luck

Be Safe

Twisted · Sep 9, 2011

Carl Witcombe said:
It's no problem at all, Maybe you could get your father to give you a little guidance from what is contained in your thread, you never know he might enjoy it.

I'm 40 and carry a 250+mw laser everywhere I go, it comes in handy when taking the kids to school, and pointing out the local wildlife.

Trying to explain to a 3 Yr old boy, where, in a line of trees a Squirrel is sitting gets very frustrating, expecially after the furry little git does a runner.
with my laser, there is no difficulty in spotting the little red dot, from 50-60 yards away.

Good Luck

Be Safe

I'm not gonna show my dad he'll think I'm an idiot hahaha you're 40? You're the coolest 40 year old I know! Well I'll try the one my friend recommended and if the diode dies no prob and if it works well and does not heat much maybe I could make a video on it

if it does not work at all I will just do the normal one...

Thanks!

Carl Witcombe · Sep 9, 2011

You're the coolest 40 year old I know

Cheers for that:thanks: and can't wait to see the vid.

Twisted · Sep 9, 2011

Carl Witcombe said:
Cheers for that:thanks: and can't wait to see the vid.

If it does not work I will not make the video though, Maybe if it breaks I could make some kind of what not to do video or something hahaha I'm not sure if you heard of this before but I actually found a heatsink for chips! 577102B00000G: AAVID THERMALLOY: Fans & Cooling
Do you think that (if it is) a 100mw red (Ya know the one I'm building that is supposed to be 250-300mw

) is able to pop balloons, light matches, smoke black leather, OFC focused and with a AR coated lens.
BTW do you know where I can get a module and ar coated lens for my specific laser, It should be on axiz but I'm really not sure which one would be optimal because I have little to no experience with them as of yet.

Carl Witcombe · Sep 9, 2011

Making a video would be a great help to yu even if it did go wrong, as you could use that to find where you went wrong, and How not to do it would be a good lesson for someone.

is able to pop balloons, light matches, smoke black leather

Couldn't comment on that as I don't know.

as for a lens, A bog standard lens would do the job.

Heatsink, you shouldn't need to heatsink at 100mw, just keep the duty cycles (on times) to 20-30 secs and keep an eye on the heat generated. allowing to cool between them.

For parts go to the Group Buy & Sell posts Here

Twisted · Sep 9, 2011

Carl Witcombe said:
Making a video would be a great help to yu even if it did go wrong, as you could use that to find where you went wrong, and How not to do it would be a good lesson for someone.

Couldn't comment on that as I don't know.

as for a lens, A bog standard lens would do the job.

Heatsink, you shouldn't need to heatsink at 100mw, just keep the duty cycles (on times) to 20-30 secs and keep an eye on the heat generated. allowing to cool between them.

For parts go to the Group Buy & Sell posts Here

Okay but I wanna heatsink anyways in case it goes to 200+mW or if it breaks and I get a new diode or better driver.

Carl Witcombe · Sep 9, 2011

What kind of host are going to use, the host determines the kind of heatsink you get.

Also even at 200Mw the regulator will not require heatsinking, your main concern should be the diode as this is the main component that will get hot and fail.

An AiXiZ housing (the bit that the diode is pressed into) is a bare minimum, additional heatsinking after this, is not essential provided you keep the cycles low with adequate cooling inbetween cycles.

With the AMS1117 Regulator I have used is considerably smaller than the
LM317, I do not have the regulator heatsink'd, the diode itself only has the AiXiZ head for heat dissipation, and on cycles have been quite lengthy (around 45-60 secs) and this laser emmits approx 250Mw+

Hope this helps

Twisted · Sep 9, 2011

Carl Witcombe said:
What kind of host are going to use, the host determines the kind of heatsink you get.

Also even at 200Mw the regulator will not require heatsinking, your main concern should be the diode as this is the main component that will get hot and fail.

An AiXiZ housing (the bit that the diode is pressed into) is a bare minimum, additional heatsinking after this, is not essential provided you keep the cycles low with adequate cooling inbetween cycles.

With the AMS1117 Regulator I have used is considerably smaller than the
LM317, I do not have the regulator heatsink'd, the diode itself only has the AiXiZ head for heat dissipation, and on cycles have been quite lengthy (around 45-60 secs) and this laser emmits approx 250Mw+

Hope this helps

It's a large hobby box from the source a.k.a crappy version of radioshack with way higher prices :gun: but if my IMAFIRIN MY LAZA does not work I will use the AMS1117 then instead and I am buying a heat sink a friend recommended because the laser will be closed and a mini fan inside of it to move air around and some greasy non-conductive heat sink for the laza and for future projects, again if I ever want to put a better diode in it the heatsink will be useful and I like to keep lasers on for quite a while :wave:

:thanks: BURN WALLZ!! LOL :eg:

EDIT: How do I give you rep?

Carl Witcombe · Sep 9, 2011

no problem at all

Twisted · Sep 10, 2011

Carl Witcombe said:
no problem at all

This is probably too much for you and I already feel like an @$$ asking but I am buying the parts today and I wanted to know if I should use a 3ohm 1/4 watt or 1/3 watt or what because I am confused.
Sorry this is crazy but my dad does not normally do this but he was like 47 16v capacitor you can have a laser just be super careful,47 16v capacitor
I'm not sure the laser will work so can you just send me the parts in links for the lm317 or whatever from something like radioshack so I can buy them? and the correct diode (I don't mind buying it from you to help another laser enthusiast

EDIT: Please note I will use 4x AA batteries that are rechargeable in this laser

Carl Witcombe · Sep 10, 2011

Resistors you require are of the type:-

resistor value to 4.1 ohm(giving 200Mw+ @ 304.88 Ma) or there abouts (not 4.1k or 4.1M) these are higher values

you want carbon film resistors
1/4 watt or 0.25w

10uf 16v capacitor is fine, you could use the 47uf 16v as you got a big host

The regulator you require is LM317T

and the correct diode (I don't mind buying it from you to help another laser enthusiast

Sorry, but Being only 12 I would have to decline in selling you the diode as these diodes at the current you want are dangerous if shone in someones eyes whether intentionally or not.

Please read the safety

Twisted · Sep 10, 2011

Carl Witcombe said:
Resistors you require are of the type:-

resistor value to 4.1 ohm(giving 200Mw+ @ 304.88 Ma) or there abouts (not 4.1k or 4.1M) these are higher values

you want carbon film resistors
1/4 watt or 0.25w

10uf 16v capacitor is fine, you could use the 47uf 16v as you got a big host

The regulator you require is LM317T

Sorry, but Being only 12 I would have to decline in selling you the diode as these diodes at the current you want are dangerous if shone in someones eyes whether intentionally or not.

Please read the safety

Thank you, I'm gonna start reading a bunch about lasers and stuff today! and I wanted a green laser to so I bought one for my hobby box ( I'm buying another hobby box after I go and learn some more stuff

)

Here's the laza:

200mW 532nm Green Laser Module (3V 11.9mm) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

I am aware it is only truly 100-120mW but I like green lasers

Any goggles recommended?

Carl Witcombe · Sep 10, 2011

The goggles you need are rated for a particular wavelength in your case 532nm.

Twisted · Sep 10, 2011

Carl Witcombe said:
The goggles you need are rated for a particular wavelength in your case 532nm.

Of course but I would also want to know if I'm gonna be popping a balloon lets say could the ir reflection be potentially blinding? I am having trouble finding goggles for the wavelength (I was searching yesterday and today) with ir protection for something like 30$ other than the dragonlasers one but dragonlasers does not like my dad's visa's pswd :\

Carl Witcombe · Sep 11, 2011

Sorry for the late post, Don't know if you will be able to do those things with your module as the output of these are always overrated, I purchased a red laser pointer supposed to be <200Mw and comparing to my home build it falls way below my builds, however it can burn grass/cut grass.

Being a green as you said it's basis is an IR Diode, so, this can present issues with emmited IR, as long as you follow the safety guidlines contained in the stickies (you have read these haven't you) you will be aware of the precautions you need to take.

:thanks: for the rep.

My first diy laser build!

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