Help a beginner PLZ

Iam new to this whole laser thing (dont look at my join date) and when I say new I mean I am 17 and have no history involving lasers but it seems like something I would enjoy as a hobby. I have read mfo's guide and would still like to learn more and how to start off I was thinking a diode laser. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

I suggest you buy some 5mW red green and violet pointers on ebay to play with first. Get to know how to use them and how they work first. Then you can move on to building them. Just look around, especially jayrob's tutorials. All you need to know is somewhere on this site.

I liked the phrase, "I've read MFO's guide and would STILL like to learn more..."! What's wrong with MFO's guide?!!! :crackup:

M

Morgan said:

I liked the phrase, "I've read MFO's guide and would STILL like to learn more..."! What's wrong with MFO's guide?!!! :crackup:

M

Click to expand...

lol no matter how you look at it its a good thing though!

@ slash
but have you read this one???
http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/threads-interest-27864.html

As for starting off in the laser hobby i would not go for a 5mw of anything.
You will find its boring and want to get a better one very quickly, better off going with what you will want in the end at least 50mw.
Now having said that more power means a greater risk.
I would advise to get safety glasses.
Also look up cheap laser shows. They can make it much more fun and before you know it you might even find your self looking at a scanner, i know i was and i have almost finished building mine.
YouTube - DIY Laser Show: Number 1
This is the first one i think there are 7-8 of them. they are very good videos and it is what got me started.

Some 5mW lasers are alright, just as long as you have stronger ones too. I don't know of any other way to have a 635 or 594 at a decent price.

and IMHO most 5mW green lasers are under rated, and it's even better if you you buy the 10, 20 50mW versions

If I had $$$ like bill gates!

Seriously though, if I won the lottery tomorrow my house would be lit up like a runway. I would own every color ever made at the highest power levels ever made

Pontiacg5 said:

If I had $$$ like bill gates!

Seriously though, if I won the lottery tomorrow my house would be lit up like a runway. I would own every color ever made at the highest power levels ever made

Click to expand...

So with enough money we can now expect planes to just fly into our lasers voluntarily!


To offer some advice to the OP too, (something I woefully forgot to do in my previous post of levity), I would suggest building your own right from the start. From an electronics point of view, the simple drivers are not very difficult as they have very few components and the learning only feeds the thirst for more knowledge. The more common, high power laser diodes we all use are very reasonably priced and with a couple of other bits you have yourself a pretty respectable, self-built laser for less than $20, (assuming you don't send any diodes to the graveyard in the process!)

It's as good a place to start as any, and the satisfaction on seeing that unique light for the first time is hard to beat.

It should be noted, however, that although it is possible to build a good powered laser for less than $20, you should be spending at least this on eye protection, (probably more). If you're going to get into lasers, put them at the top of your shopping list; they are indispensible.

Above all enjoy,

M


(Edit: The OP's last activity was 2 minutes after the first post in this thread! Did we lose them so quickly?!!!)

We just might have.
But hey maybe he searched the forums and found what he needed, with out our help

On trash day go around and pick up all the old computers that get thrown away, or if you have a electronics recycler near by and start extracting the diodes from the dvd/cd drives. I killed about 4 diodes before i really understood how careful you have to be with them.