From nothing to Laser - What's needed?

notahardwareguy said:

To add my 2 cents:

- did not see anyone list heat shrink tubing (great for covering your connections)

- hobby board

I built a hobby board before starting my laser build. It is a .5 inch X 30 inch X 30 inch board with a raised molding edge all around (like a picture frame) and rubber feet. When I am working in the house, all of my stuff is on this. Saves the table tops and prevents the wife from having something else to fuss about. I think I spent like $15 on the parts to build it and about 20 minutes to put together. The molding edge keeps stuff from rolling off and getting lost.

Click to expand...

could you describe the tools and process of making a hobby board? I assume you didn't buy a 30x30 plank with rubber feet built in at the Home Depot. Like did you use a router, a circular saw, wood glue, etc?

shintashi said:

could you describe the tools and process of making a hobby board? I assume you didn't buy a 30x30 plank with rubber feet built in at the Home Depot. Like did you use a router, a circular saw, wood glue, etc?

Click to expand...

My bad, it is actually 24 inches by 24 inches. Just measured.

You need the following materials:

- 1/2 inch by 24 inch by 24 inch board
- at least 9 feet, 1/4 inch edge molding (need 25 inch lengths to corner cut)
- 4 rubber feet
- wood glue
- nails

You will need the following tools:

- miter saw (or maybe talk HomeDepot into cutting the molding for you)
- hammer
- sand paper / sanding block

Got all of the wood from HomeDepot. The board was already cut.

Select one side of the board to be the top. The more finished side is best. Lightly sand it. Frame cut the edge molding and nail/glue the cut pieces around the outside of the board. Attach the feet about 1 1/2 inch from each corner. Done.

Other than the light sanding, I did not finish it at all.

That is all there is to it. good luck.

Thank you for the instructions, but I have to ask, What tool does frame cutting? Is that a router?

This thread is labeled "from nothing", and assumes you are explaining the procedure to someone with a large bank account and an empty apartment - including furniture, not a fully furnished tool shop or garage.

noticed a pattern in the "DIY: all you need is..." threads. I moved to my apartment with a suitcase. There were no power tools or furniture for that matter. Assuming people have tools and equipment they don't is cruel. You can't assume people have a saw, a work bench, or for gods sakes a work shop. You said "lightly sand it" but that assumes someone has sandpaper. Many would assume a power sander - some of those are so loud you can get evicted.

I was just shopping for a Dremel at Fry's and then Amazon the other day. The attachments for the device sold at Fry's were actually incompatible with the rotary device they were selling. I then went to the Dremel website and then checked amazon, that's like a $200 investment. The price of mills and lathes is daunting - $1500-3000+, but a must if you want to do custom hosts, heat sinks, or make sure your diode and batteries can fit either. I'm noticing a wooden work bench you can attach tools to is going to be necessary since my metal bench might as well be a glorified coffee table - you can't attach anything to it - at least nothing you buy from Harbor freight without first buying $200+ worth of clamping devices.

Your hobby board probably costs over $300, when counting in the power tools, glue, materials, clamps for holding the glued pieces in place, and the bench they are built on. One of the realities of this thread is illustrating how much a DIY laser really costs. It's getting kind of disgusting the amount of money I'm putting into building a laser and how many of the "tool shop" devices are actually needed but omitted. When I'm finally finished, I want to post the minimum tools and devices needed, plus their price tags and the sum total. Then I can be honest with someone and say "Yeah, you want to make your own laser, here's the 27 things you need and the $1800(?) you need to spend is itemized".

Because saying something, and doing it are completely different.

That hobby board was like $30(?). It was hand sanded. the molding was frame cut with a hand-saw/miter box.

You will need some tools to do anything. You can do a lot with simple hand tools. Look at the laser I built in my sig, The only power tool I used was a drill-press.

I will update my prior post to include the hand tools needed to make it.

notahardwareguy said:

That hobby board was like $30(?). It was hand sanded. the molding was frame cut with a hand-saw/miter box.

You will need some tools to do anything. You can do a lot with simple hand tools. Look at the laser I built in my sig, The only power tool I used was a drill-press.

I will update my prior post to include the hand tools needed to make it.

Click to expand...

I don't own a drill press and spent $300 last year to access one for a quarter in a class where I wasn't actually permitted to do anything on my own until I finished the class, but the class took so long that I only ended up with about a 45 minute window to do my own thing... After that experience, I decided any tools that had to be used by me had to be owned by me, because the magic tool fairy was visiting someone else in their sleep.

You can get a lot of decent inexpensive tools of various types at flea markets and garage sales. I recently scored a pretty good chop saw for $20. If there are none near you, Harbor Freight is a good option as well.