See here for a nice 3 color yellow pointer tutorial:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/yellow-pointer-project-cool-44427.html





Here are some build tips for my version of the 7 color build first shown by rog8811 using this great 'adjustable sled mount/heatsink' kit from sightfx...

Now named The White Fusion Kit! (good name Dave!)

Here are just a few tips, and also some good information on power settings for a good color blend. If you are considering this build, you may find some of this information useful! (this build is just the 7 colors, not the spiro)

Using only PHR optics! I found that the turning mirror from the PHR sled is better than the turning mirror form the PS3 sled. So for a cheap and easier build, the PHR splitter cube and turning mirror can give plenty of power!

This one is 358mW's... (White beam)

See here for settings on a low power version of this build: My 7 Color Laser In Clear Enclosure...




Housed in a translucent, scratch resistant polycarbonate enclosure...






Here's some beam shots! (no smoke or fog, just the beam in the night sky with the camera on 'auto exposure')









You will be very happy with this build if you can get perfect beam alignment... (and power/color blend)

If it was not for this kit from sightfx, it would be very difficult to get the kind of alignment needed for these kind of 'full length' beam shots.

The White Fusion Kit! from sightfx...


* The White Fusion Kit!:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/cu...kit-42013.html

* Translucent polycarbonate enclosure:
Digi-Key - HM959-ND (Hammond Manufacturing - 1591CTCL)

* Switches used:
DealExtreme: $4.30 16mm 101F Gold Plated Clicky Switch for Flashlights (10-Pack)

* Green Module:
40mW to 50mW Green laser modules

* FlexDrives:
http://hacylon.case.edu/ebay/laser_d..._FlexDrive.php

* 405-G-1 Glass Lens Modification:
FS: 405-G-1 Glass Lens Mod - 31% Increase vs AixiZ!







First, the sled:






Custom adjustable sled mount/heatsinks:

I must say that this kit from sightfx is awesome! Well worth the money. (sled included)

I have a couple pictures of the initial mounting to the sled:





I really like the threaded mounting design with the blots drilled through the center.

I will also mention the obvious, that this kit/build, is the type of thing that will need DIY 'tweaking' no matter what. (sled trimming, drilling, etc...) As seen in my pictures, I have noted a couple of things that I did for my mounting.

This kit from sightfx makes...

* Beam/dot alignment and adjustment easy.
* Turning the modules for best power through the polarized cube very easy.
* Diode replacement easy if necessary.

Really a great design. Very small too!







Turning mirror:

This is a 'touchy' part of this build. You will want the green module installed, and at least one of the other lasers installed before you do the final positioning of the turning mirror. (I recommend using the red laser, because the blu-ray beam seems wider. Or at least that is how our eyes perceive it)

Have the adjustment screws all the way tight, and then back them off about 1/2 turn. That way you will have the spring tension as tight as possible, and still have some room for adjustment.

Also have your lasers rotated for best power through the optics.

You must get the mirror adjusted so that you have beam alignment at aperture. (along with dot alignment as close as possible)

Then later you can adjust the mounts for dot alignment at distance...

Once you have the turning mirror adjusted and glued in place properly, you then have to protect it...

The mirror will stick up out of the sled a little.

My method to cover it, is to just use the stock sled cover, with a slot cut in it for the turning mirror to stick through. Then cut a piece of similar material from a different sled, and use a couple of pieces of double sided tape to 'bridge over' the mirror with the cut piece.



This is one way to protect it, which is very easy. And not a lot of work, but you must protect the mirror.








Initial testing:



Here you can see a nice turquoise beam using my high quality beam alignment tool. (Pepsi bottle with a plastic flashlight lens in the cap)

This highly sophisticated tool , will hold the smoke from a single match for about an hour or so.

I have found that beam alignment at aperture, (by adjusting the turning mirror) is an important first step. Later, you can do fine adjustments with these mounts for dot alignment at distance.



Power measured after sled optics:

Blu-ray - 174mW's (GGW 6X/185mA's/405-G-1)
Green - 20mW's

This initial test for color blend seems good, but I have more testing to do!

Heatsinking for blu-ray and red will be plenty. (IMO) But I'm going to put another small heatsink on the green module at the base. (where the diode is)
Again, I must say that I love this kit from sightfx!



Settings and color/power blend:

I finished my testing and module placement.

I built a 'test switch assembly' with battery holders specifically for testing and initial alignment. (you need something like this for this build)

I have recorded my settings for what I feel is a really good color blend. You should be able to use this information as a reference point for getting an idea of what power you want to go for...



All that is left now, is to mount this little gem in a clear enclosure so it's beauty can be seen inside and out!



Settings:

Green: (50mW O-like/Stock driver/3.0 volt X 2 in parallel) - 39mW's after sled.

Red: (LPC/FlexDrive/AR acrylic/380mA's) - 145mW's after sled.

Blu-ray: (GGW 6X/FlexDrive/405-G-1/185mA's) - 174mW's after sled.





Color/power blend:

Yellow - 184mW's
Magenta - 319mW's
Turquoise - 213mW's
White - 358mW's



Beam Shots: (smoke in a bottle)





sightfx, your kit is a work of art!







Mounting:

I went with a simple 'foot' or platform to mount the assembly onto... (this will make it easy to mount into an enclosure)






Note: The only thing touching the mount, is some double sided tape to the washers, which of course are connected to the sled. (and one other spot on the sled cover plate) So the adjustable heatsinks/modules, do not have any extra pressure on them except for their own weight. This is important, because the alignment is so critical...

The sled cover plate that is covering the optics, can still be removed if necessary. This is an easy method, and still offers some shock resistance...

I hope than some will find this information useful!
Jay

P.S. I have the focus set for best visual dot at 75'. Even with this 'long distance focus', it will easily light matches at 1'. But I have not done any other burn tests. Just wanted to see if it would light matches. It is easy with Magenta or white.






More details:

Just a couple of more details about this build...




* The clear acrylic battery tubes started out as 3/4" O.D. X 5/8" I.D. Then I used a 17mm straight flute reamer on the lathe to get the right fit for the CR123 batteries. I have a tube of some clear glue that is specifically made for acrylic. Just a little holds very strong for placement. I drilled tiny holes at the very bottom of the tubes for the negative wires to go through.

* Notice the copper washers have a drilled out center area that is fit for the positive button on the batteries. This is not completely necessary, but I did it so that the batteries will be held more stable and not slip off the washer to put undue pressure against my 'tube holders'.

* A couple of the battery holder tubes are color coded for easy battery recognition/replacement. Switches are also color coded...

This high powered configuration is about $400 dollars in just parts. It's my favorite build so far!

Again, great kit from sightfx!!!



Click here to see my list of projects and tutorials!

The progress has been amazing on this project, I think you and sightfx have done some great work to get this so far advanced.
There is no reason now that anyone who wants a 7 colour laser cannot make one successfully.


regards rog8811

This is such an excellent project Rog...

Thank you so much for showing us how to do it!

The power and color blend coming out of this thing is amazing!!!



Update:

My green module did not last at all... Not sure about the DDL driver for green now. But it is so easy to switch out!

I have updated my readings to reflect the new green module with stock driver...
Jay

Looking great Jay! I think I may have to get a set of those heatsinks now. Very cool!

Wow Jay

Thanks a ton for these build tips and great review. As always your illustrations are awesome at being clear and thorough. When I first came to this site your threads always taught me the most.

I will definitely work some of your tweaking into the kit so others don’t have too.

Props also goes to Rog of course for this innovative idea and great tutorial in the first place. You’re a real trail blazer. Some of us are just laying down pavement .

Thanks,

SightFX

Hey Jay...
I just saw this... very interesting build...
Am I missing some thing... is there a link to "sightfx" or
pricing somewhere... or is this a prototype 'adjustable
sled mount/heatsink' kit..

[EDIT]...
Never mind... found it...
RGV Adjustable Sled Mount Heat Sinks - Feeler


Jerry

Jay,


Are you hooking your greenie to the same batteries as your red? If so you will need to insulate the mounts from the sled. Case pin on the Greenie is positive while the Red's is negative. If you’re using the same power source for both, the sled will short your greens positive current to Ground. Your greenie may be fine once you take it back out of your build. I will add a well plasti dipped mount as an option in the kit in case the same batteries (source power) are being used.


-Ryan

Hi Jerry,

It is or I should say was in a Beta stage of prototyping. I think after this I will put them into production. The price will be around $160 if you choose every option and include all this:
3 x Three axis adjustable Heat Sinks mounts. - $120
3 x Hollow threaded Hex screw for mounting to the Sled. - $20
1 x Fitted green side Nut. - Inclided with Hollowed hex Screw
2 x Fitted mini Nuts for Red and Blu-Ray sides. - Inclided with Hollowed hex Screw
PHR Sled - Free with any purchase
PHR Sled trimming and Clean up service - $10
PHR Dicroic/Turning Mirror remounting and alignment service - $10



I am going to have misterwilling build some of the parts in his CNC shop. They take too much of my time with my manual tools. I will post another thread later today with these and other details. At this point I will take pre-order commitments so I know how many to parts to order.


thanks,

Ryan

JaYROB, I have a method for adjusting the power output of a green module with the stock driver.

Using my 80-100mW o-like green, I put a 10 ohm pot in-between the battery and the stock driver and that gave me fully adjustment from 1mW to Full output. You may have a different resistance setting for the module you use.
Also I could not find a 10 ohm pot anywhere so I used a 100ohm pot and put a 10 ohm resistor along it making it only adjust from 0-10 ohm. This way I'm not just using the last 10% of the 100 ohm pot because thats makes adjustments too touchy.
I have also found the method work with flex drivers too, only in a different configuration. If you put a pot in between the diode and driver you can get full adjustability. With the flex drivers outputting 400mA. I used a 20 Ohm pot for the blu-ray and a 50 ohm pot for the red. That gave me adjustability from 100mA-400mA to the diodes. Again its hard to find a 20 or 50 ohm pot so I just used a 100 ohm pot and put either a 20 ohm or 50 ohm resistor across the leads to make it the correct resistance.

Love to see the great comments and feedback! Unbelievable project from rog8811, and the kit from sightfx is a MUST HAVE!

MISTERWILLING, thanks for that great tip! I may have to use a pot like that if I find it necessary...

I have now adjusted my numbers using a stock driver on a different module. I will update my numbers in the first post and show some 'bottle beam shots'.
Jay

This is AWESOME

Well actually you just made me get a clear bottle for myself :P! I never thought of that, you never stop amazing me.


Good job!!

Niko! Glad you like it!


Yeah that would definitely be a problem if you wanted to use the same power source.

I am using separate power, drivers, and switches for each laser, so I don't have to worry about the green positive having contact with the red negative on my build...

But this is a good point to make known. Perhaps in an instruction sheet for your kits!
Jay

SlightFx needs to patent this, everyone can have a 7 color laser now.

What an age we live in.

Hey sightfx...
thanks for the price breakdown....
I really like what you have produced with Rog's original idea...

Jerry

[QUOTE=jayrob;548818]Beam Shots: (smoke in a bottle)





QUOTE]

Awsome pics Jay,

I'm going to print this out and put it up somwhere in my shop. The alignment and color blend look great.

-Ryan

Ryan!

It was easy with your adjustable sled mount/heatsinks...

Well, easy compared to trying to glue the modules in place like I did with my first 7 color laser. Obviously, a build like this is a fair amount of work, and not an 'easy' project. But as you know, the alignment is the hardest part, and with your mounts, the alignment is about 90% easier! (IMO)

Plus the ability to adjust, rotate, remove and replace... Just an awesome design. Looks good too!
Jay

Hey do you mind making a quick sketch of your 100ohm/10 ohm resistor set up? I think I want to set up an o-like module like that. My 50mW one mode hops too much, and all I have on hand is a 100mW one.

I like the idea, and don't want to mess it up because I only have one more module on hand and it is a 100mW one.

I have a 100ohm pot, and a 10ohm resistor. I think I know how you have it set up, but would like to make sure...

Jay

Yes I'll get you a sketch by lunch time. I used a o-like 80-100 module, and I didn't experience mode hopping. I did check current draw of the driver and it went from 640mA at full output of ~100mW and with 10ohms of resistance bewteen 18650 and the driver ~200mA I would get a consistent 1-3 mw.
In theory it should just be like giving the driver low voltage batteries so I do think it should harm anything, I ran my module for about five minutes with the output restricted and nothing got warm.

Other than the compliments for the ideas of the heatsinks, looking at those pics, make me think a joke question (sorry, but .....) ..... how much seconds for 0 to 100, with that 3 pistons motor ?

Hmmm... glad I asked for a drawing. Thanks MISTERWILLING!

I would have connected numbers 1 and 2 legs of the pot together, and then the number 3 leg to the driver. But I see from your sketch, that you are not using #3. Just 1 & 2 correct?






HIMNL9, I was thinking the exact same thing! Looks so cool...
Jay

Got a little question....How much would it cost me to have someone build one of these for me???? Including the box and all? I don't have the money now, but I will be very interested in one when I do.

The answer to that question is becoming a real possibility with the development of these adjustable sled mounts.

I don't build complete lasers for sale, but there may be some who would consider doing this build for you.

Edit: I believe sightfx is offering options... Check with him on that.

Now that these adjustable mounts are available, I would say that the hardest part now, is the adjustment of the turning mirror. Getting it just right. Plus, it sticks up out of the sled a little.

My method to cover it, is to just use the stock sled cover, with a slot cut in it for the turning mirror to stick through. Then cut a piece of similar material from a different sled, and use a couple of pieces of double sided tape to 'bridge over' the mirror with the cut piece.



This is one way to protect it, which is very easy. And not a lot of work, but you must protect the mirror.

Also, the alignment is so precise, that I'm sure some 'jarring' from shipping would put the adjustable mounts out of alignment a tad. But it could be re-adjusted easily with these mounts from sightfx!
Jay

Yeah I only use two of the leads on my pots, I haven't figured out why there are three pins. I just use a volt meter to find which two leads adjust the resistance then use those two and ignore the third.
Also the way to figure out which resistor to use is: take a 100 ohm pot between a battery and driver, Then turn till you get the dimmest output you want(you may want to warm up the laser too). Once you find this resistance value, then you can just put that resistor across the 100 ohm pot.
This gives you the whole pot for adjustment instead of lets say the last 10%. Just a method to make a pot of any resistance value. That's why I did anyways, hope it helps.

It is good practice to connect one end of the resistor track to the wiper in case the pot breaks down for some reason (usually the wiper stops contacting the track) the driver will go to high resistance (low ma out) rather than open circuit (unknown ma out).

Regards rog8811