Why use a round host?

It seems as if a round host could roll around, causing you to lose control of the beam of the laser. However, most of the builds I see here are 100mW + lasers put into a round host.
Why put it into a host that could roll around, causing the beam to go anywhere? It seems that if everyone used hosts that couldn't roll around, there would be FAR fewer accidents with lasers. I know it is easier to hold a round host, but if you put a high-powered laser into a handheld device, then there could be MAJOR risks. Idiots could pick one up, and shine it at anyone/anything possibly blinding themselves or others.

I am currently planning on putting the diode I scavenged from a flashlight/laser pointer into a host with FLAT sides, so it cannot possibly roll. I am also considering putting a saftey and a servo-powered shutter on it so that if only the power switch is flipped, nothing will happen. It may seem like overkill, but I would rather have a tabletop device that you can't hold that is very safe, as opposed to a device you could easily pick up and point at anyone/anything, or a device that could roll around, causing me to lose contol of the beam.

So my question is, WHY do people use round hosts when they can roll around, causing control of the beam to be lost?

In conclusion, people should use hosts that are hard to hold easily, and that CANNOT roll very easily for high powered lasers. If you want to be safe, it would be a good idea to put all your builds into a non-round host, no matter what the power level because if you do that even for low-powered builds, you will get into the habit of doing it, so ALL your lasers will be safer.

P.S. I know I will probably get some bad reputation on this, but SERIOUSLY, consider putting all your lasers into hosts that cannot roll around.

2 reasons, 1, it would ruin the "handheld" idea, and 2, round hosts are easier to make than square/flat ones, also the heatsinks are easier to machine on a lathe, you would need special equipment to manufacture square hosts.

It's mostly personnaly preference, most people (including me) like to have the ability to hold their lasers, shine it around, in the sky etc.

Also, I think labby lasers (the ones I think your reffering to) are much more dangerous than handheld, labby's are chunkier and heavier, harder to hide somewhere (if you have people over) and also, they take ages to setup

daawood123 said:

2 reasons, 1, it would ruin the "handheld" idea, and 2, round hosts are easier to make than square/flat ones, also the heatsinks are easier to machine on a lathe, you would need special equipment to manufacture square hosts.

It's mostly personnaly preference, most people (including me) like to have the ability to hold their lasers, shine it around, in the sky etc.

Also, I think labby lasers (the ones I think your reffering to) are much more dangerous than handheld, labby's are chunkier and heavier, harder to hide somewhere (if you have people over) and also, they take ages to setup

Click to expand...

Actually you can build a round heatsink for a square host
But still i think round hosts a better by far... :beer:

Jim

jimdt7 said:

Actually you can build a round heatsink for a square host
But still i think round hosts a better by far... :beer:

Jim

Click to expand...

But it would be much harder and have crappy heat transfer, which is why round hosts are the best, there are so many advantages for having round hosts, and only 1-2 disadvantages like rolling etc

Most people use hand-held lasers by holding them in their hand, as per the name, or with a tripod and clamp. I have only ever heard of one accident due to a laser rolling off a table. I have heard of quite a few rolling off and breaking, but they were turned off.

A square host is just ugly and awkward, both to manufacture and use. Save them for the labbys.

Most eye injuries happen because of deliberate exposure or unexpected reflections.

My guess would be due to a few reasons.

1: Round hosts are more common and readily available.

2: Easier to machine parts for. Generally most machinists don't have access/own a mill which would be needed to make square, triangle, or octangular shaped hosts.

3: Cost. Its much easier to machine out or mod a flashlight than a block of aluminum, brass or some other type of metal.

Those are my guess's. Mileage will vary between people

If you were interested in a square shaped host. Perhaps if you asked. Maybe someone could make you one? I've seen a few pop up since I've been here. Not many though.

interesting concept, i personally like things that are square.

i thought i saw a build the the xeno cube square host somewhere, its funny, they use a round reflector who would of thought





EDIT: was lazeerer of course! http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/sold-1-4w-445nm-laser-cube-polished-70839.html

Fiddy said:

interesting concept, i personally like things that are square.
i thought i saw a build the the xeno cube square host somewhere, its funny, they use a round reflector who would of thought

Click to expand...

That's round with 4 flats :na:

;-)

Round hosts are not the bad idea at all.
Really bad ideas are round hosts with switch at the tail.
That's why I prefer those with a switch on the centre of the host, they wouldn't roll. Or mimimum.

Also makes sense to use a host in a shape that most commonly used batteries are - round

@bananaman

Simple answer - lathe

Longer answer -
Do you turn your lasers on often then set them on sloped tables and get angry when they roll off. I don't think this is a common issue, we learn as kids not to put things on other things where they might roll off.
I imagine seeing a "Laser Roll Protector" on a late night infomercial. Right up there with kitten mittons.

I guess it's because (in addition to ease of manufacture with a lathe) lithium cells are round, and so are laser diodes.

I built my first 1W+ 445 in an old bar code scanner gun. Easy to hold, control and aim. A pair of Lipo cells in the handle gives ~ 4 Ah storage for ~90 minutes of run time per charge.

I like round hosts just fine, got plenty of them, but for the high power blue diode I went with a bigger host to hold the batteries and a nice finned heatsink. Contemplating moving up to one of the new 9mm diodes with a TEC cooler in the same host.

And the best thing about using an old bar code gun? $5 for a slightly ugly but really user friendly host!

There are many ways to keep a round host from rolling around. A lot of "tactical" flashlights have a hexagonal bolt shape built into them, for looks but also for anti roll. Machining flats into a round flashlight will help accomplish the same.

You'll get no argument from me, high powers probably shouldn't be in handhelds, but when used responsibly it sure can be convenient (and fun!)

also, off topic, reminds me of this 76mm shell launcher:
High Impulse Weapon System - YouTube

#sheepishly.....

Round hosts look like Lightsabers.....

#retreats into the shadows.....

If I am going to carry the laser around with me (which is something I almost never do) then I prefer a round host. If I am going to restrict its use strictly to the lab/workshop bench then some sort of square or rectangular host that can sit squarely in the bench or even be clamped or screwed in place would be my preferred option/