445nm Chrome leadlight pen host - 65mW *LOTS OF PICS*

Well I finally put together a 445 build! :yh: I wanted a low powered 445 for general pointing purposes (I don't care much for burning), and I wanted one in a pen host.

I purchased a few of Jayrobs pen host kits, which are really nice BTW (link), and a 445nm diode installed in a AixiZ module soldered to a rkcstr driver from HighTechDealz (link) set to 65mW. I would have done it myself, but I am just not comfortable with soldering such small points (especially on a extremely heat sensitive diode). When the diodes get cheaper I will make my own from scratch, but for now I just wanted my first 445nm laser!

So I got the parts and slapped it together today. Getting it installed in the pen was a breeze. Although I did run into a few complications that I will definitely remember not to do again next time.



So here it is. My 445nm laser outputting 65mW in a chrome leadlight pen host that takes two lithium 10440 batteries. (I would have put the sticker higher, but it needed to cover up the hole above the button that came with this host).






Stuck it in a old laser box to protect it when not in use.



Beamshot, no long exposure





Beamshot, long exposure (4 second).






Some long exposure shots.






Long exposure green and blue (50mW green)



Long exposure red and blue (150mW 650nm red)





Long exposure with 405nm and blue (115mW 405nm). This didn't turn out as good as I hoped. It looks more blue than violet.




And a few laser-scanner shots with a portable scanner I have.






And a shot of the mode without a lens.







Overall I am quite impressed with this color laser. The beam to me is incredibly visible. In fact it appears to be more visible than my 50mW green beam. The dots however are a different story. The 50mW green runs circles in brightness around the 445's dot. But the 445nm dot is still quite bright in comparison.

Compared to my 150mW 650nm red, the blue is brighter looking to me. The red beam is barely visible at all, while the 445nm beam is very visible. As for dot brightness, the blue takes the cake, but not by much. They are pretty close.

As for heat build up in this pen host, it gets a tad warm when running it for 30 seconds or so. Stability seems great for the short periods of time I use it in. Although I am not going to do any long-time run tests any time soon with my baby!


Not sure how long the batteries will hold a working voltage for this driver and diode. But so far so good on batts that were not even fully charged when I put them in the pen. I just checked their voltage again, and they don't appear to have dropped at all. And I have been using the pen for a few hours now taking pics and just pointing around.


Anyway, I really want to thank Jay and Kendall again for getting me these parts and being such great sellers with incredible products! :yh:

Nice pen! I love those hosts.. My first pen 445 is going to be either a leadlight
or a stainless steel I ordered.

I will PM you a nice little trick if you can still access the lens

I'm glad that you got it stable at 65-but I bet if you brought it somewhere cold, the power would jump up quite a bit. Regardless, that is one awesome pen build!

Diode current? Driver?

You may be running in single mode there... how is divergence?

I'll bet its a pretty dot! Nice build!

wannaburn said:

Nice pen! I love those hosts.. My first pen 445 is going to be either a leadlight
or a stainless steel I ordered.

I will PM you a nice little trick if you can still access the lens

Click to expand...

Thanks! Yeah, these pens are great quality. And the clip is a major bonus for me. Although since there is very little heatsinking going on, it's duty cycle is pretty strict. So it's not going to be too useful for burning purposes.

And I think I have access to the lens, it is a standard AixiZ module and the top screw focus ring thing is right at the top of my pen. :yh:

ossumguywill said:

I'm glad that you got it stable at 65-but I bet if you brought it somewhere cold, the power would jump up quite a bit. Regardless, that is one awesome pen build!

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Around where I live the temps are usually always the same summer through winter (that's coastal cali for ya). So not sure how it would work in a extreme cold environment.

Meatball said:

Diode current? Driver?

You may be running in single mode there... how is divergence?

I'll bet its a pretty dot! Nice build!

Click to expand...

Diode current is somewhere around 300mA. Although this was calibrated for mW not mA. Basically just turn the pot until the mW is where I wanted it. Driver is a rkcstr v3.

And I forgot to take a pic of the un-focused dot. I will do so when I finish charging my batts. I am not sure what a single mode looks like on one of these, but you guys should know when I post the pic

I am not sure what the divergence is. I will be testing that later this week when I have access to a nice long backyard and somebody to help me measure.

ossumguywill said:

I'm glad that you got it stable at 65-but I bet if you brought it somewhere cold, the power would jump up quite a bit. Regardless, that is one awesome pen build!

Click to expand...

Thats the interesting thing with these 445s. They almost have to be calibrated
for output depending on the ambient temp. Running low close to threshold
(in this case only about 100mA above) makes them so touchy.

Leave it in the sun and it may not lase, a cool evening and it will raise
the initial output. Use it in winter (does not really apply here) and it
may morph into a burner..

Ok, here is what it looks like without a lens. Not sure what mode this is. Anybody who does, feel free to chime in!

Thats Awesome I can wait to do my first.. I just need $$$ that I can waste if It doesnt get past customs in Australia

Good job on that 445 pen!

I have a small 445 build at 78mW's (similar power) and it's brighter than I thought it would be...

With your set up, using a rkcstr driver and 2 X 10440's, it should be just perfect. I would imagine that the diode is only taking about 3.5 volts at that low current, which would be around 270mA's or so.

So that means your driver will stay in regulation until the batteries get near 3 volts. Which will also be a warning for you letting you know it's time to charge the batteries. (because you don't want Li-Ion's to over discharge.

If you have good batteries like SoShine, then you will have a true 400mAh's capacity. which will give you at least an hour of run time between charges. Probably more though...

So all things considered, it is a perfect set up! :gj:

Love that build, at this time I use a similar setup with a modded dilda, but wearing it in the pocket is a pain. A pen setup like yours is much better and comfortable.

jayrob said:

Good job on that 445 pen!

I have a small 445 build at 78mW's (similar power) and it's brighter than I thought it would be...

With a rkcstr driver and 2 X 10440's, it should be just perfect. I would imagine that the diode is only taking about 3.5 volts at that low current, which would be around 270mA's or so.

So that means your driver will stay in regulation until the batteries get near 3 volts. Which will also be a warning for you letting you know it's time to charge the batteries. (because you don't want Li-Ion's to over discharge.

If you have good batteries like SoShine, then you will have a true 400mAh's capacity. which will give you at least an hour of run time between charges. Probably more though...

So all things considered, it is a perfect set up! :gj:

Click to expand...

I didn't realize the diode would require less voltage at a lower current. I am so used to the 405 diodes always being around 5v or so. I figured they were always at the same voltage. Well, that is certainly good to hear! :beer:

Cause the rkcstr + a 5v diode would only give about 0.7v of useful power from two 10440's before it drops below the minimum voltage requirement. But if running this at a lower current makes the diode only consume 3.5v, that is good news indeed! The rkcstr at 2.25v + 3.5v is 5.75v. So with two fully charged 10440's at about 4.1v each, I have a good 2.5v of overhead. Which isn't bad at all.

The only problem I have with this host is the clicky button. Usually as I am holding down the button, I really have to jam my thumb down on it to keep the laser on. Cause even when the button is fully 'clicked', if I release even a little pressure on the switch (even if it doesn't click back out) it will turn off. I am not sure why it is doing this. But I really wish it didn't.

That problem aside, the laser seems to work quite well. Even once it has warmed up significantly. And the color is so beautiful! I really wasn't expecting it to be this blue, but it is as blue as it can get!

That is spot on, my only problem is i'd want to up the power, but a very professional build. +rep for you.

ped said:

That is spot on, my only problem is i'd want to up the power, but a very professional build. +rep for you.

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Thanks! :yh:

And not sure how much more power you could squeeze out with this pen host. Even with 65mW it heats up quite quickly. Since it is at least 275mA or more.

Although to be honest I am not too sure how hot 'too hot' really is with one of these. When I feel the pen getting warn at the tip, I give it a bit of cooling down time. But for all I know, I could go until it is near too hot to touch and still not harm the diode. The pen itself seem to draw heat away fairly well since it gets noticeably warm quite fast.

leukoplast said:

I didn't realize the diode would require less voltage at a lower current. I am so used to the 405 diodes always being around 5v or so. I figured they were always at the same voltage. Well, that is certainly good to hear! :beer:

Cause the rkcstr + a 5v diode would only give about 0.7v of useful power from two 10440's before it drops below the minimum voltage requirement. But if running this at a lower current makes the diode only consume 3.5v, that is good news indeed! The rkcstr at 2.25v + 3.5v is 5.75v. So with two fully charged 10440's at about 4.1v each, I have a good 2.5v of overhead. Which isn't bad at all.

The only problem I have with this host is the clicky button. Usually as I am holding down the button, I really have to jam my thumb down on it to keep the laser on. Cause even when the button is fully 'clicked', if I release even a little pressure on the switch (even if it doesn't click back out) it will turn off. I am not sure why it is doing this. But I really wish it didn't.

That problem aside, the laser seems to work quite well. Even once it has warmed up significantly. And the color is so beautiful! I really wasn't expecting it to be this blue, but it is as blue as it can get!

Click to expand...

Yeah getting the button just right is one of the trickiest parts of a pen build...

Lovely ! +1

Nice build. Very small! I am very into 445nm pens. Scopeguy got me turned on tonyhe star tipped 445nm build.