Messing around with my Thor Saber, Adding Cyl lenses and a beam expander......

How close to a round spot do these optics make the beam? I can't tell well enough using my mobile.

steve001 said:

How close to a round spot do these optics make the beam? I can't tell well enough using my mobile.

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Not very round at at, But what the cyl lens pair does is change a thin rectangular spot into a smaller roundish square, And then the beam expanded makes that roundish square smaller and keeps it smaller farther away.....

Accutronitis said:

Not very round at at, But what the cyl lens pair does is change a thin rectangular spot into a smaller roundish square, And then the beam expanded makes that roundish square smaller and keeps it smaller farther away.....

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That's exceptable. I prefer a round beam profile. Oval could be exceptable too. I won't buy a laser that produces a line or rectangle.

steve001 said:

That's exceptable. I prefer a round beam profile. Oval could be exceptable too. I won't buy a laser that produces a line or rectangle.

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The shape is similar to this but just squeezed down to a very small spot......

I was clipping leaves off the branch at 35 - 40 feet about as far as I can see the stems in the rain from my 2nd story window the other day ( at a downward angle with my yard as a backstop ) it's just FUN, the steam pouring off then the burn and that final twist in the wind as they give out and fall, I just love it.

RedCowboy said:

I was clipping leaves off the branch at 35 - 40 feet about as far as I can see the stems in the rain from my 2nd story window the other day ( at a downward angle with my yard as a backstop ) it's just FUN, the steam pouring off then the burn and that final twist in the wind as they give out and fall, I just love it.

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Which laser were you using ?

My security camera build, 44+G2+6X+3XBE, I can dial it in pretty dam tight for a few dozen feet, lot's of fun, I should build them all like this, well with some aesthetic revisions.

RedCowboy said:

My security camera build, 44+G2+6X+3XBE, I can dial it in pretty dam tight for a few dozen feet, lot's of fun, I should build them all like this, well with some aesthetic revisions.

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Why did you make it out of such thick material and why is it so bulky ? I see nuts and bolts every where on it ?

I'm not bagging on it, I'm just thinking maybe there's more to it then i understand ???

And can you explain to me how you go about setting up your 6X Cyl lenses

There's 2 screws holding the front plate on, the holes are a tight fit around the screws, the 4 corners are set screws and I threaded the plate so I can adjust the alignment and the nuts lock it down, the ones down the side were for a sliding cylindrical concept that I did not include, so I put set screws in those threaded holes as well to prevent any airflow through the lens chamber as smoke sticks to lenses, now it's not airtight, but as long as there's not airflow they do fine.

I like thick aluminum, it absorbs heat and it's sturdy, and as you know these diodes make waste heat.

The cyls I set up with it running and my safety glasses on, I use UV curing glue and freeze them in place as soon as I like the setting by using a 385nm flashlight and/or a 405nm laser with it running so I don't bump anything and not know it.

I set my concave cyl as close as I can to the backwards 12mm copper module end that I use to lock the G2 in place then set the convex cly for the best focus, you can do it at less than infinity simply getting as close to a perfect beam as possible at each end, I use a sanwu G2 because they seem to work better with the 3X BE, so my separation is around 31mm center to center rather than 35mm distance separation that I would use with a DTR G2.

RedCowboy said:

There's 2 screws holding the front plate on, the holes are a tight fit around the screws, the 4 corners are set screws and I threaded the plate so I can adjust the alignment and the nuts lock it down, the ones down the side were for a sliding cylindrical concept that I did not include, so I put set screws in those threaded holes as well to prevent any airflow through the lens chamber as smoke sticks to lenses, now it's not airtight, but as long as there's not airflow they do fine.

I like thick aluminum, it absorbs heat and it's sturdy, and as you know these diodes make waste heat.

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What's you procedure for setting up your 6X cyl lens pair, I know they all need to be inline but i'm talking about how far away from each other do you place them and how do you determine that ???

I set my concave as close as I can to my G2 and my convex 31mm center to center with a sanwu G2 and 35mm center to center with a DTR G2. I look for as close to a perfect beam as possible over 15 feet in my basement, usually there's a single mm of beam width growth over the 15 feet, that's with a 6X pair from LSP.

RedCowboy said:

I set my concave as close as I can to my G2 and my convex 31mm center to center with a sanwu G2 and 35mm center to center with a DTR G2. I look for as close to a perfect beam as possible over 15 feet in my basement, usually there's a single mm of beam width growth over the 15 feet, that's with a 6X pair from LSP.

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Some you just set the cyl lenses a hard number apart center to center, Do you adjust your G2 lens for as thin a line as possible ?

LSP makes a 6X setup ???

No I always set cyl pair by hand and eye, turns out I was close to what was called for @ 35mm, I think that's what the little lens holders set them at.

I have set my G2 at 15 feet and at infinity, now I set it out my window to my tree line that's about 90-100 feet because any more than that wont make much of a difference, you know it's a fraction of a turn we are dealing with between 15 and 90 feet straight out of the G2, in short I set to infinity but lock it down on the short side of infinity because that's where I will be using it.

Yes LSP orders a 6X pair, they may not list them on their site so you have to ask, I am going to try out the OPT pair sometime, I really want a physically larger 10x BE but it will need a 75mm objective/exit lens and an 8mm input lens or there abouts.

RedCowboy said:

No I always set cyl pair by hand and eye, turns out I was close to what was called for @ 35mm, I think that's what the little lens holders set them at.

I have set my G2 at 15 feet and at infinity, now I set it out my window to my tree line that's about 90-100 feet because any more than that wont make much of a difference, you know it's a fraction of a turn we are dealing with between 15 and 90 feet straight out of the G2, in short I set to infinity but lock it down on the short side of infinity because that's where I will be using it.

Yes LSP orders a 6X pair, they may not list them on their site so you have to ask, I am going to try out the OPT pair sometime, I really want a physically larger 10x BE but it will need a 75mm objective/exit lens and an 8mm input lens or there abouts.

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75mm objective/exit lens ? Wow that's big !

Your beam is 7.8mm going into your beam expander ?

No it's closer to 6mm wide on the wide side, but you want some room around your beam where it prints on the lenses, you don't want it shoved up to the edges or clipping.

Also as you adjust your focus over different distances that "print" can change, that is as you move your output lens inward the print on the front lens shrinks, but as you move your output lens outward the "print" on the lens widens, just think about how the beam has an expanded fan shape coming out of the concave input lens.

The 44 is such a divergent diode to start with, for a 660nm or a 405nm single mode the Jet 10x works just fine, but it's lenses are not wide enough to work properly with the corrected nubm44 because 10 x 6mm is 60 plus you want some room so I say 75mm as a 2 lens expander concept, with the correct relay lens you can keep things smaller bur the lens coating must be tough, also a wider expander can work with other diodes as well.

Now you can short focus your nubm44 out of a G2 but that also reduces the effective distance and will likely burn the lens coatings.

Because the 3.3X BE that many of us use has a 25mm output it's easy to extrapolate that a 9.9X or 10X would need a 75mm output lens.


This pic is a nubm44 with a 3 element and 3.3X BE ( 1 inch/25mm wide front lens ) and that combo works just not as well as correcting the beam first with cyls, however with a wider 10X this could be made a lot further reaching and focus down even tighter when working in closer.

Even a 6.5X that's 2 inches wide across the front lens would be enjoyable.

Also as well as being wider it would need to be about an inch longer so the fan shaped beam coming out of the concave input has the needed length to expand.

I may end up using the 3.3X input lens and testing some different output lenses.

RedCowboy said:

The 44 is such a divergent diode to start with, for a 660nm or a 405nm single mode the Jet 10x works just fine, but it's lenses are not wide enough to work properly with the corrected nubm44

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Yep, my Jet 10x wasn't usable with either of my blue lasers the way it was from the factory, I had to use the output lens with a much larger & less expanding input lens and after that it's not a 10x BE anymore and it's prob closer to a 3x BE now, The Jet 10x factory input lens is just too tiny to be used effectively with pretty much any of the high output blue diodes like the 44.....

P.S. i wasn't doubting your math and i agree with everything your saying......