"Vintage Light" - DIY 473nm 100mW (Ancient Light's Son)

To my knowledge, this is the FIRST 473nm DIY handheld laser. This build was inspired by RHD's Ancient Light series, and is set in a host built around 1948 by the Ranger company. As far as I know, this company is separate from Rayovac, which made flashlights very similar to this under the title "Sportsman" (Which are more common, and what Jayrob is selling)

You read the title right, this is a DPSS 473nm light blue laser. I picked up the module from Lasever, you can buy directly from them or from Jayrob in the B/S/T section. I picked up the host from some guy on feebay, to be honest I don't remember who it was.

Being the newcomer to builds and such, I knew what I wanted and what I needed, but getting it wasn't so easy, so the first guy I turn to is Jayrob. I sent him the host and module and asked him to make a heatsink. Through a few ten PM's it settled on a "Hot Option" build he offers. After a few weeks (waiting period plus a vacation) he was finished, and sent me some teaser pictures, one also used in his sale thread.





This build was tricky as the laser is case (+), and the switch is in an awkward position that only would work for a case positive host, meaning just "sticking the module in the heatsink" would leave the host live at all times. In an effort to save the battery's life and unwanted side issues, Jayrob isolated the module from the host and was able to avoid that nonsense in short.

I know there were some people looking for the divergence set on this, being this laser is focusable it can change, however according to my measurements, mine is doing about 1.59 mrad's.

Ignore the mess! :na:


This host has 3 modes of operation, the slide switch set all the way down is OFF, the slide switch in the middle is "ARMED" or set to the momentary black switch, while all the way up is set to ON. It's a nice little touch.




I only lit 4 matches, the beam is VERY visible, this was taken with the lights on with the fastest capture settings.


I started comparing this with my labby here, it's about twice as bright as the handheld (as to be expected )



Took me a few shots, this is about how bright the beam is to my eyes in a well-lit room.



Oh, and does anybody want to buy a lava lamp?

__________________

Special thanks:
Lasever - Module
Jayrob - Vast majority of work
RHD - Allowing me to use his series name
Various Record Collectors - All funding for this project

Let's get a high five for my 666th post guys! :eg:

Absolutely Beautiful. Congratulations! :beer:

Thanks! I'm really glad to have something like this, theres just nothing like a quality homemade build.

Old meets new. Very good build. Jayrob sells this as a kit ?

I'm sure he'd be able to re-make this, this particular one was a custom order, but he sells flashlights in a very similar host.

Edit: ~1:30 LPM chart, peaks 91mW and stops at 1:32 running at 38mW. Best to keep this running under 45 seconds.

I like! I've always had a love of the older style of flashlights. I assume that one has (or had) the normal switch that has a brass strip that makes contact with the original reflector on the negative side of the bulb holder?

I think I drove Matt near crazy trying to design a heatsink to work in one of those for a 635 build. He ended up making a two part sink that kept the original size and shape of the reflector. The bottom "ring" part for the negative contact was attached to the main heatsink with nylon standoffs to allow the original switch to operate normally.

I assume that one has (or had) the normal switch that has a brass strip that makes contact with the original reflector on the negative side of the bulb holder?

...The bottom "ring" part for the negative contact was attached to the main heatsink with nylon standoffs to allow the original switch to operate normally.

Click to expand...

Yes to the first part, it had one of those strips, things were so simple back then.

In this Jay used nylon tipped screws to allow that, having a live case is never a good idea, and it's always nice to use the original features on your host.

Nice informative post and great idea for a classic build... :beer:

Nice beam shots. I like this comparison shot right alongside your labby:


I really liked your idea of using a 'Retro' host, and you inspired my Ray-O-Vac XM-L build.

Yes I can mount these modules into the Ray-O-Vac host in the same way your Ranger is done.

For my personal Lasever 473 (planned), I am waiting on a 26650 host that should be here soon.

I decided that since these modules seem to be kind of temp sensitive (which is expected for the amount of power), that I'm going to try a host that has a tail switch.

That way the host is not 'hot' until the tail switch is turned on.

Meaning that I will be able to just fit the brass case directly to the heatsink in a case positive build, and it can be better heat management... (that's what I'm hoping anyway)

Once again, great idea with the retro host.

I'm stocking a few of these Lasever modules for quick U.S. shipping.

I like how they go right to power within a few seconds. Nice...

Great build, you and Jayrob have worked wonders! Did you think about the possibility of adding a tec? :beer: and +1

Edit: Just had to add that the colour is stunning!:bowdown:

Great build man ! This 473nm laser is looking awesome

+1 :beer:

Thanks! It's not so easy getting a camera that makes 473nm look like it really does.

It is a very cool flashlight! I am sure I saw those before, (back a good while...) Great laser host too!

The big question I don't see answered was after all was said and done what did this build cost?

Buying just a 5mw 473nm from almost any online retailer is about $600!

^You never heard about lasever.com?

I can tell you that this cost me <$600

And he has it right; 473's are great quality and dirt cheap there

Apart from the wax related spam... here's some beamshots in tonight's fog!

The one image somehow cut itself off when rendering in my camera... not so sure what happened there.

Anyway, enjoy :beer:










Edit: all of these dead pixels and 3 recharges make me think it's about time to retire this camera