I received a few sleds from Jake on Friday, but I don't generally keep aluminum tubing around so there isn't much I can do until I get time to pick some material up. Was itching for a project though, so I grabbed a scrap block of aluminum and a sample of derlin I had laying around.
I don't do much machining but a lathe and mill are the kinds of thing you find yourself wishing you had every month or so for miscellaneous projects, and due to a freak pricing accident with the store I bought it from (They honored it, even though they really didn't have to) I ended up with a full sized lathe for the price of a mini-lathe. I picked up a mill just to finish up the setup.
I suppose I could have just drilled a hole through the block of aluminum but there is something about a machined finish I love.
Before:
After:
Front, loosely press fits an aixiz.
Back, enough room for wires.
Bottom. I didn't have any even remotely similar screws to what I needed so I ended up using the scrap nylon. The screw was a pain in the ass to make, you have to thread it before you cut it, but once its threaded you can't stick it in a vice to cut.
With module. This is just a PHR at 130mA. The heatsink gets slightly warm after ten minutes or so, but its real purpose is to look nice.
I figured all of you have seen a million beam shots before, but I couldn't resist a diffraction grating through some smoke.
I think I like this hobby; I'm looking forward to putting together a pointer next.
I don't do much machining but a lathe and mill are the kinds of thing you find yourself wishing you had every month or so for miscellaneous projects, and due to a freak pricing accident with the store I bought it from (They honored it, even though they really didn't have to) I ended up with a full sized lathe for the price of a mini-lathe. I picked up a mill just to finish up the setup.
I suppose I could have just drilled a hole through the block of aluminum but there is something about a machined finish I love.
Before:
After:
Front, loosely press fits an aixiz.
Back, enough room for wires.
Bottom. I didn't have any even remotely similar screws to what I needed so I ended up using the scrap nylon. The screw was a pain in the ass to make, you have to thread it before you cut it, but once its threaded you can't stick it in a vice to cut.
With module. This is just a PHR at 130mA. The heatsink gets slightly warm after ten minutes or so, but its real purpose is to look nice.
I figured all of you have seen a million beam shots before, but I couldn't resist a diffraction grating through some smoke.
I think I like this hobby; I'm looking forward to putting together a pointer next.