Dilda disassembly? and other questions

Has anyone ever posted pics of a disassembled dilda? My search-fu is failing me.

I'm wondering, specifically, what the laser module itself looks like:

Is it similar to Aixis, or is it brass?
Does the focusing apparatus just connect to the same sort of focusing ring the Aixis has or does it have special optics?
Is there a heat-sink?
Does the module itself look like any other DX products?

Some questions about the usage:

Many reviews talk about loose/wobbly focusing. Is this fixable or is it a fundamental design flaw? If I don't care about burning, and simply want enough brightness for a backyard light show, will the focusing be an asset or a liability?
Some reviewers have stated that the dilda is useful as a host; someone put a rckstr driver and an open-can diode into one. Any comments on this? If the body (and switch and lenses (?) and whatever) alone are worth the price, this could lead to a workaround for the US customs fiasco - people could order the dilda, reap the module, and ship the defanged (and now legal) host to the US.

Final thought: if I'm willing to tear apart a 22x LG DVD burner and build a powerful red on my own, what is the appeal of a dilda? I see people here building all kinds of amazing things, but the dilda still gets talked about quite a bit. Is it the 'wow' factor of the burning? Or is it really considered to be a good price/power deal?

The DX 200mW "dilda" is a great bargain as is, for those who just want to purchase a cheap, nicely powered red burner.

It also makes a good host for the rkcstr driver & open can mod, as you can still put the dilda
components into something else to sell & get your money back.

Some reviewers have stated that the dilda is useful as a host; someone put a rckstr driver and an open-can diode into one.  Any comments on this?

Click to expand...

I followed the guide & made one myself, it makes a tremendous improvement over stock, a nice & easy build that produces 250mW of power.

Heres a link to the guide, it has the pictures you want of it disassembled.
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1213668830

and another...............................................
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1219296863

the optic lense mine came with is the exact (as far as I can tell) to the glass aixiz lens that stonetek can sell you.
the wobbly lens I'm sure would be annoying to some, but you can fix it with a little thread tape (that white thin stretchy stuff...)
also, the round head of it is the focusing knob, which makes it a lot easier to focus than just having the aixiz lens exposed.
people have done the rkcstr driver and open can (or closed can sony like me) before and it works fine, it is much smaller than the stock driver board.

oh and the material I believe is aluminum on the whole thing minus the little brass ring that presses the diode into the front part...
I took a lot of pics of the innerds if you are interested

*edit* woohoo someone linked to my thread. I was about to look for it...

Does original dx driver & diode work in maglite?

I don't think so, you'd have to use the drlava flex drive in a maglight,
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1209418066
I'll be looking for a cheap host for my dilda guts to mount in.

Thanks for the info and links, moond0ggie.

I didn't take any pictures of all the dilda's I took apart... but I can answer some of the questions.

As far as the module, the dilda doesn't really have a 'module' as we know them. The best way to describe it is that it is similar to kenom's 'kryton' barrel. The whole top of the laser is the module. The diode goes straight into the head, rather than a module being mounted in the head. It has a small threaded retaining ring that screws in to hold the diode (kryton has a press fit) against the aluminum of the case. The head is also threaded for the lens to fit in.

As far as the dilda for a host, I think it's great. I've built about 5 blu-ray dilda's now for various members of this forum. Its pretty easy to do when coupled with a flexdrive and a single 14500 instead of 2 x cr2's.