building first laser

Hello all, new here.

I am looking to build my first burning laser and was trying to make sure i got everything straight...seems too simple.

Im not new at all to component level stuff or lasers. When i was a kid my uncle used to build all sorts of gas lasers and would show me how to turn off the street lights by pointing them at the photocell lol. Ive been working in the tech field ever since i joined the military in 2001. Ive soldered everything under the sun. I am looking to get back into messing with lasers for fun/hobby.

I was recently cutting some foam for a few of my firearm cases and said "this would be easier and more fun with a laser" lol.

that being said...im looking for something simple to build.

for the laser, housing, glass and driver i found the 1.3W 445nm Blue Laser Module W/Microboost & 405-G-2 Glass Lens at https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes/445-m140-didoes

for the host i will use Guidesman Grey Laser Host & Heat Sink [GRYGDSMN] - $29.99 : Cajunlasers Store

im not too keen on the idea of the aluminum heatsink that it comes with, so i plan to turn one out of copper on a lathe and maybe mill some fins into it.

lastly i plan to use the 18860 battery


Will all these components work well with each other? how is the burning capability?

thanks for any info.

they sure will!

Guidesman host is one of the easiest to work on, large pill, decent size heatsink, not too much to them.

nm

/10char

So I ended up getting the m140 1.7 watt with x drive from dtr. I stuck with the guidesman host. Obviously the triple aaa holder was not enough to drive it, so I picked up an 18650 from here AW 18650 Protected 2600 mAh Rechargeable Lithium Battery

Will this be enough to drive it? I'm hoping it is since I ordered it aleady lol. Will 2600 work well or could I have safely gone higher. I keep thinking I need 2 but I can't see 2 of them fitting in that host.

Thanks for all the help so far. There is a wealth of information here, I just haven't figured out how to pick the right battery yet.

Xdrive is a step down regulator. The voltage supplied by your battery needs to be higher than Vf of M140 at that output. Thus you wont be able to power your build with one 18650 cell. You need to get two lithium cells. Look at the description of host on cajunlasers and order appropriate batteries.

BTW the information about the driver is readily available here. Use search function.

Well I found these http://www.lighthound.com/AW-IMR-18350-700mAh-LiMN-Rechargeable-Lithium-Battery_p_3818.html but the capacity is only 750 MaH. Is that going to be enough? I'm also reading that these are comparable to the cr 123’s I use in my surefire flashlights. Would those actually work too?

Also since I ordered a good charger, http://www.lighthound.com/Pila-IBC-...0-37-volt-Lithium-Battery-Charger_p_3680.html I see they suggest spacers with shorter batteries, so can I safely do that with the 18350’s

I'd the only issue is that they are not rechargeable, that's not a big deal for me seeing as tho I can get them thru work. We buy good ones in bulk.

are those any good? i see a lot of people here talk trash about the ultrafire batteries.

vaeevictiss said:

are those any good? i see a lot of people here talk trash about the ultrafire batteries.

Click to expand...

Good point. I honestly don't know and looking around gives me very mixed info.

Well what about the cr123? I've found them in all different capacities

And will that charger work with 18350s if I use a spacer?

Charger seems fine, yes it should charge 18350 with the spacer. A pricey charger though I have Ultrafire wf-188 and it works fine.
As for 123 I have purchased Tenergy 123s 900mA and they are good but I have no Idea how they will hold up at that kind of a current draw, I've used them for low power builds only so far. Ask DTR if he knows how much the driver draws at that output?

Just sent him a pm. Thanks!