Modifying a DX 200mW Baton

Hey,
I would like to replace the plastic lens from the baton style laser with a glass one, and I would also like to mount an IR filter inside the laser.

How would I go about taking it's head off and once I get it off can I get it back on?
Also, do you know where I could get a glass optic for the laser?

Is that the focusable one? Might be a nice mod to allow the focus mechanism to focus to infinity as well. I'll be try that kind of stuff once the 50mW one I ordered... in MAY... arrives.

Bionic-Badger said:

Is that the focusable one?  Might be a nice mod to allow the focus mechanism to focus to infinity as well.  I'll be try that kind of stuff once the 50mW one I ordered... in MAY... arrives.

Click to expand...

A buddy of mine (Dark_horse) has the 200mW model, and his focuses to infinity. Are others having problems with theirs?

GooeyGus said:

[quote author=Bionic-Badger link=1215245521/0#1 date=1215261328]Is that the focusable one?  Might be a nice mod to allow the focus mechanism to focus to infinity as well.  I'll be try that kind of stuff once the 50mW one I ordered... in MAY... arrives.

Click to expand...

A buddy of mine (Dark_horse) has the 200mW model, and his focuses to infinity. Are others having problems with theirs?[/quote]

This is true, sort of, if when you say "focused to infinity" you mean collimated, smallest dot at about 20', a theoretically parallel-beam?. I will admit, I cannot focus to a "point" at say 8' or 10', like I can with a DIY-Aixiz module. it seams to be either a parallel beam, or you can focus it to a point, out to about 3', after 3', it just is so touchy that the "waist", (the beam cross-over point), moves too quickly out to about 20', which when you calculate in divergence, is essentially, "focused to infinity". To improve this I think you would need a better method of manipulating the optics, less rattle. Another answer is just to have a laser so freakin' powerfull, that focusing is not needed, just "blows" a massive-burning-hole through things, sorry, I got carried away, but this is my new philosophy, more power!! .  How about you “Mr-Gooey-just-ordered-a-300mW-probably-peaks-at-1/2watt-death-ray-Gus”??? Probably won't need to focus that to much to light matches,.... across the street , sorry, a little envy going on.
Did I muddy things up too much?
DH

LoL, all this conversation and I'm still none the wiser. Someone flag miiikkkeyyy down, he has taken the head off his laser.

Dark_Horse said:

[quote author=GooeyGus link=1215245521/0#2 date=1215318339][quote author=Bionic-Badger link=1215245521/0#1 date=1215261328]Is that the focusable one?  Might be a nice mod to allow the focus mechanism to focus to infinity as well.  I'll be try that kind of stuff once the 50mW one I ordered... in MAY... arrives.

Click to expand...

A buddy of mine (Dark_horse) has the 200mW model, and his focuses to infinity. Are others having problems with theirs?[/quote]

This is true, sort of, if when you say "focused to infinity" you mean collimated, smallest dot at about 20', a theoretically parallel-beam?. I will admit, I cannot focus to a "point" at say 8' or 10', like I can with a DIY-Aixiz module. it seams to be either a parallel beam, or you can focus it to a point, out to about 3', after 3', it just is so touchy that the "waist", (the beam cross-over point), moves too quickly out to about 20', which when you calculate in divergence, is essentially, "focused to infinity". To improve this I think you would need a better method of manipulating the optics, less rattle. Another answer is just to have a laser so freakin' powerfull, that focusing is not needed, just "blows" a massive-burning-hole through things, sorry, I got carried away, but this is my new philosophy, more power!! .  How about you “Mr-Gooey-just-ordered-a-300mW-probably-peaks-at-1/2watt-death-ray-Gus”??? Probably won't need to focus that to much to light matches,.... across the street , sorry, a little envy going on.
Did I muddy things up too much?
DH[/quote]

;D ;D ;D  I like the death ray comment... I cant wait  

Anyway, I always considered "focused to infinity" to mean that the beam is neither converging nor diverging (with exception to the amount of divergence that the laser will naturally have). When you pointed yours at that wall about 50-ish feet away, the dot was still nice and small, so I figured it was focused right. Basically a parallel beam, or the closest we can possibly get to parallel without the natural divergence anyway. With that being said, I've heard a couple people have had problems getting this laser focused to infinity. I'm not sure if their definition of 'focused to infinity' was different than ours, but the way they worded it made it sound like they couldn't prevent the laser from converging to the focal point, and then diverging back out to a large spot at long distances. As if the lens wasn't getting quite close enough to its source to achieve optimal focus/divergence.

happytomato said:

LoL, all this conversation and I'm still none the wiser. Someone flag miiikkkeyyy down, he has taken the head off his laser.

Click to expand...

As far as replacing the plastic lens with a glass one, it really seems like it may be more trouble than it's worth. It may give you a few more mW but it will probably be a huge PITA to find a glass lens with the exact same specs as the one that is in there.

As far as an IR filter, you should just be able to take the head off and put one in there, or even put it at the output of the laser if you don't want to take it apart. I've personally never had one apart, but as long as you can find a good place to mount it (for example, a hole or lens which all the light must pass through) you should be fine. May I ask why you want to put an IR filter in though? If it's for safety, I wouldn't even worry about it. The amount of IR coming out, when compared to the green, is really not an issue. It's the green light you need to worry about. Yes the IR is invisible, and yes it can be damaging since you cant see it, but it's no more damaging than visible light. In reality you might be getting 30mW of IR coming out. Also, this IR light diverges very fast because the lenses are set to focus the green light, not the infrared. The only reason I could see for going through the trouble of putting an IR filter in your laser, is to get a very accurate power reading. And even if it's only for that reason, you can always just hold the filter in front while you measure it.

Hope that helped a bit!

I want to install a IR filter just so I can say I got no IR like a Nova laser! Also, I have green laser safety goggles, but they don't filter IR. As towards the lenses, I'd rather have glass for better beam specs etc, but you are right about it being a pita. Will the top come off the baton Lasers and still enable me to re attatch them, I have read somewere something falls down into the laser and you cant get them back on. I'd rather attatch my ir filter on the inside, as it is much more aesthetically pleasing.

happytomato said:

I want to install a IR filter just so I can say I got no IR like a Nova laser! Also, I have green laser safety goggles, but they don't filter IR.  As towards the lenses, I'd rather have glass for better beam specs etc, but you are right about it being a pita. Will the top come off the baton Lasers and still enable me to re attatch them, I have read somewere something falls down into the laser and you cant get them back on. I'd rather attatch my ir filter on the inside, as it is much more aesthetically pleasing.

Click to expand...

Like you, I have heard of people twisting off thier laser-heads, and finding that there was little to easily be done inside there, I have not opened mine yet, I am going to at least wait for the warranty to expire. I hope we do figure these out soon, they are pretty nice hosts, especially considering we can buy the 50mW for like $60, take out the green-module, replace with, an open-can, or a 6x BR diode, and still have an extra 50mW-532 module ready for use in another host/project. But right now they take too damned long to get here. All things considered I really like this little host.
BTW, what goggles do you use to protect you from the little-blue LED power-on light, holy-crap, is mine the only one that is blinding? It is nearly a laser itself.  ;D
Good luck
DH

Dark_Horse said:

[quote author=happytomato link=1215245521/0#7 date=1215351009]I want to install a IR filter just so I can say I got no IR like a Nova laser! Also, I have green laser safety goggles, but they don't filter IR.  As towards the lenses, I'd rather have glass for better beam specs etc, but you are right about it being a pita. Will the top come off the baton Lasers and still enable me to re attatch them, I have read somewere something falls down into the laser and you cant get them back on. I'd rather attatch my ir filter on the inside, as it is much more aesthetically pleasing.

Click to expand...

Like you, I have heard of people twisting off thier laser-heads, and finding that there was little to easily be done inside there, I have not opened mine yet, I am going to at least wait for the warranty to expire. I hope we do figure these out soon, they are pretty nice hosts, especially considering we can buy the 50mW for like $60, take out the green-module, replace with, an open-can, or a 6x BR diode, and still have an extra 50mW-532 module ready for use in another host/project. But right now they take too damned long to get here. All things considered I really like this little host.
BTW, what goggles do you use to protect you from the little-blue LED power-on light, holy-crap, is mine the only one that is blinding? It is nearly a laser itself.  ;D
Good luck
DH


[/quote]
My 532nm safety goggles from optotronics protects me from the blue LED pretty well. When I'm not wearing them I just use my thumb to cover the LED

I think there's really only one definition for "focus to infinity" meaning the focal point is at an infinite distance from the source which would require a perfectly parallel beam. For me, the focus on the Baton laser is neat, but the most important ability is to focus at infinity so it still looks like a laser beam than a bright colored flashlight.