the Golden Age of the laser hobby

[ixfd64]

Over the years, the laser hobbyist community has seen good things and not-so-good things. With that being said, when do you think the "laserist" community was at its prime?

I personally believe 2007 was the "Golden Age" of our hobby. High-powered handheld lasers were still fairly new at the time, so the novelty and costs of owning one made them especially fascinating. Laser-related laws were also much more lenient back then as there were definitely fewer idiots pointing them at airplanes.

I think it would be safe to say we're in the "Silver Age" right now. Lasers are cheaper and much more easily obtainable nowadays, but the amount of people misusing them really gives us a bad name at times.

 

[Things]

I'd say probably 2008, PS3's were just being released (I think it was 2008?), and people were splashing out $2000 just for a 10mW at best 405nm diode. It made the hobby a whole lot more rewarding when you had to actually work to achieve a decent laser, IMO.

 

[daguin]

I'd say probably 2008, PS3's were just being released (I think it was 2008?), and people were splashing out $2000 just for a 10mW at best 405nm diode. It made the hobby a whole lot more rewarding when you had to actually work to achieve a decent laser, IMO.

What he said . . . . .

Peace,
dave

 

[Things]

None of this machined heatsink or prebuilt driver garbage, it was stacked coins and a compressed LM317 driver that started it all

Who remembers these?

 

[daguin]

I made my first heat sink by drilling a hole in a piece of aluminum, mounting it to a drill, and spinning it against a file :crackup:

It's hard to tell.
Is that a "Senkat" diode?

Peace,
dave

 

[Things]

Hehe, more the box the diode is sitting on, what SenKat used to ship his diodes in, wrapped up in aluminium foil like a little crack package

 

[daguin]

Yeah. It was the box that made me think of Senkat

Peace,
dave

 

[Things]

Poor guy, does anyone know what happened to him? Just got bored of the laser hobby, or did his severe back problem/the medication finally get to him?

 

[daguin]

Last I heard, his back was so bad that I believe he was going to start on IV pain meds

Peace,
dave

Stonetek.org basically looks abandoned

 

[Mohrenberg]

None of this machined heatsink or prebuilt driver garbage, it was stacked coins and a compressed LM317 driver that started it all

Who remembers these?

man.....i CANNOT find those boxes anywhere.....

 

[daguin]

LOL! I found it

Peace,
dave

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Though I feel nostalgic about certain time periods, I don't consider them "golden ages." It's like feeling nostalgic about old computer games or computers from the 1990s. Yeah, they were great for their time, but pale in comparison to what can and is produced now. What more, like the old games, we can still access all the old techs and lasers without having to deal with all the "overhead" shit and cost that we had to back then.

For me, a golden age is when a "society" doesn't have to worry about "survival," and can concentrate on refining the art. That's where we are now. People can concentrate on hosts, or electronics, without having to worry (too much) about killing their diodes and wasting a few hundred dollars.

 

[Things]

Yeah, instead we have to worry about dickheads with 1W lasers trying to blind pilots and the general public. So much for "refining the art", so far it's just become more restricted

 

[sinner]

Not long ago, when i first came here people were not considering 3W+ for their first builds.. I think its just that "lasers for everyone" is what everybody been trying hard to promote and yet not call it a good age or whatever it is they consider it somewhat less of a golden age? I think everytime we reach a breakthru in hobby world is a golden age.. The repurcussions on the other hand are entirely on those who may mis-use!

 

[Things]

Forgot to say, Dave, that heatsink is a work of art! I couldn't be bothered going that far, I just used the Aixiz module and stuck to a duty cycle Those 16x diode could run fine with just an aixiz module for heatsinking for a good 30s or so.

 

[IsaacT]

I like where we are now I have not been on the laser scene for as long as many of you, but I started seriously researching lasers and how they worked when I was 12 and always wanted to build one but, as you can imagine, a 12 year old does not have money for parts....I remember breaking down a CD player I had and finding the Diode and feeling so good, but having no idea how to turn it on(definitely a good thing, since it was IR). Fast forward 7 years or so and I discover through surfing the net that high powered handheld lasers exist. And then I found this forum

At first diodes seemed more expensive than I could really think about spending(except some of the 16x's), but I went and begged the manager at a computer store for their broken drives and built VERY rudimentary lasers. But I was so happy the first time I saw one lase.

Now it is great because I can get higher powered diodes for not as much, I have a job to fund those purchases, and there are so many great innovators creating amazing things with the lathe. While I miss the hunting and gathering from graveyards for nostalgia's sake, I love the convenience and affordability that the hobby is enjoying now.

Just my thoughts,
Isaac