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Here's something worth reading: https://damow.net/building-a-laser-show/

Yeah, might be wise to start off with something low power as lasersbee said. The diodes he mentioned can be had for a dollar or less. To switch them using a regular supply you would need to setup a low side driver, basically a transistor or mosfet connected following the laser. You would switch...

Yes, you can control the intensity but generally they don't have linear characteristics. It varies from diode to diode however, just be aware that it won't be a case of 0-5V ~ 0-100%. You can control them with PWM but you'll be momentarily be blasting 100% power which may be dangerous if it were...

What driver you'll need is relative to the laser. Expect anywhere from 4V-30V at maybe a couple of amps. Probably best to just get yourself a small bench supply as you're only getting started. I looked into the idea of building a galvanometer a number of years ago but to be honest for laser...

Can anyone recommend a reputable seller of these units?

It causes light to diverge. I realize it wouldn't have the same integrity but what else can I do..?

Well the lenses arrived and it appears that I can't focus the beam into a small enough point for it to be useful. I guess the beam is still too divergent. I've yet to put together a decent testbench, I have some linear rail here so I will have another go soon and see if I can improve on it...

Well I have purchased a new focal lens (on top of a new collimator) with a focal length of 150mm. Hopefully the divergence I achieve with the collimator is enough to keep the spot size under 0.2mm. I have also read about using a positive meniscus lens combined with a PCX lens to achieve a...

Yep. An aspheric condenser is what I bought. Does anyone know the maximum percentage of light you can project onto a lens before aberration etc become apparent? I gleaned this from Wikipedia but don't know how this translates to the plano side of a PCX lens. I imagine the percentage would be...

Yes, my objective is to focus a laser beam but my question is more specific than that. It relates to the optical mechanics of a lens and how NA influences curvature for a fixed focal length and diameter. I believe I've figured out the root of my misunderstanding and that is that lenses with a...

Thanks Cyparagon. I calculated the spot diameter incident upon my original collimator to be 5.2mm (half angle of 14.5 deg, F=10mm). From that I gather a beam expansion of 6.5 (5.2mm/0.8mm) should have dropped my divergence down to a half angle of 2.23 deg. That wasn't enough to achieve a decent...

I'm stuck with NA question because it hasn't been answered yet. What makes you think I haven't made an effort to Google this? Yes, 2xNA will obviously prevent clipping and diffraction errors etc, but it will also under utilize the greater beam shaping capabilities of the lens. This is what I'm...

First paragraph sets the scene. Third paragraph is the problem. I want to focus a collimated light source but I'm struggling to do so due to my current collimator not being up to spec - the beam is still too divergent and the resultant beam waist is too large. I'm trying to pick a better lens to...

And we've hit 20 posts! Picture time... The points circled in orange have the greatest ability to bend light as far as I understand (assuming the incident light ray doesn't internally reflect due to the critical angle being exceeded). A lens with double the NA for a fixed focal length will be...

When I said bigger diameter for a fixed focus length I was referring to the lens, not the beam. Posting pictures would really help right now...

Hmmm... I think I have just realized something after looking at the cross section of an aspheric lens. The sharpest curvature of an aspheric lens is closer to the optic axis than it is to the outer lens. Maybe this is why it is recommended to use an NA twice that of your source?

Yes. If a beam is diverging from the point source, the incident light rays on the condenser are bent due to the refractive index of the lens and the exit point, i.e. the curvature at a particular point relative to the incident ray, from the lens... if I understand things correctly? Based on what...

Or at least it feels that way... A while ago I got my FAP800 up and running and managed to melt some powdered Aluminium and Stainless steel with it - happy days. However, I did this with the collimator I purchased from Ebay. At the time what I didn't realize was that my collimator was set 2...

Just to answer my own question for anyone who may stumble across this thread. The XIRI units seem to be good value. I haven't noticed any heat from the cable and even at threshold levels of power the beam is very intense. I haven't verified the losses against a meter though.

Well I setup the peltier modules this evening and they worked well. They managed to keep the body of the laser at around 18C at around 5V/1.8A while the laser ran at 24A. I haven't pushed it any further as of yet, haven't got the cojonies. That day will come though. While messing around I did...