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This is not a good choice for a first build. As the beam is nearly invisible, you need goggles for any use of this laser. You can use a vidcam to help focus, etc. as it can see 808nm as gray. You will have better luck and more enjoyment from a red, blue, or violet diode as your first build. Read...

No, I'm not feeding the diode 370 mA. That is a 10 ohm resistor. This sets the current to 125mA, chip is 1117. That driver is a little nasty, but it only took a few minutes to make. You can make a nice laser with a PHR. It will burn, too. Just not like a 12x ...

A driver suitable for an LPC red should let you test this diode. Set the current to 200mA or so to start. Max current per the datasheet for these is around 400mA. It would help if you had some info on the diode, I'm assuming that it is the typical ebay diode that sells there all the time. You...

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you have been looking around here for a while. When you get a more powerful laser, keep in mind the need for goggles. You will need them for close up burning, and anywhere or anytime there is a chance of accidental reflection of the beam.

Great looking new machine with nice features. It looks to be very well set up for cutting threads. I don't see the tailstock on it in the picture. Did it come with a four jaw chuck as well? You will enjoy this machine, and easily make your own hosts with it.

O-like have these matrix diffraction gratings. They are glass, but small at 5x5x1 mm. O-like have become an iffy place to order lasers from, but it is probably safe to order gratings from them. I got mine and they are OK.

I like the third pic, with the tendrils of mist sweeping across, and the pattern in the beam. Great shot.

If you really need to power this from batteries, lipos can deliver huge currents. These are the batteries used in RC cars and planes. They will provide the current, but the run time would not be long per battery. I have a 4.2V lipo that can provide over 100A, but only for about 5 minutes ... A...

Nice work on converting the dead green to a 445. I hope that your new diode has a long life. It should, since you have the duty cycle figured out.

Well done! An excellent result. Looking forward to your next build.

Welcome to the forum! There is tons of info here to help you with any builds, as well as supplies for your projects. Hopefully we will see some of your builds in the future.

Welcome back!

Let us know how it goes. Do test pieces to get used to the process. Make sure everything is clean and that ventilation is good.

I ran mine again last night, for about six hours. It warmed up the basement on a cool evening.

There is no point in upping the battery voltage to your laser. You are using a 3V lithium, or 2 x AAA to get 3V, this is what your driver requires. Increasing battery voltage will only stress the driver, perhaps damaging it. More info would help, diode, driver, batteries, etc. The driver only...

@Cyparagon - I've dropped a couple of lasers over the years and the damage to near weightless parts can be amazing. In an IR handheld, the c-mount diode was destroyed by a fall from a tabletop to the concrete floor. Inspection under a microscope showed that the die was cracked. How likely is...

The effects aren't too difficult. I'll be doing another video on the dye techniques soon.

What I do is get the aluminum to a mirror polish, clean and degrease without scratching, and then anodize. You could do a thinner anodize build by anodizing for somewhat less time. After all, you don't need a thick layer for dye to penetrate into. The best plan is to do some test pieces, using...

This came out beautifully. The host looks great polished. It would benefit from a clear anodize. This would provide scratch resistance as well.

Within another day or two I'll have some more anodizing videos. EDIT : The fourth video is added to the first post.