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3D Printable Laser Diode Press Kit for TO-5 and TO-18 Laser Diodes and 12mm Modules

Shmackitup

Shmackitup

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I've been tinkering with 3D design a little bit and decided to make something useful for the community. After a few tweaks and some trial and error I have working designs for both TO-5 / 9mm and TO-18 / 5.6mm laser diodes. Since they're made from plastic they're certainly not as durable as the metal ones but if you break it then you can just print another! I have found PLA+ to be the best filament so far. PETG was too spongy. I think polycarbonate will work even better but I don't have any yet to test with. Ensure the diode is centered perfectly and gently press the diode until you feel it stop moving or you will start to squish the press and deform it. The TO-18 press is much more delicate than the TO-5 version. Let me know if you have any questions.

These were created with the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0(CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0) Creative Commons Licenses. You can print and modify it all you want but don't sell it as your own.

My print settings were:

.15mm Layer Height
Mininum Perimeters: 2
Solid Layers - Top: 4 Bottom: 4
Minimum Shell Thickness: .2mm
Infill: 100%
Top and Bottom Fill Pattern: Concentric

Here are the .STL files:

TO-18 Laser Diode Press v1.1.stl
TO-5 Laser Diode Press v1.1.stl
Laser Diode Press Alignment Sleeve v1.0.stl

 
Last edited:





Shmackitup said:
I've been tinkering with 3D design a little bit and decided to make something useful for the community. After a few tweaks and some trial and error I have working designs for both TO-5 / 9mm and TO-18 / 5.6mm laser diodes. Since they're made from plastic they're certainly not as durable as the metal ones but if you break it then you can just print another! I have found PLA+ to be the best filament so far. PETG was too spongy. I think polycarbonate will work even better but I don't have any yet to test with. Ensure the diode is centered perfectly and gently press the diode until you feel it stop moving or you will start to squish the press and deform it. The TO-18 press is much more delicate than the TO-5 version. Let me know if you have any questions.

These were created with the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0(CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0) Creative Commons Licenses. You can print and modify it all you want but don't sell it as your own.

My print settings were:

.15mm Layer Height
Mininum Perimeters: 2
Solid Layers - Top: 4 Bottom: 4
Minimum Shell Thickness: .2mm
Infill: 100%
Top and Bottom Fill Pattern: Concentric

Here are the .STL files:

TO-18 Laser Diode Press v1.1.stl
TO-5 Laser Diode Press v1.1.stl
Laser Diode Press Alignment Sleeve v1.0.stl

Click to expand...
Very cool. Could be very useful for those that haven't got diode presses. Thanks for sharing with us.
 
A great alternative! You should upload it to thingaverse
 
The good thing about this is you could send it to Shapeways or equivalent site and have it SLS printed in steel. Great for when availability dries up.
 
CurtisOliver said:
The good thing about this is you could send it to Shapeways or equivalent site and have it SLS printed in steel. Great for when availability dries up.
Click to expand...
I bet carbon fibre filament would do a great job
 
These were also designed so they can use the standard 12mm shells with the backs removed.

 
I like it, but I do wish they were of a harder material. Polycarbonate would probably be good.
 
WizardG said:
I like it, but I do wish they were of a harder material. Polycarbonate would probably be good.
Click to expand...
There are many different types of filaments people can use for these. Even if they were a one time use it would still be only pennies to make another one.
 
I printed some samples using a polycarbonate filament. It sure is some tricky stuff to print because it requires very high heat and lots of tweaking the settings to get it to even stick to the print bed. The results are pretty good though after I got some successful prints. The TO-5 press is definitely a little stiffer than the PLA+ and has stood up to multiple uses. However, the TO-18 is still not quite durable enough for long term use but it will get you by if you only need to press a few diodes. Aligning the diodes in the center is crucial to keep the plastic from getting smushed.

 
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