Thefudger
Member
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2024
- Messages
- 56
- Points
- 8
Hey everybody,
I just realised that I never made a good and formal introduction. My laser enthusiasm started when I was just a little guy, about 13 years ago by now. Being a kid I obviously didn't have much other than the little cat toys, but boy did I have some fun with those. I can still remember pointing one far off into the distance and being absolutely delighted when it lit up the entire side of the building in a faint red glow.
Fast forward a couple years, and I got one red and one green laser303. Every year my Mom sends me a video from her Facebook feed with me in my middle school uniform playing with the red one outside.
A few more years later and my dad bought me one of the gatling style blue lasers and a set of eagle pair safety glasses. We took turns wearing them while the other turned away, eyes closed while we burnt shit. Popping a balloon from 20 feet away was just so fun. I still have that one, but the tail cap threads are stripped out and the second replacement lens is a bit foggy.
Another handful of years and I got into making my own. My first was a nice little 488 stuffed into an old but very hefty cat toy from my late grandfather. Who could have guessed that a seemingly insignificant addition to the boxes of "junk" could reignite some wonder?
I then moved along and made a handful of mid-range red, stuffed into some keychain cat toys from a coin machine. I had some fun levitating a piece of carbon off of a marker with one of those too. Even managed to move it around in the air before it fell out.
After the reds, some 505's caught my eye and I couldn't resist. A bunch more crammed into junk housings just because small = cool. 10180's are a man's best friend (thanks Drake).
Next up on the chopping block were some 6-7 watt blues. Never got drivers suited for the power output so it was mostly bench supply or using them as test loads. I've still never killed one!
I then bought a 3 watt rgb unit and soldered together an analog board with a handful of lm317's and potentiometers for 0-5v input. That thing is so much fun. Great little contraption to show off.
Next up was a couple of fried bdr209's (Blu-ray diodes) and one with pins ripped right out but I did eventually get one to be completely good and happy at 800ma from an lm317. Had to go back to the ol' reliable after being let down by actual drivers. Electrically isolating one of those in a small heat sink was tough, but worth it imo.
I've been having some fun with zoomable flashlights, especially UV. It's just neat to be similar to a laser without being quite so dangerous and requiring glasses for most things.
A high power LEP is probably my next venture, once I stop shoving all my spending money into motorcycles. But until then,
stay safe and happy lasing.
I just realised that I never made a good and formal introduction. My laser enthusiasm started when I was just a little guy, about 13 years ago by now. Being a kid I obviously didn't have much other than the little cat toys, but boy did I have some fun with those. I can still remember pointing one far off into the distance and being absolutely delighted when it lit up the entire side of the building in a faint red glow.
Fast forward a couple years, and I got one red and one green laser303. Every year my Mom sends me a video from her Facebook feed with me in my middle school uniform playing with the red one outside.
A few more years later and my dad bought me one of the gatling style blue lasers and a set of eagle pair safety glasses. We took turns wearing them while the other turned away, eyes closed while we burnt shit. Popping a balloon from 20 feet away was just so fun. I still have that one, but the tail cap threads are stripped out and the second replacement lens is a bit foggy.
Another handful of years and I got into making my own. My first was a nice little 488 stuffed into an old but very hefty cat toy from my late grandfather. Who could have guessed that a seemingly insignificant addition to the boxes of "junk" could reignite some wonder?
I then moved along and made a handful of mid-range red, stuffed into some keychain cat toys from a coin machine. I had some fun levitating a piece of carbon off of a marker with one of those too. Even managed to move it around in the air before it fell out.
After the reds, some 505's caught my eye and I couldn't resist. A bunch more crammed into junk housings just because small = cool. 10180's are a man's best friend (thanks Drake).
Next up on the chopping block were some 6-7 watt blues. Never got drivers suited for the power output so it was mostly bench supply or using them as test loads. I've still never killed one!
I then bought a 3 watt rgb unit and soldered together an analog board with a handful of lm317's and potentiometers for 0-5v input. That thing is so much fun. Great little contraption to show off.
Next up was a couple of fried bdr209's (Blu-ray diodes) and one with pins ripped right out but I did eventually get one to be completely good and happy at 800ma from an lm317. Had to go back to the ol' reliable after being let down by actual drivers. Electrically isolating one of those in a small heat sink was tough, but worth it imo.
I've been having some fun with zoomable flashlights, especially UV. It's just neat to be similar to a laser without being quite so dangerous and requiring glasses for most things.
A high power LEP is probably my next venture, once I stop shoving all my spending money into motorcycles. But until then,
stay safe and happy lasing.
