An "I'm new here, Hi All"/Decision help thread:

[david1235102]

Hey guys. I'm pretty new here too. I decided to keep most of my builds to 500mW or less. I mean, that's plenty enough to see the beam on most of them and still dangerous enough for the adventurer. It's easier to set the driver if you don't have to heatsink it. Easier for me anyway, as I use mostly flex V5 drivers. Unfortunately, I ran out of old flashlight parts and need your help to continue building.

If you can tell me what these things are called, and where I can get a bunch of them, I'd be one happy camper. I've been searching DealExtreme and Google for about a week and keep coming up empty. It's those round wafers(any size) where you solder on a spring or just use a solder blob to connect the battery. Here's the pictures. I can use either type. I can not find them or the name of them ANYWHERE!

Thanx, Blob

I don't think this is the right spot to ask that. Try searching:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/
or post a new thread there. That way more people will see it and may be able to help you.

 

[Solder Blob]

yeah, you're probably right. I did search there earlier, http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/, more than once. I think I'll email some people instead of a new thread(not that I would know how to do that anyway!!) I almost got stabbed in the head the other day for bumping an old thread when I was looking for flexdrives and I'm a little apprehensive about doing that again! But thanx for your suggestion. Blob

 

[csshih]

I used to / still am a member of the CPF as well, though I haven't visited there in a while.

A little about myself:
I work for Research In Motion, (BlackBerry) as a Technical Principal Instructor (I teach people for a living) in Canada (YES! No super-restrictive laser import laws yet... knock on wood), I'm a part time musician, I am a competitive Rubik's Cube speed solver (I average around 18 seconds on a 3x3x3 Rubik's cube) and all around nerd. Geek. Whatever ;-) If there's something geeky, I've probably dabbled in it a little bit.

oy! get back on CPF!

heey, I cube too.. but I don't compete. I've only got a sleepy 40 second average.

 

[enigmahack]

There is nothing wrong at all with a 40 second average! What method to you use? Fredrich? Roux? Petrus? Or like a corners first method? Layer-by-layer?

 

[randomlugia]

Another relevant comparison would be like going from a BB gun which can still put out an eye, to a handgun. The basic safety measures are still the same, but there has to be an extra amount of care taken with a handgun, because there's so much more at risk.

Pretty much exactly what I was thinking. You're just going from extremely dangerous, to extremely dangerous plus a little bit more. Going for the red torch was a great idea! No better way to start being safe than with a powerful inexpensive unit.

I almost got stabbed in the head the other day for bumping an old thread when I was looking for flexdrives and I'm a little apprehensive about doing that again! But thanx for your suggestion. Blob

You shouldn't have... better to bump an old thread for new relevant info than start a new one. I usually hear them called "flatboards" FWIW.

There is nothing wrong at all with a 40 second average! What method to you use? Fredrich? Roux? Petrus? Or like a corners first method? Layer-by-layer?

Haha, speedcubing is much more common among laser geeks! 18 second personal best here.

 

[csshih]

There is nothing wrong at all with a 40 second average! What method to you use? Fredrich? Roux? Petrus? Or like a corners first method? Layer-by-layer?

uhh, cross, F2L + a 4 step method for the 3rd layer. not sure what that method is called Figured out F2L through experimentation

 

[enigmahack]

Woah guys! Awesome!
The F2L, 2step oll and 2step Pll is usually referred to as a simplified Fredrich method. Though the hardest step is usually getting the f2l pairs sorted out, so the harder work is done which is awesome!

Randomlugia: 18 seconds pb? Nice!

Right now my average of 5 is 18.85 seconds, average of 12 is 19.74 seconds and my personal best is 9.97 seconds. Still a long way to go but fast enough to get into most competitions

Jeez... I sound like a little kid but I'm 29 haha

Guess I'm young at heart

 

[midias]

The interesting part is that I would have gone with Blue right away, except 1W I think is far too powerful for me right now. I'll likely change my mind down the road, but for now it's more a matter of safety; A 400mw green is going to be relatively less dangerous than a 1W blue.

I'm not an idiot by any stretch, but I'd rather form much better safety practices using high power lasers with something in the lower-echelon of higher powered lasers.

You do not have to go 1W of blue I have a blue that runs ~20mw I am sure may people here including my self would be happy to build one for you at any power you want.

 

[csshih]

Woah guys! Awesome!
The F2L, 2step oll and 2step Pll is usually referred to as a simplified Fredrich method. Though the hardest step is usually getting the f2l pairs sorted out, so the harder work is done which is awesome!

I actually stopped cubing around.. 2 years ago. dusted off the cube..

hrm...
fingers get tired

 

[enigmahack]

Sweeet!! More cubers here than I thought! AWESOME

 

[randomlugia]

You'd be surprised: http://laserpointerforums.com/f57/you-speedcuber-48280.html

One of the biggest thread jacks I've ever seen, LOL.

 

[enigmahack]

Heh, going from green laser advice, to blue lasers, to some random brass wafer thing, to rubik's cubes! lol

And yes. Speedcuber through and through... 2x2 up to 7x7, sq-1, megaminx, etc.

 

[try2die]

for batteries and a good charger, go to:
BatteryJunction.com Batteries, Battery Chargers, Flashlights, Solar Products & more!
they shouldnt cost very much.
also
Green Laser, Laser Beam Optics, Laser Safety Glasses : Dragon Lasers
has high quality (or so i've heard) safety glasses; but i'm no expert so you may want to search the forum for more information on those.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/

i have a 1000 mw blue it takes 1 3v 18650.....just recently i put 2 3v lir123a batteries and the laser has more burn ...do u think pushen 6volts will kill my laser?

 

[david1235102]

i have a 1000 mw blue it takes 1 3v 18650.....just recently i put 2 3v lir123a batteries and the laser has more burn ...do u think pushen 6volts will kill my laser?

This really isn't the place to ask that (try searching for other threads on 1W blue lasers) and I don't really know. I wouldn't push it to twice the voltage it is intended to use (I wouldn't try it if it was mine). The 18650 should also last for a longer time than the other 2 batteries anyway; so it doesn't really seem worth it to even try the other batteries in it. This is just my opinion so I would ask someone else about this for a more accurate answer.

 

[midias]

i have a 1000 mw blue it takes 1 3v 18650.....just recently i put 2 3v lir123a batteries and the laser has more burn ...do u think pushen 6volts will kill my laser?

It should not matter the driver should deliver a constant current reguardless of the input voltage. But I do not know what driver you are using personally I would not double the voltage the driver may not like it if you have a driver like a flex drive.