Building my first laser

[Crusher21]

Hello,
I am a college student and I am very interested in building my own laser pointer. I would like to build a 5W blue laser, similar to the artic spyder. I don't know much about lasers yet, but I would love to learn and be able to build them myself in the near future. There is just a lot that I don't know. I am also considering buying a cheap (under $100) 3-5W blue laser. Why is the artic spyder priced at $400 for a 3.5W model when I can buy a 5W blue laser for under $100? I just don't understand how that is possible. They also claim that it is the most powerful laser ever. What makes their 3.5W laser more powerful than the other 5W blue lasers out there?
Aside from those questions, I was hoping to just get the general public's opinion. Where should I start if I want to build my own laser pointer? I've been looking up tutorials and such and speaking with my other engineering friends and I've been getting mixed ideas. Some are telling me that I will need soldering materials and some tutorials are telling me that I don't need any of that fancy stuff. So yeah, I'm really lost and I hope someone can guide me. I appreciate any help that you might give me ahead of time.
Thank you!

 

[Isaac Clarke]

hi there.

Welcome to the Forum!!

-First and for most W!cked Laser is notoriously bad quality...(their claim is as empty as their word). do not buy from W!cked...

-Those 5W laser for under $100 is a total Scam!!!

-DIY a 5W laser from parts would've cost you $250 USD+

-And not to mention you have to buy high quality battery+ charger and safety goggles, the cost would add up even more but it'll save you in the long run....

-This is a very Expensive hobby..

-you'll will need soldering material if you aims to build your own laser....

- my recommendation for a beginner DIY such as your self is to buy complete modules from DTR laser shop ( the one that includes driver/lens/diode/module) and complete host assembly kit from Survival laser.....(you can also get battery and goggle from there).... then it pretty easy from there on....

- these are the companies that you should buy from as they are trust worthy and have great customer service. Sci-fi; Sanwu ; Jetlaser; and many other member here can build you a custom 1 of a kind laser..

 

[kiwi37]

That's a mighty powerful laser for a beginner who don't know pretty much anything about lasers. You won't get a 5W laser for $100 either champ good luck with that one.

 

[Richie89]

Yeah I've been into lasers for years and still havnt build my own, I always just buy everyone else's. Especially SCIfi. I would love to eventually try it since it's apparently not that difficult. I'll do it eventually. I think I'm just too impatient

 

[Pi R Squared]

You can get a 1W blue laser for under $100usd, don't believe the BS on most Chinese sites, don't buy without asking first, there are only certain Chinese sites you can trust. SciFi ships from Israel and can sometimes take forever but any problem gets solved or you get a refund. Be aware that there are import restrictions on lasers here in the U.S. as there are in many countries, so once in awhile they get seized by customs, but no problems with parts, so it's good to learn to build your own.

To build your own you need to learn about the different parts and what works together and what doesn't, a basic knowledge of electronics is very helpful. You need to be able to solder, so you need a low power soldering iron (30-40W), solder, heat shrink etc. a helping hands tool with a magnifier is a good idea, you should also have a DMM and fully understand how to use it. You may need some other tools and supplies depending on how DIY you get. You can buy off the shelf parts where the hard parts are already done for you, it can be as simple as soldering two pairs of wire and assembling several parts, or it can be very complex, even the easiest build though some people manage to screw it up, so be prepared for a possible expensive mistake, don't be in a hurry when you build the first laser.

Be aware that a 5W laser is very dangerous, you won't want to be using that outside and certainly not pointing it in the sky, it will be seen for miles and would attract attention to yourself and your location, you don't want police to pull up and ask you what's that and what are you doing?

I only build my own lasers, the only ones I bought were cheap pens. If you build your own then you know what's in it and how it's put together, if it breaks you can fix it or reuse most of the parts. You won't have cheap Chinese crap with nonstandard parts that are epoxied together. My most powerful laser is about 3W and will instantly burn or smoke anything I point it at, it cost $277.60 for the parts and is my most expensive laser. My cheapest build was $140. If you build a 5W laser you will need to be very careful, it can set stuff on fire, and cheap safety glasses aren't good enough, you also need good quality high drain batteries.

Alan

 

[RedCowboy]

Welcome.
You absolutely must protect your eyes when using more than a 0.005 watt laser, also referred to as 5mw

Blue lasers are much more powerful than they look.

Before getting a powerful laser you should own good quality laser safety glasses that attenuate the wavelength you are working with.
These are good at a good price, many here buy these Safety

 

[Crusher21]

Thank you all for your responses!
Isaac Clarke - I will definitely avoid Wicked Lasers then. I don't think they ship to the US anyways. I think I'm willing to spend around $150 USD. How powerful of a laser can I buy/build with this? Is a 3W green laser less powerful than a 3W blue laser? How about a yellow laser? On DTR laser shop's website, in order to build my own laser, do I NEED at least one component from each of the 11 categories (Diodes, Driveres, Lenses, LED's, etc)? I'm not 100% about all the components a laser pointer needs. I've done a lot of research and I know it needs a heatsink, a driver, a diode, and a shell. But I'm not sure about the rest. On the Sci-fi lasers website, out of curiosity, why is it that lasers of the same wattage but different wavelength cost different amounts of money? Can you direct me to a user who I could message in the future if I wanted a custom laser built for me?
-kiwi37 I really want to learn as much about lasers as I can so eventually I'll be able to build them with ease. Right now, I don't know where I would start if I wanted to build a laser or what parts I would need. And I'm sure I have a lot of misconceptions in my head about lasers that I need to get cleared up.
-Richie89 Haha yeah, maybe I should just buy a laser first and then try to construct a cheap one (in case I mess up and ruin the parts I bought)
-Pi R Squared How powerful would a 1W blue laser be for under $100? I'm aware of the import restrictions. Where can I learn about what parts work with what, and what parts don't?
-RedCowboy Whoops, I had the understanding that I only needed protection at above 5W. It's a good thing I know that that isn't true now lol. Are blue lasers more powerful than green and red lasers? I saw a video online of someone showing off a blue laser pointer and comparing it to a green laser pointer. The green laser pointer beam appeared to be very thin while the blue laser pointer beam was very wide. Was this just because of the particular lasers he had bought or is that true for all blue and green lasers?

 

[Isaac Clarke]

alright that's a lot of questions at once.....

- a 3 Watts green laser won't burn better than a 3 Watts blue... because they put out the same power.

- a yellow laser will be way out of your budget.... a yellow will cost $500+.

-laser with the same wattage and different wavelength price varies because due to production cost...

- Isaac Clarke, Alien Laser, Lifetime,Grainde,Podo,Thejoker301,....

- buy host from survival laser....buy Host kit and tick everything...
go to dtr laser shop choose your desire wavelength( click on it) and choose the second last colum..

 

[monkeydan]

hi there.

Welcome to the Forum!!

-First and for most W!cked Laser is notoriously bad quality...(their claim is as empty as their word). do not buy from W!cked...

-Those 5W laser for under $100 is a total Scam!!!

-DIY a 5W laser from parts would've cost you $250 USD+

-And not to mention you have to buy high quality battery+ charger and safety goggles, the cost would add up even more but it'll save you in the long run....

-This is a very Expensive hobby..

-you'll will need soldering material if you aims to build your own laser....

- my recommendation for a beginner DIY such as your self is to buy complete modules from DTR laser shop ( the one that includes driver/lens/diode/module) and complete host assembly kit from Survival laser.....(you can also get battery and goggle from there).... then it pretty easy from there on....

- these are the companies that you should buy from as they are trust worthy and have great customer service. Sci-fi; Sanwu ; Jetlaser; and many other member here can build you a custom 1 of a kind laser..

Would to recommend to build a green laser myself? What is the estimated cost for that? I am looking to get a 50mW~100mW laser pointer. Thanks

 

[Alien Laser]

Would to recommend to build a green laser myself? What is the estimated cost for that? I am looking to get a 50mW~100mW laser pointer. Thanks

hehe I have a 5.5W i have to post in the sell threat just too lazy
470nm

 

[Isaac Clarke]

hmmm.... i wouldn't reccomend.... as it will cost you around 100-200 USD and there are chances of things going wrong....as you will have to solder parts together ...

maybe buy from someone or ask a member to build you a laser....

 

[Pi R Squared]

Would to recommend to build a green laser myself? What is the estimated cost for that? I am looking to get a 50mW~100mW laser pointer. Thanks

The one I built for myself cost me $150usd for the parts but I got a deal on the host, mine is 82mW and that is a 520nm.

hmmm.... i wouldn't reccomend.... as it will cost you around 100-200 USD and there are chances of things going wrong....as you will have to solder parts together ...

maybe buy from someone or ask a member to build you a laser....

^ Good advice until you're sure you know what you're doing.

Alan

 

[Richie89]

Hah! Yeah a 5w 445 in the sky, I couldn't even imagine how visible a 1-1.2W 532 would be in the sky.

 

[Alien Laser]

-
Update posted in the sale section
472nm 5W+

 

[RedCowboy]

Our eyes are most sensitive to green, likely because of trees grass and bushes, but only 2% of our eyes receptors can see blue making blue much more powerful than it looks, also our eyes light sensing nerves don't bleach out and protect from blue, you can get chemical retina damage from blue and not know it until days later, so don't mess around without wearing laser safety glasses that attenuate the wavelength you are using.