Cheaper blue laser?

[lazerguy]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned a homebrew blue laser yet.......of couse this is a matter of preference.. BUT $100 or so can be alot more appealing than $900.

Building one requires patience and general mechanical/electronics knowledge, but can be a rewarding experience. I am soon to build my first red(I have one from Jake21 that I think is quite nice), then will be venturing into building a blue.

If you mean blue 473nm (sapphire blue), that is an extremely complicated build process. Not like building a DIY red. You need crystals that frequency-doubles the beam and other advanced parts. But when or if blue laser diodes is invented, it should be just as easy as building a red one.
If you mean 407nm bluray (violetish color), many homebrews have already been made.

 

[Glaserfan]

I've seen plenty of the homebrew blu-ray lasers..and will be building one next month.

As far as the dpss ones.. someone might want to think about taking a gamble with Snoc... they seem to sell the crystals.. this could be as easy as convertng a cheap DX green to a blue by using one of their crystals.