Coolest Looking Laser Hosts?

[Sparkles]

Hello, I am new to this hobby and need some suggestions.

I am looking to put together a 2W 445nm laser. My driver requires at least 6v and 1.8A draw or less. I was thinking 2x18650 batteries meets this requirement the best.

My question is: What is a good bang for the buck "Cool" looking host that makes people go wow? If you were to build a blue laser and could have any host for under $40 what would you get?

Thanks, Sparkles

 

[rhd]

For under $40, you'll have trouble finding a host with a heatsink capable of running a 445nm at 2W.

Why are you trying to build a 2W laser? A 1W laser won't make people go "wow" ?

Wow...

 

[Sparkles]

I am looking to lathe my own copper heatsinks.

 

[GBD]

If you want to lathe your own, why not make your own host then?
Ive done this a few times and it turned out quite good, the thought of making your own host should allow you to mold it to your own standards as well.

 

[Sparkles]

If you want to lathe your own, why not make your own host then?
Ive done this a few times and it turned out quite good, the thought of making your own host should allow you to mold it to your own standards as well.

Whew, that must be some job. I didn't want to spend that much time. My basic criteria is the ability to put into series 2 batteries to achieve greater then 6v, and still have a decent runtime. Thinking 2x18650 is the way to go. If you have a better solution I am all about it =)

 

[Ray J Neal]

Have you checked dx, buyincoins, focal price etc? Basically, all the chimeras vendors :beer:

 

[danefex]

Hello, I am new to this hobby and need some suggestions.

You can try one of Jayrob's Solarforce L2P kits. I just made one fitting 2 flexdrives into the heatsink pushing 1.84A to the diode. With a 405-G-1 lens 2W is easy & a copper heatsink will easily allow >1min runtime.

 

[Mohrenberg]

Well....
There are lots of cool hosts for way under $40, but the problem is finding one that uses 2x18650...
your going to probably find 1 or 2 hosts that meet this criteria.
and the ones that DO meet this, are going to have the big fat head on the end, so if your gonna want to fill it with copper, your gonna end up spending $100 on a foot of copper stock that would fit it, as it's going to end up being 1.5-2" OD. unless you have an employer or someone you get it from for free.


I would just build a custom host. If you have the tools you may as well.
It may be time consuming, but you'll end up with a custom build that is unique to you.