Desk Top HeNe Laser Lamp! SCHWEET! - Build Tips

[jayrob]

Re: Desk Top HeNe Laser Lamp! SCHWEET! - Build Tip

Added some solid rods in the front just to add stability to the mount...

Jay

P.S. The acrylic material with the flame polished edges is great for shining a blu-ray at!

 

[scion]

This is awesome!!! =D
I want to make a simple desk lamp thingy out of a couple cheapo 5mW red lasers, idk how to go about that tho lol... but would be awesome!

 

[jayrob]

:thanks:

Glad you like it!
Jay

 

[Dusty]

I love the laser lamp!! that thing is amasing. I would very much like to build someting similar. forgive me if this seems a silly question, i am compleatly new to gas lasers; would it be possible to build something similar, but with a different beam colour? something like blue? what kind of tube would be needed? Am i right in thinking that an argon laser would produce this colour? would this be practical as a lamp. Sorry about all the questions... :thanks:

 

[Things]

Hmm, that's a very neat idea! Nice work!

May I ask, how did you flame polish the acrylic? All the times I have tried have just ended up with me burning it and having to leave the room from the smell

 

[jayrob]

I love the laser lamp!! that thing is amasing. I would very much like to build someting similar. forgive me if this seems a silly question, i am compleatly new to gas lasers; would it be possible to build something similar, but with a different beam colour? something like blue? what kind of tube would be needed? Am i right in thinking that an argon laser would produce this colour? would this be practical as a lamp. Sorry about all the questions... :thanks:

I don't know a whole lot about HeNe's, but they do have different output beam colors. Dave has one with a 532nm beam output, but I believe the beam in the tube is still 632.8nm... Check with daguin, he can tell you more about HeNe's. I got this idea from his build...




Things, I bought the pieces and had them cut to size and flame polished from Tap Plastics... But I have done a little bit of flame polishing on a different project in the past. It's just a matter of having your torch set right, and then it is a passing back and forth until you get the right distance figured out. (oxy/acetylene)

Thanks for the compliments guys!

 

[daguin]

I love the laser lamp!! that thing is amasing. I would very much like to build someting similar. forgive me if this seems a silly question, i am compleatly new to gas lasers; would it be possible to build something similar, but with a different beam colour? something like blue? what kind of tube would be needed? Am i right in thinking that an argon laser would produce this colour? would this be practical as a lamp. Sorry about all the questions... :thanks:

The plasma inside the tubes are the same. The plasma contains all the color lines in the gas mixture. It is the optics (filters, mirrors, prisms) that dictate what the beam color will be outside the tube. Also remember, that Hene's are NOT high output lasers. The "beam" is not really that visible without some sort of visualizer in the air. The spot can be seen easily, but not the beam. Here you can see the plasma and the spot from a green HeNe

Peace,
dave

 

[Dusty]

Hi Dave, thanks for your reply. What kind of laser would have the tube glowing blue? I was thinking of a lamp like the one in this thread but where the whole thing gives off a blue light, the tube and the beam. It wouldn't have to be high power, purly for decoration. I dont know if this is even possible, as I said I am new to gas lasers, lol. just thought it would look pretty cool...:yh:

 

[daguin]

Hi Dave, thanks for your reply. What kind of laser would have the tube glowing blue? I was thinking of a lamp like the one in this thread but where the whole thing gives off a blue light, the tube and the beam. It wouldn't have to be high power, purly for decoration. I dont know if this is even possible, as I said I am new to gas lasers, lol. just thought it would look pretty cool...:yh:

I don't know of any "laser" that the plasma glows blue. Argon glows a purple, but you need LOTS of air flowing over them to keep them warm. The plasma in an argon laser runs ~5,000K!!

If the "glow" without a "beam" is acceptable, you might look into gas "display" tubes. They are small "tubes" filled with a particular gas, that glow the color of that gas when current is passed through them.

Peace,
dave

 

[Dusty]

thanks for the info, much appreciated. I would still prefere to use a laser tube to make the light, so that the beam can be incorperated aswell. I do like the plasma colour as it is, just thought it would look good in blue also. I will have to look into purchasing a HeNe laser now...

 

[Things]

Things, I bought the pieces and had them cut to size and flame polished from Tap Plastics... But I have done a little bit of flame polishing on a different project in the past. It's just a matter of having your torch set right, and then it is a passing back and forth until you get the right distance figured out. (oxy/acetylene)

Interesting, I was just watching a few vids from them on YouTube last night. How much did they charge for that work, if you don't mind me asking?

-Dan

 

[HIMNL9]

Mercury units glows blue ..... but they heat a lot much more than He-Ne tubes, and emits so much UV that is too dangerous to use them as desktop lamps (not speaking about the cost of a similar unit, LOL)

As Dave suggested, the better choice may be to ask to some of those shops that prepare industrial display panels, for a piece of tube filled with the mix of gas that produce the color that you want (you may also choose the colors, in some ranges ..... some are obtained with mercury tubes covered with different phosphors, some others, with direct gas discharges).

 

[Cyparagon]

If you're looking for a tube that glows blue, get a Cold cathode fluorescent tube. Why does it need to be a laser?

Here's one

If it absolutely has to be a laser, you can put a blue film over the HeNe tube. And yes, the HeNe tube does emit some blue light, but it will be substantially dimmer. But if light were your objective, you wouldn't use something as inefficient as a HeNe, would you?

 

[HIMNL9]

Just a crazy design idea for the "jayrob-style (pat. pend.) desktop lamp" ..... :eg:

Get 2 of these blue CCFL with the same lenght of the He-Ne tubes, like the ones for PC-modding, then use them for make the "supports" of the plate that hold the He-Ne tube (as example, in Jayrob design, when he added the rods in front, what if instead the rods, they was 2 CCFL blue neons, with their own protection tubes ? ..... maybe with a little circuit that, very slowly, change the powers of the tubes, and of the laser, from 50% to 100%, in cycles of 30 or 60 seconds ..... or that drive the tubes with external noise ..... just imagining ..... :evil

I know, i know, i'm crazy

 

[jayrob]

That's a cool idea!

 

[jayrob]

Interesting, I was just watching a few vids from them on YouTube last night. How much did they charge for that work, if you don't mind me asking?

-Dan

It did not cost more that $20 bucks for the two pieces.

Then I ordered the two rods for the front later. I think they were around $10 dollars because I had them shipped to me...