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FrozenGate by Avery

Getting started

N

noldevin

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After canceling my WL Arctic order, I have decided to venture farther into the laser hobby. I would like to build my first (but not last) DIY portable laser, but I am unsure as to what color, host, etc to use. So, I'd like to ask for some input from the pro's.

I'd like to start by stating that I'm well aware of all safety concerns of lasers and will very carefully control useage of whatever I end up building.

I'm leaning towards yellow, purple, or blue for color, though if the price and power are then right red or green is still an option. The laser needs to be powerful enough to burn easily, so I'm thinking 200mw+. I'd like some sort of switch or pot to tune the power of the device down when I don't want the full power of the device. The laser would likely be left at a lower power except when burning.

My budget is no more than $300, so I'd obviously be willing to forfeit color preference for more power within my budget.

I appreciate any help from the community :thanks:
 





you can buy a 445nm diode here for 50$, seen as low as 35$
you will need to read guides on how to actually construct the lasers from the components
jayrob sells good hosts. if you get a hot option 18650 kit from him, you can have him set the current. Anything upto ~1.2A so far seems quite stable, and the conversion ratio from amps to watts in terms of beam power seems to be almost one. hence 1.2A usually gets 1.1W. im getting one set to 1A for almost a watt.
at the moment 445nm is by far best value for power. green will probably be out of the question for a first build as it needs crystal alignment etc. i've heard you can push the 12X blu-ray diodes to 400mW or more.
 
I have never built a laser. Not yet! But I will.

So I'm not able to tell you too much, but I can tell you a few things. One is your probably going to get a lot of responses saying to search the forum. Ill start. Search the forum. :p
As for the color of the laser, yellow would be pretty much out of the question for your first build, not to mention it would be expensive and complex. That goes for blue too, unless you get the new 445 diode out there. But that's rated at near 1W, so I don't think that should be a first laser build. Purple or Red would be easiest to build, if not green. Though if you decide to make a green, you would need to buy a module, or your back at the complexities of the yellow and blue.

So I would say, go purple (UV 405nm). It burns real well I hear, it's direct with no crystals changing frequency's. Just the diode, driver, power, host.

You should be able to easily burn things with 200mw. Just make sure you get safety glasses, as I'm sure you know if you are aware of the dangers.

Good luck.
 
Start with a 405 (phr), you can get them for $10 or less. Depending on what host you chose will determine what driver to buy. I personally started with the rkcstr driver. Searching will help find most of the info you need to get started. Check Hightechdealz or Modwerx, rkcstr.nfshost.com for parts and components. Hope that helps.

Good luck with your first build!
 
Thanks for everyone's input. It looks like I'll be going with purple. Time to do some homework :)
 
Let us know how it goes. It's always nice to see someone building a new laser!
 
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