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FrozenGate by Avery

Hello from UMass Lowell

Joined
Apr 17, 2017
Messages
55
Points
18
Hello everyone, my name is Alyre (pronounced Uh-lear, like the jet company). I am currently a physics undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts of Lowell and hoping to focus in Optics, Photonics, and Laser Physics.

My newfound love for lasers started about a year ago when I asked myself the question "What can I make that closely resembles a lightsaber?" I stumbled onto styropyro's Youtube channel and instantly had the itch to build some high powered lasers.

I thought about purchasing a pre-made laser that I could burn things with, but opted against that because:
A). They are expensive, at least the good ones are,
And B). I personally enjoy the puzzle of building it all from scratch.
I eventually settled on building a 405nm 150mW laser, which took a few attempts but I eventually got it to work over the summer.

A few days ago I got bored and decided to break my laser out again to test the specks, i.e. the input voltage, amperage going to the laser diode, ect. All of a sudden though, my laser's wattage output has significantly reduced. It used to be able to light up most of a dark room when powered on but now it output is about 2mW or less.

I'm not heartbroken over what may be my diode dying (Im not sure if I messed something up or if the diode is just on it's last leg) but actually thrilled for what my next build will be. I'm thinking of either a laser pen 635nm at 5mW, a 9mm diameter 650nm diode at 5mW, or a 1-2W 455nm burning laser pen. I'm also open to any suggestions as long as the build won't cost me a small fortune.

And before anyone says it, I know, always where laser goggles when a laser is in use and don't shine it at any living creature.

I have already learned so much from this forum and I've only begun to scratch the surface of the knowledge that is waiting to be unlocked.

Thank you all who have managed to read this far, but I wanted to give you all a proper introduction to who I am and why I'm here (besides the lasers, of course).

Once again, thank you, and have a wonderful day.
 





Hi Welcome great intro i must say. why don't you just swap the diode sounds like it led'd. A M140 is good choice.

Rich:)
 
Thank you Lifetime17 for the quick reply liking my "short memoir :p ."

why don't you just swap the diode sounds like it led'd. A M140 is good choice.

I might just keep the LED'd laser diode so I can show it to people. The one down side I found with building a laser that needs eye protection is that I can only show one other person at a time because I have two sets of goggles, and one of them are for me.

And where do you think would be the best place to purchase a M140? I found some of the diodes on EBay for about $12, where I'm currently purchasing most of my laser needs, but I don't think I have any way of properly seating the diode into an Aixiz module. Any ideas on how to find one already housed for less than $30?
 
Hi,
Yes Encap said it all DTR is the place to go he can set one up all installed in a 12mm copper module prewired so you only solder it to your driver and heat shrink the solder joints

Rich:)
 
Welcome to the forum Alyre. :)
Yep, can't go wrong with DTR. He cuts out a lot of work. Also he sells them with a pre-soldered driver option too. So all you have to do is power the driver.
 
Welcome and enjoy and be safe. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Always fun to see someone else's work. Be sure and make a build thread. Once again welcome. :wave:
 
Welcome to the forum from another newbie.

Laser66 is the spot for pen host.

Bellow is the link:

Creative Technology Lasers - Pointer Host Component Page

Also check out the Buy,Sell,Trade section of the forum for bargains.

Excellence vendor includes, Laserglow, Jetlaser, Sanwu,etc..

for custom work get in touch with member such as Lifetime,Alien laser, Electric Plasma,etc..
 
Welcome to LPF! Glad you like my vids. :beer:

As for your current laser, it does sound like it has went LED but check the current going through it to make sure it's not just a driver/connection issue.

Sounds like you have some decisions to make regarding your next build, which is fun. That being said you don't have to go handheld. You could whip up some "labby" lasers for pennies using combinations of wall wart PSUs/computer PSUs (free), LM317 drivers (pennies) and laser diodes off of ebay. You'd need to buy a diode press for like $10 though which can be bought here. Or you could just get pre-pressed diodes from DTR. If you had an old computer sitting around, you could use it to build a 2W blue laser with 100% duty cycle (using the big CPU heatsink) for under $20.
 
Thank you 317718, you answered one my next question of where to find a pen host.

That being said you don't have to go handheld. You could whip up some "labby" lasers for pennies using combinations of wall wart PSUs/computer PSUs (free), LM317 drivers (pennies) and laser diodes off of ebay.

I know I don't have to make a handheld, but the satisfaction of having a portable high powered laser sounds all to enticing... :lasergun:

But all honesty, whichever laser I decide to make next I'll probably build the barebones first and then decide whether or not I want to put it into a portable pen or make it a bit more stationary.

One last thing: can someone point me in the right direction as to where to purchase a diode press? I tried searching around the forum but could only find posts where someone mentioned it.

Thank you all for the warm welcomes, I can't wait to see what the future holds for me on this forum.
 
Thank you 317718, you answered one my next question of where to find a pen host.



I know I don't have to make a handheld, but the satisfaction of having a portable high powered laser sounds all to enticing... :lasergun:

But all honesty, whichever laser I decide to make next I'll probably build the barebones first and then decide whether or not I want to put it into a portable pen or make it a bit more stationary.

One last thing: can someone point me in the right direction as to where to purchase a diode press? I tried searching around the forum but could only find posts where someone mentioned it.

Thank you all for the warm welcomes, I can't wait to see what the future holds for me on this forum.

Hi,

for diode press you can get some here:

https://laserpointerforums.com/f39/diode-press-sets-80158.html#post1151767

you can get a plug and play moduke from dtr laser shop:
https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes

and link to pen host:

Creative Technology Lasers - Pointer Host Component Page

link to safety goggle:

https://www.survivallaser.com/Safety_Goggles/cat556089_826120.aspx
 
Just a warning, pen hosts make very difficult builds. There is very little space to work with so your soldering skills needs to be superb.
 
Just a warning, pen hosts make very difficult builds. There is very little space to work with so your soldering skills needs to be superb.

Well then, looks like the laser pen is going on hold until my soldering skills are better than a 4 year old's... :D
 


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