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Help - My First Build - Laser Cigarette Lighter

FireMyLaser said:
Again, that's not what OP is making.



The same can be said about any laser pointer you have. Half the builds here look like a flashlight or vape.

Seriously, if everyone else had your narrow view, we would not have Blu-ray players, laser projectors, holograms, tattoo removal, not even a 5mw toy pointer, just to name a fraction of fraction of laser applications which you would think are unsafe or not possible.
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It doesn't matter whether it's in a cigarette lighter or not. Both are bad ideas. I don't know why you think it'll be much of a difference.

So are you saying that all of the stuff we have with lasers is because of fool hearty behavior?
Geez man the more you argue your "point" the dumber it sounds.
 





Its true that innovation may have an element of risk involved, but in this case it can be widely agreed that there is nothing innovative about using a laser to light a cig and there are better/cheaper ways of achieving the same effect

Your (FireMyLaser's) argument is not applicable to this thread
 
I wholeheartedly agree that it is not a great idea and I say as much whenever I show it to someone .But imho it is still a damn cool lighter!
 
For starters you don't point it at your face to use it.
 
You still don't get what OP is making. You don't understand what you discuss, and it seems you don't want to. There is a problem to solve and just because you can't solve it doesn't mean anyone else can't, even though it is just for fun.
 
What problem is that ?

To protect the lens I would focus the beam through a pinhole so that it's expanded to cigarette size at the point of ignition.

To make it reasonably safe I would make it so you insert the cigarette perpendicular to the beam path and use a shielded intake air hole opposite side.

I can easily design a laser lighter to be safe and effective, the point is there are better ways and the concept if not construct correctly is a dangerous one.

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I feel like arguing about the safeness of a laser lighter is analog to arguing about filter length on cigarettes.
 
The difference is 2nd hand smoke likely won't kill you but an innocent victim could pick up what looks like a lighter and receive a lifelong vision disability.
 
OP's post:

Hi guys,
I'm new to this forum and hobby in general but I have a background in mechanical engineering and want to get more involved with electronics and lasers. As a nicotine addict and a generally irresponsible person I thought it would be fun to build a cigarette lighter that uses lasers.
My general plan is to find or build a laser capable of lighting a cigarette while being small enough to fit in a trouser pocket and being safe to use without eye protection. I'm hoping to achieve this by fitting the laser with a light absorbent endcap to stop the beam after a couple centimetres.
Can you guys point me in the right direction?
What would be the best laser or laser components for the job and what would I need?
I live in the UK and have a budget of around £65. I'm a complete beginner so any advice would be greatly appreciated

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Maybe I overlooked the part about being " safe to use without eye protection ", the earlier sentence about " generally irresponsible person I thought it would be fun to build a cigarette lighter that uses lasers. " pretty much took center stage in my cortex.

As long as it's constructed for safe use I will change my mind on this one, but to my defense the concept is a spooky one and if not done correctly I would want no part of whatsoever.

Again as long as the laser is fully enclosed expect for diffuse glow from the cigarette insert hole I will retract my poo-poo of this concept, I have seen several laser cigarette lighters and my initial thought is just NO, but I will concede that this is different if enclosed.
 
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Took you this long to read the OP, finally. Yeah maybe this is spooky to you, but as per my point earlier, class 4 lasers that look like flashlights and vapes that people commonly build here without any safety features are no different in that regard. That comes across as hypocritical to me.
 
OK you win, I didn't pay attention, I jumped to a conclusion, I bow to you on this one.

Yes we should build safer stuff, aperture shutters or just a slip over endcap with a penny in the end to prevent burn through and a 2nd enable switch with indicator light would be a great idea, I use extreme caution and remove batteries until ready for use, but I have thought about how bad it is to use a single switch.
 
I would have to say that any laser capable of lighting a cigarette and being eye safe would negate the reason for using a laser to light a cigarette to begin.It would in the end be a Rube Goldberg type contraption.
 
It's just for fun, do it because you can kind of thing. And as an example: the laser in a DVD burner is not safe by itself (class 3B), but the construction around it makes it safe (class 1). The same can be done here.

But it seems this forum has a no fun allowed rule.
 
"No fun allowed rule"? Yeah I'm out. This would get ugly. Have fun blasting yourselves in the eye with cigarette lasers
 
Did you see my crude drawing, the laser would be enclosed with a hole to stick the cigarette into and the laser beam could not exit the device/lighter.
 
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