How To Build a Laser??

[Bocaj1994]

Hey.
In Australia [where i live] lasers are illegal but i still want one. Can someone give me Instructions, Tips and what i will need to make one. Also i don't have a DVD Writer but i have to LG 52X CD Writer is there a Laser Diode thingy in that??

BTW I'm only 14 and not that good with electronics so please make all instructions simple. The only way i can get a laser is to get a permit and import from America.

 

[pseudolobster]

Read this:
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1190456606

There's lots of good guides in there on how to build a laser.

As for a CD burner, yes, they contain a laser diode; However it is an infrared diode that you cannot see. It's best to avoid playing with those unless you have the proper safety equipment.

CD players will contain lower powered infrared lasers, CD burners will have high powered infrared lasers.
DVD players will have lower powered red lasers, DVD burners will have high powered red lasers.
BluRay and HD-DVD players will have low powered violet lasers, burners will be more powerful.

By the way, it's still illegal to own a laser you built yourself and you can face tens of thousands of dollars in fines if you are caught with one.. be sure to weigh the risks before diving into this hobby.

Welcome to the forums!

 

[Bocaj1994]

Yeah they are illegal but at school we have a projector and on the remote there is a laser and on the back it says <5mW and well i want a 5mW Red or Green

 

[pseudolobster]

Yeah they are illegal but at school we have a projector and on the remote there is a laser and on the back it says <5mW and well i want a 5mW Red or Green

Well, for the green you're going to need to import it. For a red, you can take any old broken dvd player or dvdrom drive and extract the laser from that. Then press it into an aixiz module, use this guide to make a driver for it, set the driver to something really low like 40 milliamps, and away you go!
Burners are really only required by crazy people who want to light things on fire with their laser and burn up their eyeballs. If you just want a neat dot you can shine on things, the lasers from dvd players will work fine.

 

[el-taco]

My corner shop in Australia still sells 5mW lasers.

Where abouts do you live?

Also, wanting to make a laser and not having the enthusiasm to learn is a bad combo.

 

[Minousoft]

Don't use a CD burner, you might burn your eyes out. It's IR (invisible) so if it's too bright you won't know to blink or look away.

It's a good idea to learn more electronics skills before going straight into building a laser. Get a soldering iron, electronics parts, and practice building an LED flashlight first.

Get some goggles if you do build a laser.

 

[Bocaj1994]

My corner shop in Australia still sells 5mW lasers.

Where abouts do you live?

Also, wanting to make a laser and not having the enthusiasm to learn is a bad combo.

Melbourne. I live in the Knox area.

 

[Zom-B]

[quote author=Bocaj1994 link=1216431870/0#2 date=1216436377]Yeah they are illegal but at school we have a projector and on the remote there is a laser and on the back it says <5mW and well i want a 5mW Red or Green

Well, for the green you're going to need to import it. For a red, you can take any old broken dvd player or dvdrom drive and extract the laser from that. Then press it into an aixiz module, use this guide to make a driver for it, set the driver to something really low like 40 milliamps, and away you go!
Burners are really only required by crazy people who want to light things on fire with their laser and burn up their eyeballs. If you just want a neat dot you can shine on things, the lasers from dvd players will work fine.[/quote]
One glitch in your advice. If he had access to an Aixiz module, it would already contain a 5mW red laser or better.

Some real advice. Look in the buy and group buy forums if to see if you can find something you like there.

 

[VillageIdiot]

[quote author=pseudolobster link=1216431870/0#3 date=1216436967][quote author=Bocaj1994 link=1216431870/0#2 date=1216436377]Yeah they are illegal but at school we have a projector and on the remote there is a laser and on the back it says <5mW and well i want a 5mW Red or Green

Well, for the green you're going to need to import it. For a red, you can take any old broken dvd player or dvdrom drive and extract the laser from that. Then press it into an aixiz module, use this guide to make a driver for it, set the driver to something really low like 40 milliamps, and away you go!
Burners are really only required by crazy people who want to light things on fire with their laser and burn up their eyeballs. If you just want a neat dot you can shine on things, the lasers from dvd players will work fine.[/quote]
One glitch in your advice. If he had access to an Aixiz module, it would already contain a 5mW red laser or better.[/quote]

You can buy 'blanks' yaknow.

 

[Spyderz20x6]

Hey.
In Australia [where i live] lasers are illegal but i still want one. Can someone give me Instructions, Tips and what i will need to make one. Also i don't have a DVD Writer but i have to LG 52X CD Writer is there a Laser Diode thingy in that??

BTW I'm only 14 and not that good with electronics so please make all instructions simple. The only way i can get a laser is to get a permit and import from America.

If you want a neat dot, you might as well take apart a PS3 KES-400A sled, get the diode, put it in a AixiZ module, buy a flexdrive, set it to 38mA. There you have it, a blu-ray laser that doesn't burn and is around 10mW. It also flourescences many objects too! And you can write on glow in the dark stuff!
You could always post in the Buy Sell Trade section and buy a cheap KES-400A diode already in an AixiZ module.
Or you could do the same thing, except with a diode from a DVD reader...