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FrozenGate by Avery

How to make a Co2 laser?

X

xJumper

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Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Messages
161
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16
Yea a n00b like me who is pretty new to lasers is going to try out his luck and make a Co2 laser. Problem is I have NO idea where to start, could you first start off by listing the BARE MINIMUM or parts I would need, than after that we can move on to safety and proper housing of the laser.
 





Even a hardcore laser expert would rather buy a CO2 laser that go through the hassles of building one. Do you even know what a CO2 laser is? Even just trying to make the glass laser tube would be nearly impossible without some serious professional equipment.

If you really want one, your best bet is somewhere like ebay: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=co2+laser&category0= for a few grand, you could probably pick up a nice used on with all the power pack and water cooling pumps you need :)
 
No I know about the tube thing and I can buy one off ebay, the rest I would like to make.
 
What, just the power supply and the water pump?

Just buy them man, it wouldn't be worth it DIY :) If you're willing to splash out half a grand on a tube, you may as well spend another half grand setting up the equipment to make it work.
 
Or you could just buy parts that are rather easy to assemble at home with ordinary tools and knowledge and some effort and you'll be able to cut down a big chunk of that price. ::) Besides, it is somewhat satisfactory to have some involvement in it's coming to life :P
But with the lazy attitude you had when starting this thread, I don't see you're gonna get anything done.
 
Ok then il buy all my damn parts off ebay, but what I need is a part list and like I said, BARE minimum, let me handle all the extra stuff like building it, ect... Just give me a list of the parts.
 
Well, if you want to build a power supply from scratch... have you seen the circuit boards in one of those things? I don't think anyone on these forums knows exactly what components you need, let alone a circuit board diagram.

The pumps would be nice and easy to do DIY, just buy some pumps and tubing :) But maybe not the power supply.

Hey, check this one out: http://cgi.ebay.com/100W-CO2-Sealed...ryZ53141QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
100 Watt laser with everything you need to get it running for ~$3000. Not too shabby :)
 
Lol thats all I need? A power supply, cooling and a laser tube? I have an old 300w power supply from an old computer, a liquid cooling system made for a computer but could not fit in my gaming case so its useless, and then I buy a laser tube off ebay.


Sweet, solder it all together and a Co2 laser!


EDIT: I cant seem to find a laser tube alone, and they cost one crap load of money, maybe I should re-think this.
 
Dude, that ain't your typical computer power supply... That thing puts out thousands of volts.
 
xJumper said:
Lol thats all I need? A power supply, cooling and a laser tube? I have an old 300w power supply from an old computer, a liquid cooling system made for a computer but could not fit in my gaming case so its useless, and then I buy a laser tube off ebay.


Sweet, solder it all together and a Co2 laser!


EDIT: I cant seem to find a laser tube alone, and they cost one crap load of money, maybe I should re-think this.
Click to expand...
You can't use any ordinary power supply. Those tubes need 35,000+ volts to start and 20,000 sustained volts.
 
I reccomend you try laser-building with something less expensive/dangerous/difficult. Then progress.
 
35,000 volts! HOLY CAP! I think im going to stick to something a bit more safe, I don't feel like zapping myself, anyway thanks for the help...
 
Yea well, 300V won't make carbon dioxide emit laser light you know ::)
Current is too low to get killed I think :-/ It's still gonna hurt like hell it arches through your hand though.
 
Switch said:
Yea well, 300V won't make carbon dioxide emit laser light you know ::)
Current is too low to get killed I think :-/ It's still gonna hurt like hell it arches through your hand though.
Click to expand...
30ma at 30,000V is still 1000+watts sizzling through your body. Even if you don't die it is going to leave some nasty burns.
 
xJumper said:
35,000 volts! HOLY CAP! I think im going to stick to something a bit more safe, I don't feel like zapping myself, anyway thanks for the help...
Click to expand...

Ah, so NOW you understand another reason why I kept saying to just buy one.

Since you were so keen on making one, I thought you'd done your research on them and figured that one out  ::) But as you hadn't, well, tens of thousands of volts is pretty dangerous with a DIY unless you really know what you are doing.

And since you made a post saying 'I don't know what I'm doing, tell me how to do it' then I'd say no :)


Look, just my $0.02. A CO2 laser is a serious project, and a dangerous thing. You came here having done NO research what so ever. Do you even know what wavelength they emit? Such a lazy, ignorant attitude is very dangerous around such a high power object. I sincerely suggest you don't do this project before having matured into the field of lasers a bit, and learning more.
 
And matured into the field of searching and doing research.Google, wikipedia, Sam's laser FAQ, LPF youtube( :D)...it's so easy, does you good, and doesn't make you look like a complete lazy f*** coming here making 5 or 6 new threads in one day asking random questions like "I have no idea what a CO2 laser is, please post a detailed tutorial on how to build one, cuz I herd their kewl" ::)
Yup.....doing homework, it's hard, but it's beneficial.Try it! :P Nobody likes doing the work for lazy people.
 
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