I've got a question for you guys.

[Erock]

So I'm a complete noob here to the laser building community. I'm not even particularly intersted in building one, unless that is the only way to achieve what I'm after. I'm basically just looking for a fun toy. Here's what I want.

I want to set up a laser with very high beam visibility in my apartment. I'm basically going to point it at something, then put little pieces of mirror all over the place so that there's a web of beams created in my room. I've done this with a simple 5mW green pen pointer. But I would like a brighter beam, perhaps in the 25-40mW range, and I would like to be able to plug my laser into the wall. I've searched a lot online, but can't seem to find any single beam lasers that use just a regular plug for their power source.

So is there somewhere to buy something like this that I haven't found? Or is there an easy modification to something to make it run on regular power? I would like to make this as easy as possible, but if it takes some learning and building, I'm willing to give it a shot.

 

[kiyoukan]

well you will want a 50mw laser, the cheapest i know of is the ledshop green laser.
But you would have to self extract it. you can order just the module for around 20-30$ then all you need is a wall power supply that can put out around 3v at 250mw, you just attach it to the driver very minimal soldering needed.
you might need some sort of heat-sink. but nothing huge you could go to the homedepot and rig something up.
make sure to mount this on your ceiling please, i would hate for one of those beams to catch someone in the eye.
i would sugest buying a project box from radio shack and hot glueing your setup inside to keep it safe.
Not a hard project,
You could post in the BST area buying "WTB: lab style green laser 50-100mw"
This would get you a module in a heat sink
or you could buy this
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.32832
And take out the optics and you would get a normal beam, and its setup the way you wanted.
And maybe with this one you could just turn the sensitivity down all the way and cover the mic and it should not move the beam,

 

[Pontiacg5]

If you plan on running it for long periods of time you need to put the module in a heatsink.

I would buy a green module off of o-like, check they're modules out. From what I've read they are usually up to spec when you order the ones <50mW.

 

[daguin]

532nm 15mw TTL power adj. laser with DC power supply - eBay (item 360260462978 end time May-14-10 23:36:34 PDT)

532nm 50mw adj power laser TTL AC 90-240VAC - eBay (item 360261989292 end time May-22-10 13:01:44 PDT)

Peace,
dave

 

[Gryphon]

You could always use the 50mW Aixiz green module with power supply. The laser head
is big for continuos use, runs of mains power, and is almost always over spec with a
nice visible beam. Check out the Aixiz store on Ebay for them, i'll see if i can find a link.

 

[Gryphon]

532nm 50mw adj power laser TTL AC 90-240VAC - eBay (item 360261989292 end time May-22-10 13:01:44 PDT)

Well it would seem Dave beat me to it....this is what i was mentioning.

 

[Erock]

So if I got one of the modules like daguin posted, I would want to mount the pieces in a box with a fan, similar to the one in the lightshow machine that kiyoukan posted, to keep it from overheating?

 

[daguin]

So if I got one of the modules like daguin posted, I would want to mount the pieces in a box with a fan, similar to the one in the lightshow machine that kiyoukan posted, to keep it from overheating?

It is usually not needed. You may want to build something to protect the driver from being "handled", but the air moving over the module in an open room is generally enough the way it is.


Peace,
dave

 

[Eudaimonium]

You all folks keep forgetting one important thing!

405nm,473nm,532nm laser safety goggles [OLGLG532] - $19.99 : Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products

With a web of beams though your room,
BE VERY VERY CAREFUL!

Power of 50mW is enough to cause permanent (fo' life, man!) damage to your eyes, before you can even blink to protect it!

Do not neglect the needfor safety!

Lasers are not toys!!

Setting up a labby green is easy enough. You have your links provided in the thread, and get some safety goggles, like the one I linked.

Also, notify anybody else who might enter the room! Explain that it dangerous and care is needed!

 

[Pontiacg5]

Also the cheaper modules usually diverge really fast so the beam will get rather large very quickly when bouncing it back and forth through a room. Try to find a module with the lowest mRad rating. 1.2 is considered pretty good.

 

[chipdouglas]

listen to euadimonium....SAFETY FIRST in that situation.

 

[Eudaimonium]

listen to euadimonium....SAFETY FIRST in that situation.

Misspelled my name there... ah, forget it
Just type JZ when reffering to me, a'ight?

 

[chipdouglas]

listen to JZ..... SAFETY FIRST in that situation.

and sorry for the misspelling.... Eudaimonium isn't standard in my spell checker.... :crackup::crackup::crackup:


Edit.... i had "listen" spelled incorrectly. it has since been fixed.


with reluctance
michael

 

[Eudaimonium]

lisetn to JZ..... SAFETY FIRST in that situation.

and sorry for the misspelling.... Eudaimonium isn't standard in my spell checker.... :crackup::crackup::crackup:

Misspelled "Listen" now...
Ah, why do I even bother?

Sorry bro or giving you hard time, I just cannot help myself.

Anyhow, for anybody reading this,reffeing to JZ is reffering to me. JZ = My real name initials, so, everybody will get it with minimum keyboard torture.

 

[Rafa]

Misspelled "Listen" now...
Ah, why do I even bother?

Sorry bro or giving you hard time, I just cannot help myself.

Anyhow, for anybody reading this,reffeing to JZ is reffering to me. JZ = My real name initials, so, everybody will get it with minimum keyboard torture.

Now you have misspelled "for"

By the way, OP, when you finish that thing, post pics!

 

[Pontiacg5]

If you aren't using front surface mirrors the beam will get progressivly weaker and more scattered with every mirror. It is a problem that is a lot more pronounced with green lasers than red lasers because of the extra visibility. If you don't have any front surface mirrors you can get them from a harddrive, a scanner, and some polariod cameras.

Here is what happens, the laser actually reflects off of the glass, the mirrored surface, and the interior surface of the glass. It will make your one laser beam into 3 laser beams, one strong one and two weaker ones.