Welcome to Laser Pointer Forums - discuss green laser pointers, blue laser pointers, and all types of lasers

Buy Site Supporter Role (remove some ads) | LPF Donations

Links below open in new window

FrozenGate by Avery

Marble for build hosts?

Night Lase

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2024
Messages
69
Points
18
I have been wondering for a long time if it is possible to create a laser host, using raw marble worked ad hoc as a material, giving it the shape of a very specific host, even if its porosity makes it a poor conductor of heat, it still remains cold, but it tends to absorb heat, so there is no dissipation, however mine is only a hypothetical idea, we need to work on the dissipation, perhaps, lining the inside with copper, and then making holes, so that it can expel the heat?
 





A marble host would be an interesting choice. It would be very hard to carve that out into a laser host. Marble isn’t the hardest rock, but not easy to work with if inexperienced. And hollowing it out into a tube would be no easy feat.
 
I think someone made one or two i remember seen a member post it look very nice the heatsink was aluminum the rest was marble
 
In fact it is not at all, you could hear some marble worker, ask him if it is feasible or not, how long it would take to make them, the price, there are many things at stake that need to be ascertained, a host entirely and completely in marble with the laser module in copper, it would be fantastic, putting an aluminum heatsink would ruin the aesthetics or not?
 
That is a nice design

And maybe on/off switch in the back or on top next to the heatsink
You can put it wherever you want, both sides are the same, but this is just a photo for demo. It needs work and requires expert hands of a professional. The external heatsink should also have the color of marble, the great thing is that you can choose any marble you want, including the color.
 
Marble is used a lot for the custom ink pens hobby. There seems to be a lot of resources for working with it. I remember seeing special machining cutting bits for marble/stone for use on a lathe. I have some diamond hole boring bits for glass/stone that work great but require water to keep cool and wash away the cuttings.

The biggest problem with marble, or probably any stone, is that it's too brittle. Thin walls don't work well unless supported by something like a metal tube inside. It's mostly used as a decorative shell for ink pens.
 
Yes, marble, especially in the first example, is used as a handle for nib pens and ink in the bottle. Let's assume a marble tube 1.18 wide, 11.81 long, 0.39 in diameter, completely empty inside from one side to the other, threaded on both the tube and the part that acts as a cap with on/off switch. Would it be possible to do it? Or would it give way?
 
Thermal conductivity of marble is 2, aluminum is 237 , copper is 401, silver 429, and diamond is 1000.
Marble is a great insulator and electrical conductivity of marble is near zero.
Brittle and a poor choice for threading of any kind.

So get some place in Australia to fabricate a marble rod then hollow it to thin walled tube that could house a metal host center and accept threads and was electrically conductive perhaps or figure out how to electrically connect a tail cap switch and battery to the + or - of a driver in a marble host that is not electrically conductive and how to hold it all together.

Common sense says it is a better "how it looks" virtual world daydream than a laser pointer host but maybe you could get it to work with enough time, effort and money.There are no marble flashlights or laser pointers of any kind for a lot of real reasons but who knows maybe you can overcome the physics/material real world problems of several types inherent in the idea.
 
Last edited:
In fact, I made a round of phone calls, they gave me only one piece of information, that is, find some factory that works with marble, ask them if it is possible to have their *post-processing waste*, but that they have a non-round shape, but rectangular or even better if square, contact a good metal turner and explain to them how it must be made, giving them the precise measurements, with a fundamental recommendation, during the processing, coolant must always be used, or running water on the piece, both when working on the outside and inside, the same applies when you are going to make the threads. We at LPF, do we have metal turners, capable of doing this?
 
In fact, I made a round of phone calls, they gave me only one piece of information, that is, find some factory that works with marble, ask them if it is possible to have their *post-processing waste*, but that they have a non-round shape, but rectangular or even better if square, contact a good metal turner and explain to them how it must be made, giving them the precise measurements, with a fundamental recommendation, during the processing, coolant must always be used, or running water on the piece, both when working on the outside and inside, the same applies when you are going to make the threads. We at LPF, do we have metal turners, capable of doing this?
It can be theoretically done. This would be dangerous as hell on the scale you are after. I have centre lathes at work and would go nuts if I saw someone trying to load rock into the chuck. Marble can fracture and chip off easily. Materials you don't want being worked at high RPM are brittle materials and a material with cleavage. It would take one defect or one wrong move to have a catastrophe.
 
It can be theoretically done. This would be dangerous as hell on the scale you are after. I have centre lathes at work and would go nuts if I saw someone trying to load rock into the chuck. Marble can fracture and chip off easily. Materials you don't want being worked at high RPM are brittle materials and a material with cleavage. It would take one defect or one wrong move to have a catastrophe.
Not to mention the Marble dust health hazards and fragile nature of any thin tube created + the shipping costs involved to and from Australia.
"It is categorized as a Health Hazard Carcinogen Category 1A, because it contains crystalline silica (quartz). Applicable hazard statements: H350: May cause cancer from inhaling dust. H372: Causes damage to respiratory system (silicosis) through prolonged or repeated exposure to inhaled dust"

We at LPF, do we have metal turners, capable of doing this?
That is a joke right?
People in other Countries who play with marble on in the way needed will be hard to find as there is no market for same or reason to be doing so.
You are not going to find anyone with a lathe on LPF willing to experiment with machining marble , it is safe to say.

Make a conventional metal host laser pointer if you have not done so before you get involved in decorating one with marble, firstly would be my advice.
Looks like you have never made a laser pointer of any kind from your signature list.
Kits that are relatively easy to assemble are available.
 
Last edited:





Back
Top