My DIY Spirograph

[crystalcai]

I dont know much about spirographs, but for a DIY, I like it!
If you want to get rid of having 2 sets of batterys/power supplies, you should look into using a 3v regulator.
Just an idea if you want

hi ,can you tell me how to make a difference between 200MW green laser to 5 mw ,do they has any appearance difference. How to test the power?

 

[Pman]

Sounds great. How many mw is the 532? I've got fans, pots, motors, project boxes and plenty of battery holders but probably not the mirrors.
Should be getting the Arg datalogger in a couple days but unsure of when my ARGMeter will be ready for shipment.
Too many interesting projects May have to buy another large case from Harbor Freight to hold projects

 

[awillis2589]

The 532 is around 40-50 its from a pen laser but I've got nice ore stable modules coming from fasttech now. I got the mirrors at hobby lobby like 20ct for 2.49.

 

[Pman]

Wonder about the little motors that must be in toothbrushes. Maybe I'll tear one apart just to see.
Have an identical set of 3 fans Evercool EC4020M12S DC12V, .08A, , .96W, 5000rpm, that used to be in a front computer slot to pull air thru. 40mm x 40mm x 20mm.
Tested them and they take about 7V to start but won't stall till about 2.9V. Not sure how much V they can take but ran them up to 15V quick and they are still below rated amp draw. Course this is without a mirror.
What kind of rpm do they need to run at?
The ones you ordered are about 1/2 the thickness. Don't see an rpm rating.
So a plastic/acrylic mirror is ok? Thought I would need real glass but that is heavy. You can get round dental inspection mirrors that are plastic at pretty much any pharmacy/Walmart/Ebay. Would need to know from others if they are appropriate though. Not interested in gluing mirrors on and then ruining the motor trying to get them back off. Wondering if it would be possible to spin the motor slowly horizontaly and let the mirror find it's smooth position before the glue dries.

 

[hakzaw1]

@ crystalcai
'hi ,can you tell me how to make a difference between 200MW green laser to 5 mw ,do they has any appearance difference. How to test the power?'




WTH??
just jump into any old thread and ask away--

you ain't from 'round these aorts are you?? lol

You need to do some study- LOTS

and w/o you going back and filling out your personal profile- not much help will (or should be coming)

We do not care at all if English is not your best- if we know where you are... a member that speaks your language may help.

GO NOW to the "WELCOME' section- read how others came here-& introduced themselves and make a thread-& fill out you profile!!!

@ willis
man tel me-- I have been gettingthe throwaways at my local drugstore and went the other day- was told the machines are leaving- all will be sent to fuji
he dood gave me all the MT ones he had- around 100 I got 80 AAs nd 20 AAAs 95% all good-



If you want free batteries dont wait- some drugstores dont want to give them up- as the machine owners WANT them-- I jsurt asked for a few the first tme-- then more- you may need to ask a different employee. some are more friendly --lokk for a new one.
@ Pman YES-- I have a few that will get used- whats cool is they come with charger-switch- and more.
may be hard to get into the innards but it can be done - the motors are very high RPM-I wanted to attach one next to a handheld with mirrors to make a 'tunnel gun'
any re-chargerable item has use with lasers. Even the ones from drills can be used after they do not work so well with the drill-

thrift shops also have old cell phones- the older the better/cheaper-
the vibrator motors are nice but as been said getting the weight off the spindle is not too easy- these can be purchased w/o that weights but they want too much for them IMO.

these IIRC are what Rog and Jeff use inside their rgb mini spiros..


ALSO one drawback from PC fans is not being able to reverse direction.

look for two wired RC cars- you can make 3 or 4 motor Spiro with them in a day.
speed & direction controlled- not need to wire them- just harvest and use.

also @ Pman-

FS mirrors are the only WAY- to go. cutable if you know how- no real need for them to be round( unless you are OCD)
the ones inside poliroid One- steps are very light( thin) with luck one of those will make several usable mirrors- glue the smallest one to your first motor and the biggest to he one farthest from your laser(s) you can use more than one laser by knife edging with the leftover small pieces of you poliroid mirrors- no need to stack them 100% just try to get into a close grouping-

AFAIK dental mirrors are not FS.

I no longer worry much about my mirrors being 'too flatly' attached- as looks almost impossible to do that if you tried- however you will want the 'flatest' closest to the lasers and the mirror/motors as close together as possible-almost touching-- or you will have clipping-

also to avoid 'wobble' do try to center your mirrors and attach your motor to your base
firmly--

hope this helps

len

 

[Jmillerdoc]

Can someone here recommend a good source for some small round FS mirrors? Tried ebay but couldn't find anything there.

 

[FRITZ HID]

Can someone here recommend a good source for some small round FS mirrors? Tried ebay but couldn't find anything there.

I'm looking for these as well. seem to more harvest item then a purchase item.
i'd like to find a few dozen if i can but if i need to buy a large one and cut it down, i will.... would REALLY prefer plastic to glass in that case however.
with a large enough enclosure and a few beam combiners, i'd love to build an RGB spyro!

 

[hakzaw1]

I'm looking for these as well. seem to more harvest item then a purchase item.
i'd like to find a few dozen if i can but if i need to buy a large one and cut it down, i will.... would REALLY prefer plastic to glass in that case however.
with a large enough enclosure and a few beam combiners, i'd love to build an RGB spyro!

Fritz--the last post before yours was early 2013--
BUT Spiro needs attention- and perhaps this thread needs a sticky.

FSMirrors-I ALSO got some Hobby Lobby & used paint remover to get down to the 'back side' BUT the need to avoid 'regular; mirrors is not so important - w/ spiro
playing around w/ a FSM attached in a way that it WILL wobble some and do so differently by speed and direction.
IMO the 4th mirror/motor is not worth the hassle.
I hear NOTHING from any spiro motors COZ I gots the music blasting.

list to make best 3 Motor Spiro
3 mirrors
3 vdc motors (PC fans are NOT reversible)
3 pots to adj.
3 quality DPDT switches WITH OFF in the middle.
12 vdc PS
RG&B or V lasers
dihros or FSMs for knifing your RGBorV
3 spst switches if you want to control the RGBs-7 options.
R-G-V- RG-RV GV and RGV

alignment can be done any way you want as long as the size of the 3 combined beams can be hitting all your mirrors w/o clipping ..WHILE running.
easier way to make your layout is
Start with where you want the beam to exit- the only way you can avoid it coming from a corner of your base (nylon cutting boards work fine for me.)

seems the 532 pointers fail quicker while the red pointers are robust.
if using pointers BUT at $3 each??

average combined power before losses on MOST RGV pointers I have gotten recently (never more than ~3$each) is 170 to 200 mW.

bright enough for spiro in darkish room.
ps
I sell
DTDP off middle switches FS
as well as spst switches.

 

[DJZ]

I'm looking for these as well. seem to more harvest item then a purchase item.
i'd like to find a few dozen if i can but if i need to buy a large one and cut it down, i will.... would REALLY prefer plastic to glass in that case however.
with a large enough enclosure and a few beam combiners, i'd love to build an RGB spyro!

I noticed you're in Florida. There's a store in Orlando called SkyCraft. Last time I was there that had hundreds of little first surface mirrors. I think they were around 1" square. I picked up a few dozen for .25 each! They also had some various little optics, all in the same area.

 

[FRITZ HID]

Fritz--the last post before yours was early 2013--
BUT Spiro needs attention- and perhaps this thread needs a sticky.

FSMirrors-I ALSO got some Hobby Lobby & used paint remover to get down to the 'back side' BUT the need to avoid 'regular; mirrors is not so important - w/ spiro
playing around w/ a FSM attached in a way that it WILL wobble some and do so differently by speed and direction.
IMO the 4th mirror/motor is not worth the hassle.
I hear NOTHING from any spiro motors COZ I gots the music blasting.

list to make best 3 Motor Spiro
3 mirrors
3 vdc motors (PC fans are NOT reversible)
3 pots to adj.
3 quality DPDT switches WITH OFF in the middle.
12 vdc PS
RG&B or V lasers
dihros or FSMs for knifing your RGBorV
3 spst switches if you want to control the RGBs-7 options.
R-G-V- RG-RV GV and RGV

alignment can be done any way you want as long as the size of the 3 combined beams can be hitting all your mirrors w/o clipping ..WHILE running.
easier way to make your layout is
Start with where you want the beam to exit- the only way you can avoid it coming from a corner of your base (nylon cutting boards work fine for me.)

seems the 532 pointers fail quicker while the red pointers are robust.
if using pointers BUT at $3 each??

average combined power before losses on MOST RGV pointers I have gotten recently (never more than ~3$each) is 170 to 200 mW.

bright enough for spiro in darkish room.
ps
I sell
DTDP off middle switches FS
as well as spst switches.

sry, dident notice dates... still learning new format.

 

[FRITZ HID]

I noticed you're in Florida. There's a store in Orlando called SkyCraft. Last time I was there that had hundreds of little first surface mirrors. I think they were around 1" square. I picked up a few dozen for .25 each! They also had some various little optics, all in the same area.

i sure am! and ty!!!
and to you, i offer with Astro II (now MRE Electronics) just outside of Melbourne. it's a GREAT Electronics Surplus/recycling place. (contact me for details)

i scored a mint SP-107B (35mW min) for $20 there. it's a part-out facility so alot of the work is "pull-your-own part" style!
lots of Inds, Med, Lab equip. 100kv trans from x-rays, etc...

if you're near the space coast, msg me! i'm sure we could trade some stories at the least!

 

[RedCowboy]

I love building these, I add a 4th mirror that has to pass back across but the effect is wild, then add multiple lasers.

Very cool build, I want to do another.

 

[hakzaw1]

i sure am! and ty!!!
and to you, i offer with Astro II (now MRE Electronics) just outside of Melbourne. it's a GREAT Electronics Surplus/recycling place. (contact me for details)

i scored a mint SP-107B (35mW min) for $20 there. it's a part-out facility so alot of the work is "pull-your-own part" style!
lots of Inds, Med, Lab equip. 100kv trans from x-rays, etc...

if you're near the space coast, msg me! i'm sure we could trade some stories at the least!

))))))))))))))))
howaboutthat--
small world
Met with Mitch twice during my travels in Fl. at his former place (or maybe only a name change?) when I got there he had a monitor up front with the forum on it..
he does fine work..

also TY for the tip on Skycraft +8 when I can.

 

[DJZ]

i sure am! and ty!!!
and to you, i offer with Astro II (now MRE Electronics) just outside of Melbourne. it's a GREAT Electronics Surplus/recycling place. (contact me for details)

i scored a mint SP-107B (35mW min) for $20 there. it's a part-out facility so alot of the work is "pull-your-own part" style!
lots of Inds, Med, Lab equip. 100kv trans from x-rays, etc...

if you're near the space coast, msg me! i'm sure we could trade some stories at the least!

I managed to get by Astro II but it's been a few years. I need to get by there again someday.

The 107's are very nice! I once found an SP124 and a little CO2 laser at SkyCraft. I couldn't get the CO2 laser to work and the 124 had a bad ballast. I managed to fix the ballast and it worked great after that.

I live in right up the road in the Jax area! Hope you can make it to SELEM this year!

 

[FRITZ HID]

I managed to get by Astro II but it's been a few years. I need to get by there again someday.

The 107's are very nice! I once found an SP124 and a little CO2 laser at SkyCraft. I couldn't get the CO2 laser to work and the 124 had a bad ballast. I managed to fix the ballast and it worked great after that.

I live in right up the road in the Jax area! Hope you can make it to SELEM this year!

funny thing, i just happened to stop by Astro II today and picked up.... *drumroll*
A Beautiful LaserPhysics Reliant 300WC for $30!!!!! Yes, $30.00. now just need to free up some 240v in my house... even if it needs regassing, totally worth it!

 

[DJZ]

funny thing, i just happened to stop by Astro II today and picked up.... *drumroll*
A Beautiful LaserPhysics Reliant 300WC for $30!!!!! Yes, $30.00. now just need to free up some 240v in my house... even if it needs regassing, totally worth it!

No way! That's an awesome laser! Fire it up already!