My first build ( DIY from raw materials ) WIP

[The Lightning Stalker]

Yeah, they do work fine like that, just look like crap.

 

[jbtm]

Well, mind you I'm using a custom tool. My previous tool did rather nice threads because after hardening it, I polished the edges and gave it a 10 degree rake. But I found with mine looking like yours does, its a lot of little burs which once removed after extensive cleaning, seems to leave a nice thread.

While I'm at this post, I need to ask so I know for construction. Are these diodes case positive, case negative, or isolated? Trying to figure if I should run negative through the host body or what..

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

Well that's good that it turned out well for you. On my piece it was actually partially ripping the threads
out, but that is because it is really gummy 6061.

 

[Pman]

I love watching how things all come together. Easily REP deserving.
Having access to this kind of machinery shouldn't be taken for granted. Glad you can't see a lot of us drooling
Agree with the rattling/smoothness stuff. I can't stand threads that feel rough and will do whatever I have to to not have rattling batteries.

 

[Antharak]

Outstanding work. Really, thanks for sharing! Definitely + Rep.

 

[jbtm]

Been quiet lately I know. I've been busy gathering stuff to make a lightsaber after i finish this. Oddly I'm still waiting on dead diodes etc that were shipped snail mail and its been >3 weeks. Hopefully they arent lost or something.

Anywho. I cannot really do much more here besides make my focusing section, which even still, I need to buy the laser diode + lens that comes with it, before I can move on. And right now i dont really have the cash to dump on it so there really isnt TOO much more I can do here until I get the diode.

Currently everything is functional in concept.

The button on the bottom ( Crowns I did by eye cuz I didnt feel like CNC'ing ) is a latch button. Which isnt mounted yet, when pressed the green ring around the momentary button glows indicating the laser is active.

I have wired it in the past to a 5W green LED and when pushed, the LED lights up. The button feels VERY lovely and requires HARDLY any pressure to press. Less than my traditional tactile laser pointer buttons require. Also its banked at an angle which makes it feel really nice and natural. The knurling job on the handle is meh.

We never learned knurling. And I had a mistake. I figured 3" of aluminum sticking out at 1.2" diameter would be strong enough to support knurling. Once i got to the end-cap side, it F'ed up due to chatter and dislocating the peice in the chuck a little due to side pressure. Due to this, I had to lathe the crap gone and start over. Then i had another issue, the big fat knurling tool was too wide and i couldnt go fully over unless i wanted to crash into the chuck because i didnt have my part sticking out right and i noticed this too late. So I had to slice off a good 6mm at the top, just below the button.

I'm highly undecided if I'm going to call it good, and do a flat end-mill job on one side for a laser name, or if I'll remove the entire knurl and have it one smooth piece. Thoughts? The current knurling job looks fine, I'm just unsure about it not being all the way up..

Regardless of that, everything seems to be going well

 

[Speedy78]

Sooooooo When can I have it? That end result is amazing. Very nice job.

 

[jbtm]

Sooooooo When can I have it? That end result is amazing. Very nice job.

Thanks, I'm still working on a couple focusing ring designs. One way is the lazy 'threading' method where it would stick out if unscrewed far. My other idea was still threads, but having a nut inside basically that has 2 rodes that move it up/down. Then the focusing ring can spin for infinity and never shift up/down. Via nylon snap-in track.

http://i.imgur.com/2s9TjG9.jpg

May sound/seem complex but really its fairly simple/easy in my opinion. Its just one of those 'once snapped in, it wont come out easily' deals. so, I cant make it til I buy a lens.

 

[Speedy78]

Similar to what Jet Lasers uses I would imagine. Or kind of like those mechanical pencils with the eraser that moves in and out when you twist the ring.

 

[crazyspaz]

want :drool:

 

[jbtm]

Guess until I get my diode I start the next project. Light saber that'll run Crystal Focus :3

 

[SerpantSlayer]

Been quiet lately I know. I've been busy gathering stuff to make a lightsaber after i finish this. Oddly I'm still waiting on dead diodes etc that were shipped snail mail and its been >3 weeks. Hopefully they arent lost or something.

Anywho. I cannot really do much more here besides make my focusing section, which even still, I need to buy the laser diode + lens that comes with it, before I can move on. And right now i dont really have the cash to dump on it so there really isnt TOO much more I can do here until I get the diode.

Currently everything is functional in concept.

The button on the bottom ( Crowns I did by eye cuz I didnt feel like CNC'ing ) is a latch button. Which isnt mounted yet, when pressed the green ring around the momentary button glows indicating the laser is active.

I have wired it in the past to a 5W green LED and when pushed, the LED lights up. The button feels VERY lovely and requires HARDLY any pressure to press. Less than my traditional tactile laser pointer buttons require. Also its banked at an angle which makes it feel really nice and natural. The knurling job on the handle is meh.

We never learned knurling. And I had a mistake. I figured 3" of aluminum sticking out at 1.2" diameter would be strong enough to support knurling. Once i got to the end-cap side, it F'ed up due to chatter and dislocating the peice in the chuck a little due to side pressure. Due to this, I had to lathe the crap gone and start over. Then i had another issue, the big fat knurling tool was too wide and i couldnt go fully over unless i wanted to crash into the chuck because i didnt have my part sticking out right and i noticed this too late. So I had to slice off a good 6mm at the top, just below the button.

I'm highly undecided if I'm going to call it good, and do a flat end-mill job on one side for a laser name, or if I'll remove the entire knurl and have it one smooth piece. Thoughts? The current knurling job looks fine, I'm just unsure about it not being all the way up..

Regardless of that, everything seems to be going well

This is one of the best hosts I've seen... the green LED really does it for me

 

[jbtm]

Would it not be overkill crazy if this was a laser pointer? xD It's not done yet. Still got lathe/mill/drill work to do. That as well as laser cutting stencils to do some artwork on the 2 outermost pipes This was also made from solid stock, and all the screw-together-points ( 3 ) are all the same exact threads to interchange for zero reason...fun? xD

Just thought id share my light-saber progress :3 Tis a 5W green LED for now. Still a lot to do to it.. Something along the lines of this, is going on the front outer shell: http://i.imgur.com/8sEQv2e.jpg

 

[jbtm]

*bump*

As an update to this post for those who may be wondering 'what happen to the build, is it done?' etc. Here's some info.

So as some of you know i finished college back in november 2013. This lead me with no access to machinery to finish things up. Our maker space recently got a lathe donated a few months back, and its being refurbished by me. The lathe is in operational condition currently, however there's a few things that need to be done, some areas need cleaning, a lot of areas need oiling. I also suspect a crash happen on this lathe by the previous owner, so i need to rip open and go deep into the geers and find if he popped a pin or full stripped a gear.

http://i.imgur.com/IXjlI8X.jpg I did a very crud rough-cut test to see what worked on the lathe, what didnt. Now that I know, i plan my next visit ( wednesday ) to be 6 hours of ripping a lathe apart and finding the issues, and cleaning her up.

Once shes fully operational and in good health, we have tooling on the way ( right now we just have a standard 60 degrees carbide cutter.

So until then. No progress. What I intend to do for this laser ( seeing the inside mounting wasnt really planned to well ) is do a pretty simple focusing module, got a few things in mind. if the lathe proves itself by doing good accurate threading and constant-rate cuts, I plan to finish this one up ( fully operational laser ) and may toy around at making a version 2 that doesnt have JB-weld and shit holding the button on the side in. I kinda built the thing and as i installed its parts went oh...crap... i totally over-looked this...and already know how to improve things.

That all being said. All I need to do to finish this laser up, is build the focusing assembly, and install a diode. Already have a driver and such for it. If all goes to plan, and the lathe cleaning goes well, i may be able to start work on this by next week wednesday.

For those wondering what the lathe looks like... Its a free donated one to our maker space, and its plenty big, and rigid, to do jobs for stuff like this.

http://i.imgur.com/QbkziRK.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/V8EplRp.jpg

It was in a lot worst shape when we first got it ( the green was mostly black and caked on crud ) but we did a looot of cleaning. now that ive been fully knowledge by my school and a shop teacher, im going to properly clean and shine the ways, chuck, lead screw, everything..so shes gliding along.

 

[crazyspaz]

Good to hear from you again! I was wondering if we would ever see this completed
Just one question....will you make more than 1? I dont know about the rest of the people here, but i LOVE the look of it, and wouldnt mind adding one to my collection someday Would look incredible with 1W 520nm diode!

 

[jbtm]

You know what... under further review...this laser host wasnt made with 6061-T6 aircraft grade AL. I did some comparason searches of 6061-T6 vs 7075-T6 and seeing people say 7075 chips break extreamly short, shines easily with surface finishes etc, this 'HAS' to be 7075-T6 aluminum, which would explain why my teacher informed me its 'aircraft grade' and 'very expensive' That may also explain why the threads on the body are sooooo smooth and gliding, less gummy than 6061. Because i remember when i was cutting this stuff at a depth-of-cut of 0.300 inches, even at 0.050 the chips were like little snow pellets for the cutting tool and parting tool. seeing videos of 7075 cutting on youtube, theirs did the same. where 6061 people say its gummy, and prone to long pigtail chips.

So thats interesting. Guess that explains why this shined up so easy with no additional polishing work...literally what you see is how it shine from a finishing pass. but that tells me its a damn strong host.. xD

In answer to your question, will see. Honestly it all depends how well this lathe is. This host was built at my school, on a full 6ft bed lathe, with a chuck that accepted 5" diameter stock. aka extremely rigid and powerful with access to high-end tooling. right now my access is well..... a single carbide cutter. we're getting more at least...hopefully. Given this lathes thread chaser works and such... will see. Right now power feed doesnt work, suspect the past owner crashed it, so im expecting to find a stripped gear or similar. replaceable at least. As currently i can only do power passes with threading..which works but..eh.

Once i have a 60 degrees cutter, Boring bar, and parting tool, I'll be good to go on making one.

Given the 2nd one comes out good, i can look into making a host for you or something. its all in the air until i see how it comes out making an entire host on this lathe. I'm happy to find this host ( 1.400" dia ) runs me only 20 bucks via ebay for stock to make it. i was in fear my teachers 'expensive' woulda ment like 50..70...etc XD

I also want to play with some other ideas on making the laser holder/focusing module..