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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

my first DIY liquid sky

Joined
Feb 23, 2008
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its got a DDL style driver at 350ma and puts out a good 200mw. i dont have a fog machine and my camera sucks so it wont pick up cigarette smoke either. :-/ it looks good in person with cig smoke but im not trying to kill my self anytime soon so i need a smoke machine. its also got 2 cooling fans that blow directly on the heatsinks to keep them cool. :) the beam isnt quite straight b/c i cant seem to get the mirror aligned just right. i got the mirror from a lpc-815 sled, the 9-18v motor from radio shack, heatsinks for a laser host from dark horse, 2 40mm fans from a hdd cooler setup, and the heatsink for the driver is made from video card sinks that i thermal epoxied together. the power supply is a 9v 1.7a wall power plug i had laying around and it powers everything great. :)

setup:


running:


line projected on wall:
 





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That look very good for a first try! I believe you glued the mirror in such a way that the beam only hits the mirror when it need too?
By the looks of the first and second picture you only need to bend the mirror just a hint up to make it perfect. :)
 
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FireMyLaser said:
That look very good for a first try! I believe you glued the mirror in such a way that the beam only hits the mirror when it need too?
By the looks of the first and second picture you only need to bend the mirror just a hint up to make it perfect. :)
TY. the mirror was so small i really didnt have a choice about how it was mounted. ive been looking into some FS mirrors but unfortunatly i dont have the cash to spend on them ATM. the beam is only a little off and the box is only cardboard so im gonna redo everything later when i get a better enclosure. i ran it for over an hour last night to check how warm everything got but since i added another fan it nothing inside gets warm. ;)
 
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if i had any broken hdds layin around id try that but sadly i dont. edmund optics has decent prices on FS mirrors. i ordered a couple of small FS mirrors off ebay that went to an he-ne laser around 630nm. they should work well enough and theyre a little bigger than the sled mirrors so ill be able to line everything up better. :-? hopefully... i hate usin hot glue for stuff like this but im still in the "experimental stage" with my build. the 9-18v motor runs pretty loud so i have to use a sturdy enough box and find a better way to mount it.

heres a link to edmunds FS mirrors:
http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlinecatalog/displayproduct.cfm?productID=1743
 
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finally got some good pics...my g/f's camera takes better pics than mine ::)





 
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not bad at all, like the setup. :)

IMO though, too much smoke. Doesnt get the nice ripple.

Dam man, how much you smoke :D
 
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Black Spirit said:
not bad at all, like the setup.  :)

IMO though, too much smoke. Doesnt get the nice ripple.

Dam man, how much you smoke  :D
its an 800w smoke machine ;) it does get a nice "ripple" to it its just that there was a fan blowing at the same time so it kind of mixed the smoke around.
 
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those would work but the laser would lose a lot of power after shining through them. front surface or first surface mirrors work best.
 

jake21

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drew do u have a pic of ur hole set up ? i would like to see the box its in :cool:
 
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heres a few pics with a 405nm "time tunnel" running with the 660nm liquid sky.











 

Brett

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Very nice effects! Reminds me that I haven't tried a time tunnel yet with my 405nm.

-Brett
 
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At a 45 degree angle to the motor.
Laser    Mirror   Motor
-------------\====
               |
      Liquid sky effect

Your project inspired me to make one of my own ;)
But my mirror is off by a few degrees, so it makes the laser bounce a little upwards.
 




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