Hi, my name is micah. I think lasers are cool and want to build a laser tunnel and the liquid sky effect. Want to start off small and then do some more challenging stuff. I have ordered a 5mw red and a 680watt smoke machine.
Welcome to the forum! A 5mW probably won't be good enough, even in fog. I suggest a cheap green laser if you want to start off. Get either the "true 5" or the "true 30" from www.dealextreme.com , they are great lasers to start off with.
Well i was a little worried about eye damage using a more powerful laser. any thoughts? I mean like in a club type setting. Just keep it up in the air? cause i wanted the tunnel to stobe around. I know that it will definately be more visible though. Also by the true 30 do you mean the True Green Laser Pen 30mW. That will probably be the next one i buy cause its cheap and looks nice.
also any recommendations for cheap servos and a controller that will get the job done?
My first tunnel and liquid sky though im going to use mirrors on a nut for the sky and a tilted mirror on a motor for the tunnel.
If it is going to be in a club setting, get the "True Green Laser Pen 5mW" for safety reasons, 5mW is considered safe enough for public. You could always get the "True Green Laser Pen 30mW" for your own use though.
5mw red in a club = laser that will barely be seen, In clubs, you have to consider all the other lighting too. The legal limit is 5mw in the US as far as im aware of, so the DX 5 would work OK, but if you want huge thick green beams, id go with somehting higher powered, like the DX 30. They are all pretty safe when used correctly. Simply, if you accidently hit yourself in the eye with it, you may have a blindspot for < a minute, but while its scanning the risks arent very big.... Welcome to the forum
I honestly can't recommend DX to anyone new... stick around for any length of time and you'll find out why.
So, first on my list would be an X-Series from Nova Lasers. You really can't go wrong with those.