Pen Laser Thread

[The Lightning Stalker]

Those 10180 cells must have pretty low capacity. Ever try and see how much draw they could handle?

They claim to be 70mAh, sitting on the
shelf, never charged.

 

[Pman]

Well here's the more "special" half 2/3rd size ones:

5 units that have constant on.

 

[crazyspaz]

Built another tonight, and what a pain it was. Most of the struggle was finding an LED in my house that wasn't white (my last build had a white LED, wanted something different). After I killed the one blue LED I could find (fail), I found one that cycled through red-green-cyan-purple-blue then back to red.

and here's a cruddy little gif of the indicator changing colors

used a blitzbuck @~1.5A and an A series 445nm diode. Gets hot quick, but then again it is a pen
Probably my favorite pen yet- the only thing I don't like is the button hole seems to be a hair too large, so the button can move side to side a minute amount. No biggy though...Now what to do with 3x >1W 445 pens :O

 

[Pman]

Awesome. Runtime/schumtime. Keep them is what I would do +REP
Now you can see here in your pic how thin that gold is as the chrome shines though it in places. You just end up taking it off with normal handling

Here's a couple pics of the one I just did with an LPC-826 at 380mW:

Dremeled the black off of it:

 

[MickyP]

I really hope to not necro post. Is a few months to long?

Don't let it stop there Pman!!

What else do you have?

I am extensively researching the possibility of building some high power (~200mW) 532 DPSS module pen builds. You seem to have some 200mW builds there, do you care to talk about them?

I grabbed some $5 Chinese 532nm ebay pens a few months ago that are somewhat overspec.
They are those generic black rubber units with a chrome clip and chrome aperture that you are very very familiar with.
On my LPM they peak at about 80-90mW. Average power probably ~60mW.
Excellent power and beam for the price. Stability is terrible though, you can see large drops and equally large spikes in output power with the naked eye every few moments.

Still. They are $5. Its a steal.

I would love for you to share your experience with your higher power 532 DPSS pens, if you are willing?

Mike.

 

[Lifetime17]

Hi P.
I enjoy pens just started building them. I have a few in 445 and 450 and 405nm.
The 405 is my favorite in a brass host.

 

[Pman]

Well I do have some pens still awaiting builds that look like crazyspaz units above.
Any 532nm pen that I have that is over 200mW would have to be from laserebtb and I didn't build those. As crazy said a small build like this can be a big pain but so worth it if you are into the pen form factor.

 

[Pman]

New build using an PLTB-450B, B-linear driver, white LED in a Laser 66 host:

Link:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/pltb-450b-laser66-build-led-indicator-96212.html#post1400003

 

[Jeffrey T]

Great thread congrats on 2k Pete. As a lucky owner of a RGB set of yours I can tell you they got me loving pens. I bought from the BST section a 80mW 520 pen made by BTB and the feel of this high quality pen is awesome. It's one of my favorites and also my first 520. Pens are really fun but just as a word of caution to the new members of the laser community momentary side buttons can be easily activated un intentionally.

My 520 has two tail caps one has a tiny safety key the other is constant armed. I removed the key tail cap and attached the constant armed one because I felt it's was unnecessary and when I was putting the pen back in its case the lid hit the button and the beam activated. My wife was sleeping and the dot hit the wall very close to her head. It really gave me quite a wake up call.
I no longer store any lasers with batteries and if safety switches are an option I utilize them.

I know what you mean about the tailcap safety switch. I was very happy to get the optional "always on" cap with mine too, but don't use it either. The only way you can keep the button from being pressed down while the case is shut, is to face the button into the cutout, which then does make it challenging to remove the laser without firing it off.

What a great looking selection guys! I like these form factors too, as it's nice to be able to easily take carry these with you. Plus, I'm seeing new videos of units this size with much bigger power, so we'll probably see more of these smaller ones as the technology continues to become more energy and heat efficient I'm guessing.

-jeff

 

[AniWon]

PMan love the pen, looking to make myself one soon. Where'd you get the driver from?

 

[Laser Chick]

Very nice looking build.
BTW, in all the years I have had hand held lasers, I never once have stored them with batteries in them. The moment I am done with a laser I remove the batteries. Is it a bit of a pain, yes it is but having a possible fire or a strike to the eye is a much bigger pain.

 

[BowtieGuy]

Here is a pen build using the Opnext/Oclaro 120mW 638nm diode that I've finally finished; I'll be posting some photos and info. in the "Red lasers" section in a day or so.

Edit: Posted a build thread in "Red" laser section. 2/4/16 -LINK-

 

[Pman]

Actually the driver came from Crazyspaz or Budgetbeams and neither has them anymore as Crazy has dropped out of the hobby and Moh just got rid of all he had as he is almost done selling off all his inventory as interest waned. Someone else must have them but I don't know who originally made them. Just called a B-linear with a lo and hi option by soldering across a couple contacts on the board. Lo is up to 500mA and hi is up to 1000mA 2 batteries. It's a really small driver so it fits inside the aluminum module piece easily. I have a couple more but have plans for them.
Bow, is that host from that 2 pack at home depot? If you are interested I will buy a couple of those other ones I found there for a couple packs of the ones you found. I like the way that looks. Funny how that lens holder costs 4 or 5 times what the host does. Your build area is too neat

 

[Pman]

I will probably build a Mits 500 in a gold laser 66 pen like the last pic I showed soon. Maybe even today. Plan on doing up a special 520nm (PLP520-B1) also in a different special pen host that I believe was originally a CNI unit soon too. Just built a PLTB-450B 1.8W and M462 2W yesterday with those last 2 B-linear drives I mentioned I had but they are not in pens. Waiting on a couple bdr-209 diodes from China and need to get drivers for those. Plan on one going into another Laser 66 gold pen.

 

[pucho]

Those look really nice, good job pman:gj:

 

[Pman]

Thanks
Finished the Mitsubishi 500 build in the laser 66 gold pen with indicator light a few minutes ago. 1.1W of tiny host goodness
Runs off of a single AAA LiFePO4 with AAA dummy/placeholder cell (a 10440 would either hit 1.3W+ or blow unless there was voltage sag (have a special one I build in a large host that hits 1.3W+).
Haven't posted it yet but here's a couple pics:
It looks much shinier and cleaner in person: