Red or Green

[Storm]

I didnt know where to put this. But I was just wondering if there was a difference in burning power between red and green lasers.

 

[SenKat]

No, and yes, and no. Does that help ?

First off, you put this in the right area

Secondly, a Milliwatt is a milliwatt - no matter the color. now, if you take two 100mw lasers - one red, and one green, and they both had identical specs - divergence, etc - you could burn exactly the same with them.

 

[Storm]

Ohh ok. well thanks. Lets say I was smart enough to make a laser. Could I buy a cheap pen laser and just take out the diode and put another one in?

 

[SenKat]

Nope

Those el-cheapo pointers are almost impossible to modify - some have been lucky, but I would say, no ...now, on the other hand, you could give a try at a dvd-burner diode mod ! That's lots of fun, too !

 

[chuckknight]

Ohh ok. well thanks. Lets say I was smart enough to make a laser. Could I buy a cheap pen laser and just take out the diode and put another one in?

Theoretically, yes... But, they're almost impossible to disassemble -- you'd never get it apart, in one piece, and then back together again. I've gone through this with several -- the button goes bad, and I throw them away.

Now...if you took the parts from the keychain LASER, and put them into a flashlight housing for example, with a means to control the current, then you'd have a surprisingly good LASER.

-- Chuck Knight

 

[pseudonomen137]

Ohh ok. well thanks. Lets say I was smart enough to make a laser. Could I buy a cheap pen laser and just take out the diode and put another one in?

Well, you physically could. Making the other diode work though is a diff story.

You need to power it with the right power, something I doubt would be right automatically. The driverboard would need to be able to handle the current load - again something a pen pointer is unlikely to do with most of the diodes we like to play around with. etc.

 

[Woody]

Hello

I have a doubt; between pulsar laser 100 or 125 mw and x-105 novalasers, which has more burning power?

I dont know how relate the characteristics of beam divergence and diameter of this two lasers.

Thank you

 

[SenKat]

Because of hte Pulsar's horrible beam specs, the NOVA will give you better unaided burning ability, without a doubt.

 

[styropyro]

Yeah a pulsar has a fat beam that can only burn with a lens. An X105 will have a LOT more burning power (And don't forget the WAYYYY better beam visibility!)

 

[lazerlover]

Yeah a pulsar has a fat beam that can only burn with a lens. An X105 will have a LOT more burning power (And don't forget the WAYYYY better beam visibility!)

It won't burn better at all, it'll only burn better unaided, if you use the Pulsar with a lense they will burn approx. the same.

 

[SenKat]

Eh....where's the fun in burning with a lense ?? I mean, I can pick up a nice fresnel lense for about $40.00 and melt pennys on the sidewalk with just a sunny day....That is if I WANTED to use a lense !

Truth is, unless you use an externa lense, or do the warranty voiding focus mod on the Pulsar, they ar eworthless to me. Might as well have a pretty flashlight with a red lense on it, IMO.

 

[styropyro]

Yeah I agree with SenKat all the way with the lens thing. With the pulsar you will keep on having to mess with lens which can get annoying, and you can't burn variating distances with a lens (Unless you focus mod or use multiple lens) and iif you really don't care about using lens and want a red one, I would say make a DIY dvd laser for a fraction of the price!

 

[Xenodius]

Eh....where's the fun in burning with a lense ?? I mean, I can pick up a nice Fresnel lense for about $40.00 and melt pennys on the sidewalk with just a sunny day....That is if I WANTED to use a lense !

Truth is, unless you use an externa lense, or do the warranty voiding focus mod on the Pulsar, they ar eworthless to me. Might as well have a pretty flashlight with a red lense on it, IMO.

OMG LOL I wondered if anyone else here had done that with a Fresnel lens

I have a 15.66 inch Fresnel lens that can melt rock, create a noisy JET of flame from wood in >.15 seconds, melt zinc pennies in about 6-7 seconds, soften/bubble asphalt, etc... I honestly don't use it often but its the most leetsauce $42 I have ever spent.

I hear the <$200 45 inch ones can melt steel nails together in less than 1 second, melt glass in ~5, and are actually used commercially in making asphalt.

Energy "produced" by the sun, accounting for atmosphere loss, is about 1200 watts per square meter. My lens, therefore, factoring in the amount absorbed by the lens, etc. comes to about 350 watts of burning power. I have even roasted marshmallows and hotdogs with it.

Marshmallows are laughably tricky, they are white, therefore, are barely warmed at first. However, once they start to brown, they burst into flames in >1 second ;D ;D ;D

PS: Though the lens I have bends a little and is somewhat sloppy, I have gotten the core of the focus down to 1.5mm.

 

[styropyro]

I've never heard of a Fresnel lens before, where can I get one? I just may buy one someday lol.

 

[pseudonomen137]

I've never heard of a Fresnel lens before, where can I get one? I just may buy one someday lol.

Just check around on eBay and such. I think alltronics.com has some ones from projectors, but they aren't quite as cheap. Basically they are used where you need a large lens that still remains relatively flat.

 

[Xenodius]

I bought mine from 3dlens.com w/ 2-day shipping (truly was 2-day; shipped from China 0.0) for 12 bucks, the lens itself was only 30. The sides are slightly rough, but its intended for a frame. Though... the corners are cut off, (As in to make it an octagon) which is actually somewhat odd if you put it in a frame... Anyway.

Be sure to check the focal length, decide what you want: stability, or distance from whatever the heck you are igniting! ^.^

Oh, and the higher the groove pitch the better the transmission and the tighter the focus.