- Joined
- Feb 10, 2013
- Messages
- 2,125
- Points
- 63
EDIT 24/03/2013: Beam shots and video added!
This host has gone through a few variations, but here is the final build review/tutorial. Sorry to my suppliers for the late review. They are all wonderful, and I will continue to buy from them. I received no compensation for this build or review.
The host is solidly build and feels beefy in the hand. The threads are not the cleanest, but they hold well enough.
Mrcrouse's kit came complete with the host, heatsink, pill, and even a strong 22600 battery. His heatsink is MASSIVE and leaves little room between it's base and the pill. A round driver would have to be used if not mounted directly to the diode.
I also purchased his custom focus ring to get a better grip on the lens. It's machined well, but I can't seem to get it to hold the lens barrel tightly w/out a generous amount of Teflon tape.
After waffling on which diode I was going to use in this host, I finally chose DTR's S06J 12X 405nm diode, in the copper module with a G-2 lens. Though, I do choose to use a 3-element lens, day to day, because I like the prettier dot. Both lenses burn quite well!
I used a Benboost Mini V5 preset at 495mA that I got from Mohrenberg. It's well heatsinked and it drives this diode quite well. I hooked it up to my selectable 3A test load, and it was tuned beautifully. Of course, I was sure to short the driver's leads before hooking it to I like this driver, though I did have some trouble getting used to soldering tiny components again.
I soldered my wire leads and heat shrinked the contact on the pill's PCB to protect from any possible shorts.
Here's another shot of Mrcrouse's huge heatsink. It's machined quite well, and is more than beefy enough to cool my diode. The only thing that isn't perfect about it is that it's face is machined so tightly that it just barely clears the ring. But, that's hardly a complaint.
Here's a shot of the diode mounted in the heatsink. You can't really see it with the focus ring mounted on it.
Here's a final shot assembled. I am absolutely pleased with this laser and my experiences with Mrcrouse, DTR, and Mohrenberg. Their wisdom, tips, and experience helped me make this build a powerful success.
And...the beamshots!
This host has gone through a few variations, but here is the final build review/tutorial. Sorry to my suppliers for the late review. They are all wonderful, and I will continue to buy from them. I received no compensation for this build or review.
The host is solidly build and feels beefy in the hand. The threads are not the cleanest, but they hold well enough.
Mrcrouse's kit came complete with the host, heatsink, pill, and even a strong 22600 battery. His heatsink is MASSIVE and leaves little room between it's base and the pill. A round driver would have to be used if not mounted directly to the diode.
I also purchased his custom focus ring to get a better grip on the lens. It's machined well, but I can't seem to get it to hold the lens barrel tightly w/out a generous amount of Teflon tape.
After waffling on which diode I was going to use in this host, I finally chose DTR's S06J 12X 405nm diode, in the copper module with a G-2 lens. Though, I do choose to use a 3-element lens, day to day, because I like the prettier dot. Both lenses burn quite well!
I used a Benboost Mini V5 preset at 495mA that I got from Mohrenberg. It's well heatsinked and it drives this diode quite well. I hooked it up to my selectable 3A test load, and it was tuned beautifully. Of course, I was sure to short the driver's leads before hooking it to I like this driver, though I did have some trouble getting used to soldering tiny components again.
I soldered my wire leads and heat shrinked the contact on the pill's PCB to protect from any possible shorts.
Here's another shot of Mrcrouse's huge heatsink. It's machined quite well, and is more than beefy enough to cool my diode. The only thing that isn't perfect about it is that it's face is machined so tightly that it just barely clears the ring. But, that's hardly a complaint.
Here's a shot of the diode mounted in the heatsink. You can't really see it with the focus ring mounted on it.
Here's a final shot assembled. I am absolutely pleased with this laser and my experiences with Mrcrouse, DTR, and Mohrenberg. Their wisdom, tips, and experience helped me make this build a powerful success.
And...the beamshots!
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