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FrozenGate by Avery

Share your inexpensive builds thread

Finally able to give a couple REP out (Arg and Trevor). Not surprised they found their way here. Love what you guys do. Lots of appreciation for the hard work.

Was feeling frustrated that members don't seem to want to toss in their ideas and pics or whatever for all our benefits. Expensive, elaborate crazy builds are great and all builds have their places but they can be very time consuming and I would venture to guess that for most, they sit in cases and are not used much.
I see new members try to jump right in on complicated builds and they get quickly overwhelmed. Way too many people think they can run without first learning to walk (not to mention the "I've got $10 bucks and just want to be able to cut a car in half stuff"). Can't believe it wouldn't be better to start off slow with more complete parts. Too exhausting trying to explain that even some builds that appear simple at first need pieces/parts/tools/meters etc... to complete properly and the expense that goes with it. It might take years to accumulate all of that.

Knew there was a danger of others not wanting to toss in a pic if I put up all those builds. What was I supposed to do though. I started the thread. Would feel disingenuous to me without full disclosure. I'm looking for build ideas just as much as anyone else.
This was all supposed to be able getting back to some grass roots fun without all the stress. Isn't there enough of that on here already?
Scare some away with my "giving" philosophy but I just feel sorry for them.

ARG, you're right, that's really funny. Looks more like a nail rather than a screw :crackup: (couldn't resist). I want my "DANGER 10,000 OHMS" sign put next to that bucket:)! Can't help hoping that pic was staged as a joke. Deal with voltages from DC to 480 AC every working day. Seen some incredibly scary dumb things.

Pete
 





Well I don't have pics yet, but if your looking for build ideas...

I've been wanting to do some model building lately and want to incorporate lasers. I have a kitbashing project up first with one of the 405nm ebay pen diodes. I want to take two models and turn it into an alien ray gun with some GITD accents. It won't be much but I've spent all my $ on some long term projects for now.

~ LB
 
Interested in seeing others jump in here with pics/comments/ideas where to get build stuff cheap, what they used instead of having something machined.... Basically anything to do with how to save some bucks and the ideas that we've tried that worked (and even those that didn't). There's almost always a way to figure out how to get around an issue.
Have a few things coming today from Fasttech but none of them are modules that I would need to try building something else.
This thread was meant to be VERY open.
 
Great Thread Pete- will =# when i next can.. i had some thoughts about a thread about the first build and this pretty much does just that and more.. I would be very red-faced if you saw some of my first stuff.. & I bet I am not the only one. i met a members sister who showed me her first build-her host was a Sucrets box- phr and a 9 volt iirc.
better than mine.

One un-named member showed me his first ~DIY heatsink- a stack of pennies with a hole drilled out of them-- i think they were crazy glued or epoxied together.lol
I still have about 50 red modules to give away comp of our friend at AixiZ dr Chuck- about one whole whooping mW maybe 2-- mail me a stamped addressed envelope and I will send it back. These are huge compared with the worlds smallest red diode module- slightly larger than a cooked grain of rice. I will find mine and add some pics - IIRc AixiZ still sells these- BTW guys seeing clif and Moh giving up is not a good thing/sign - biz at AixiZ is down too. next time you consider sending $$ to China why not at least see whats offered form USA based sellers --especially those that are members here- Like AixiZ
Len
 
Honestly really have no idea who sells stuff in the US that are members here other than the "big guns" that we all know. Never looked to see if there's a list of sellers that are members and what country they are in/selling from.
If there isn't a list for that it sure would be nice to have one! Man, that would be great the more I think about it. Is there such a thing and if not, anyone willing to put one together (I'm not at all versed with putting something like that together)? I would think sellers would want to be on it.
Willing to bet there's a bunch of members here that sell stuff that I don't know about.

Len, thanks for jumping in with good ideas and info. Looking forward to the pics too.
Len is one of my unnamed (well too late now) friends who goes out of his way big time and does things outside of LPF to help others in need. We are "lucky" to have him with us.
Lens one of the first people I connected with right after I became a member and saw a thread about helping James out. Knew immediately that I had to get involved and help out even though I didn't know anything about either one of them.

I would suggest at least looking at the guys that Len mentioned here to see if we can throw some business their way. Full agreement that we should try to support members first with our $. The list would help but I haven't tried to look for one yet to see if it already exists. Remember that even though I "lurked" before joining, I've only been a member for about 8 months.

Pete
 
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I would be willing to put together a list of companies/sellers that are US/LPF based. I will make a list of all the ones I know of, throw up the thread, and then request that any other sellers who I didn't mention toss me a PM or leave a comment. I can put LPF username, and a link to their website, and also a description of the products they sell. Example:

DTR - Google Site - Sells Diodes, Lenses, and Projector Parts
AixiZ - AixiZ Site - Sells a wide variety of diodes, diode modules, and other lasers.


Also, HakZaw1 you might urge AixiZ to clean up their homepage a bit. It is extremely chaotic and it takes quite a bit of effort to sort through the visual clutter to find the Start Here button which takes you to the store front. Especially if you don't know what you are looking for. Just my 2 centavos. :beer:

Thanks,
Isaac
 
Man, that would be great Isaac. It wears me out trying to sort through all this stuff.
I just give up sometimes and buy where I know it's in stock. If I/we had an easy list to refer to then I/we could try to support a member first. I'm for anything that helps our members and makes it easier to do so.
The seller has to do their part too;)
 
I will try to get some of the list done before work tonight and then finish it up afterwards. I think I will divide sellers by what they sell. So diode distributors, host machinists, heatsink machinists, driver sellers, etc.

Hopefully it will be a really good reference material for people.
 
Hey guys, I've got a couple of inexpensive builds to share; well, 1 really inexpensive one, and another fairly inexpensive one.

The first one up is a <5mW 650nm red, in a small keychain sized host, with a rear constant on clicky switch. this one is great for the cats!

Total cost - $9.00 (host-$3.99, 10440 batt. $4.99, homemade h.s. N/C, focusable mini diode-N/C).

Note: See Hak's post #36^^ for info on these diodes.

7b41445e-ff05-4868-a41f-c21a73df0feb_zps34ba00ae.jpg



The second one costs a bit more, but it's still reasonable, and IMO, a classy looking little host. It's made from a "Roche" led flashlight in a color they call "desert yellow".
It has a homemade h.s., and a seperate polished cover to hide the module. It uses a 200mW 532nm module from Wallbuys. Actual LPM measurement is 124mW average, and 165mW peak.
With the long green module in place, this host now uses an 18350 batt. instead of the original 18650 batt.

Total cost - $44.40 (host $18.00, 18350 batt. $ 8.00, GITD o-ring $.40, 532nm module $18.00, h.s. N/C,)

6cbea49f-c51f-4355-a661-4ef29914b2b4_zps1fc25463.jpg

untitled_zpse565379a.png



BTW - Great thread idea Pman!

+1 for you :beer:
 
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Wow, those are some Awesome builds Bowtie! :D I especially like the desert yellow host. Quite classy just like you and the GITD is a perfect compliment :beer:

~ LB
 
Awesome contribution Issac! Thank you :beer:

I vote for a Sticky! I always try to buy LPF first and sometimes its hard to find everybody :thinking:

~ LB
 
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Great builds there Bowtieguy!
I've been tempted to do one of those desert yellow ones. Saw those the same place I got the bigger host in more more expensive ones pic. Think I used an 18350 also for the module to fit properly. Was that the host kit or one of the flashlights and you disassembled it. I was really confused on the tail switch that came with my kit and just ended up using a different one that I had. If it was the kit, want to know how you put the switch together. Really like the color of the host with a 532nm. +REP for you.

http://www.fasttech.com/category/1618/flashlight-diy-parts-hosts is where I got mine and it is the one to the right of yours unless that isn't the one. They have that host in a bunch of flashlights if you look at their LED light section.
Remember that I just post what I know and I'm not intentionally trying to say only buy from Fasttech. Would really like others to reveal their sources. Options, options, options!

Way to go Isaac! Still can't choose yet huh:) That's OK, let me know when you figure out what you want.
 
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Pman, I purchased mine from Fasttech also. I debated on whether or not to get the "host only", or the complete flashlight.
I opted for their cheapest version of the complete light, because I also noticed that the tail switch came disassembled in the host only version.
I figured for about $3.00 more, I'd play it safe, besides, I get to keep all the extras from the light!

Also, guys, thanks for the kind words and the +reps :)
 
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Well, you sure saved youself some trouble by getting one with the tail switch already put together. Can't even tell you how much time I wasted trying to figure it out. Asked Jayrob to take a look and it didn't seem to make sense to him either how to build the switch with the parts given. No way I would buy yours just as a host kit after that mess. Trust me, you did the smart thing.

Holy smokes, had a couple things come from Fasttech today and just checked what I orderred last week and that desert host/light that you posted was one of the ones I had orderred. Bought the one with the highest stated lumens as I figured I might just keep it as a flashlight. Was still only about $20. Got overly curious about that big light. Will run it off of 4 Panasonic PD cells so current draw will not be an issue.
This is what is coming as far as lights or hosts and looks like I will at least be getting the 2 lights listed as the first 2 SKU#
SKU#
1309100
1057203
1283001
1279102
1278200
1057201
Figured I would do a kind of last hurrah before slowing WAY down on the purchases. Think I need to be banned from Fasttech and our Buy/sell trade section. May keep some as lights and others as builds. Used to be into flashlights a bit before finding the laser stuff (as many of you were or still are). Really looking forward to some stainless type units as they are very weighty in the hand and just feel like quality because of it. Need some more stainless in my cases:)
Only thing that kind of stinks is really nice units kind of scream for some great output and I like units like those to have over 100mw which is just luck of the draw. We shall see.
 
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Sorry I didn't post sooner, I was thinking of showing my cheap DIY builds sometime anyway. I completed one and am working on another. predictably they are not complicated since I am a beginner myself. I don't have time to post pictures right now, but I'll do it as soon as I can.
 
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