Thought Stimlogic deserved a closer look. The stimlogic thread came out a day or two after I had already ordered my first laser ever. Heres the title description off ebay
350mW Burning Laser Diode 650nm Open Can Type Pioneer. $109
Includes:
-350mw Red, Pioneer Laser Diode, Housed And Measured At 3 1/2in. In Length, & <1/2in. In Diameter. Output Tested With ROHS Certified Equip.
-Regulated Proper Driver circuit, Protects Against Voltage Spikes, Switching Transients, And Reverse Polarity Protection. 4.5v 350ma
-15mm Focus, Go From Burning To Illumination in a second
-High Quality Glass Optics
-Three Point Diode Mount, High Efficiency Heatsinking,Diode Leads
-Simple 5min. Assembly Instructions
-Shrink Tubing, To Finalize Your Connections
sounds ok?? keep reading...
you only get what you pay for, and I believe thats true... for the most part. Here is #8 of 12 emails Joe at stimlogic (joe is Stimlogic) has returned of mine and just when you think the guy is gonna pull his hair out if you bug em one more time, writes this..
Hello again, well the $149. laser is the same as yours. The original idea for price @ 129. was with glass optics but thicker and not AR coated. I’ve changed my mind and now include the AR optics as some testing last night proved to be in heavy favor of the AR. With the reg. glass I can light a match @ 8ft or so at 310mW, swap out the optics with the AR and im lighting matches a 20ft! The units for 149. are identical to yours, and the extra work and better optics take me more time so $$$ goes up. As for the 405nm, I am definitely going to be selling hand helds on eBay @ 5mW, the stronger ones are against eBay "hazardous items" policy but will be available on the website. A lot of interesting host bodies on DX and I think I will have to go with them. I have to buy 30$ green lasers from them, just for the host. But considering what blues are being sold for, I believe it will work out fine, and the prices will be much better than any other. The only problem I fore see, is that many of the members on LPF with think im selling DX cheapies. I do buy a lot of things for parts, but I don’t use their diodes just their boards and host bodies. They have dependable circuits and are such a perfect match for the diodes I use. I spend a great deal of time in testing and abusing my final products before I build more to sell, the goal being the finest quality control out there without the high price. I know im going to get LPF attacked by some members when they see parts from DX on my stuff, but I can honestly say I don’t think anyone will be selling better quality end product. I had a bad injury at work a couple of months back, and have had to find a suitable financial remedy to the situation and finally I get to do something fun which just does not feel like work. I just hope everyone will be happy with what they get, at the price they paid. If you’re friend is looking for more power, the heatsinked unit I posted for 199. is a beast, I put a couple together and after testing, I am very pleased. So for a 50. difference, you get higher output 310mW steady power which ive been cutting plastic zip ties with! It’s a 6vdc unit with a larger board and a cooling fan, it’s a good deal, and will fit in a larger host running on 4 x AA's. It can be run for 15-20 mins without the fan, the fans just in case you want it on longer than that. I have the tracking number and will post it below; I just got it this evening from the courier and will list it below. I also added a couple of extras with your laser, which I forgot to mention. There is extra heat shrink tube, and some larger pieces in case you oversize something by mistake. There are also heat conductive square pads you can place around the brass for extra cooling. Also some ceramic caps for future experimenting, if you ever make a laser with the diode more than an inch away from the driver, you have to place one of these across the + / -, even though there is one already on the board. Plus they can be hard to find... Any hooo, I have to get back to the bench and im sure you’re eyes are tired from all this extra reading, so here’s your number and the link to enter it at.
Regards,
Joseph.
Am I boring you yet? I thought not. if youve read this far you HAVE TO READ THIS ONE!!
Heres the day before with email # 6 (from his ebay name pryrtronic)
Thats the problem with that kind of module, everything fits but brass and aluminum conduct at different rates. The aluminum is a recent addition to the market because they are cheaply made. Brass conducts the heat off the diode at a higher rate and allows the diode to breathe under higher stresses. Its just harder to find decent brass modules I guess, but traditionaly brass is prefered, that is if you want it to last. I also completely surround all contact points with a conductive compound so the heat dissipation is on a microscopic scale. That is how you push the diode further you give it the basic things that make it happy. I have found many tricks with these which give better output than any dvd burner I have seen and mine wont suffer from premature failures from heat problems. As for the AR lens, I find it to be a better over all performer, and it doesnt feed energy back to the diode, which also reduces the life. Im experimenting with a new setup with the same unit your getting with a bigger heatsink, it cuts tape at 17ft and I havent tried a ballon yet but its probably gonna break my personal best.
~pyrotronic
and finally
Now all i have to do is solder the leads an shrinktube it and put it in a host. iam just learning, and putting countless hours into reading, just ask my wife
Not exactly what most members would call a diy, but there will be time for that later, when ive learned more. For now i just really want a working laser and this for me IS a DIY ....for begginers
I posted the link to this item which is not avilable to see at the time because someone has already snagged the prototype! but i know hes already making more.
I can make vids and pics, maybe pics of the packaging, he says he over packs everything.
the purpose of this thread really is to show, what sounds like a ship in the sea of uncertainty. from reading tons of lpf threads it seams like some laser company's product is junk, some are hit or miss, and some are awesome, but man do you end up payin either way. Sooooo, thought Id send along what seems to be some good news.
P.S. if your an aixiZ fan then dont read this,
In the one i made in that pic had the diode in a dvd burner stock heatsink and the optics hovered above it. As for axis ive never bought one, they just look cheap. The heatsink i use is solid brass and would destroy an aluminum housing for diode life. The way that I approach new projects is to deal with the design with everything sitting in front of me, it just seems to make more sense that way. This module is 40mm in length and 12mm dia. It will fit in a standard laser pointer and can be shortened by half when the rear of the two piece heatsink is removed. The driver is also small and with the protection of the heatshrink tubing the wire can be twisted and manipulated into position. Which ever host you choose will most likely work, it just depends on your persistance and patience. I cant suggest one yet as I tend to use these modules on their own or hyped up in a nice heatsink. Laserpointerforums is probably your best bet for good advice, they have reviewd many different host bodies.
- pyrotronic
Ok fire away, am i being naive, does some of this sound like BS?
Lifers please chime in here.
Al
350mW Burning Laser Diode 650nm Open Can Type Pioneer. $109
Includes:
-350mw Red, Pioneer Laser Diode, Housed And Measured At 3 1/2in. In Length, & <1/2in. In Diameter. Output Tested With ROHS Certified Equip.
-Regulated Proper Driver circuit, Protects Against Voltage Spikes, Switching Transients, And Reverse Polarity Protection. 4.5v 350ma
-15mm Focus, Go From Burning To Illumination in a second
-High Quality Glass Optics
-Three Point Diode Mount, High Efficiency Heatsinking,Diode Leads
-Simple 5min. Assembly Instructions
-Shrink Tubing, To Finalize Your Connections
sounds ok?? keep reading...
you only get what you pay for, and I believe thats true... for the most part. Here is #8 of 12 emails Joe at stimlogic (joe is Stimlogic) has returned of mine and just when you think the guy is gonna pull his hair out if you bug em one more time, writes this..
Hello again, well the $149. laser is the same as yours. The original idea for price @ 129. was with glass optics but thicker and not AR coated. I’ve changed my mind and now include the AR optics as some testing last night proved to be in heavy favor of the AR. With the reg. glass I can light a match @ 8ft or so at 310mW, swap out the optics with the AR and im lighting matches a 20ft! The units for 149. are identical to yours, and the extra work and better optics take me more time so $$$ goes up. As for the 405nm, I am definitely going to be selling hand helds on eBay @ 5mW, the stronger ones are against eBay "hazardous items" policy but will be available on the website. A lot of interesting host bodies on DX and I think I will have to go with them. I have to buy 30$ green lasers from them, just for the host. But considering what blues are being sold for, I believe it will work out fine, and the prices will be much better than any other. The only problem I fore see, is that many of the members on LPF with think im selling DX cheapies. I do buy a lot of things for parts, but I don’t use their diodes just their boards and host bodies. They have dependable circuits and are such a perfect match for the diodes I use. I spend a great deal of time in testing and abusing my final products before I build more to sell, the goal being the finest quality control out there without the high price. I know im going to get LPF attacked by some members when they see parts from DX on my stuff, but I can honestly say I don’t think anyone will be selling better quality end product. I had a bad injury at work a couple of months back, and have had to find a suitable financial remedy to the situation and finally I get to do something fun which just does not feel like work. I just hope everyone will be happy with what they get, at the price they paid. If you’re friend is looking for more power, the heatsinked unit I posted for 199. is a beast, I put a couple together and after testing, I am very pleased. So for a 50. difference, you get higher output 310mW steady power which ive been cutting plastic zip ties with! It’s a 6vdc unit with a larger board and a cooling fan, it’s a good deal, and will fit in a larger host running on 4 x AA's. It can be run for 15-20 mins without the fan, the fans just in case you want it on longer than that. I have the tracking number and will post it below; I just got it this evening from the courier and will list it below. I also added a couple of extras with your laser, which I forgot to mention. There is extra heat shrink tube, and some larger pieces in case you oversize something by mistake. There are also heat conductive square pads you can place around the brass for extra cooling. Also some ceramic caps for future experimenting, if you ever make a laser with the diode more than an inch away from the driver, you have to place one of these across the + / -, even though there is one already on the board. Plus they can be hard to find... Any hooo, I have to get back to the bench and im sure you’re eyes are tired from all this extra reading, so here’s your number and the link to enter it at.
Regards,
Joseph.
Am I boring you yet? I thought not. if youve read this far you HAVE TO READ THIS ONE!!
Heres the day before with email # 6 (from his ebay name pryrtronic)
Thats the problem with that kind of module, everything fits but brass and aluminum conduct at different rates. The aluminum is a recent addition to the market because they are cheaply made. Brass conducts the heat off the diode at a higher rate and allows the diode to breathe under higher stresses. Its just harder to find decent brass modules I guess, but traditionaly brass is prefered, that is if you want it to last. I also completely surround all contact points with a conductive compound so the heat dissipation is on a microscopic scale. That is how you push the diode further you give it the basic things that make it happy. I have found many tricks with these which give better output than any dvd burner I have seen and mine wont suffer from premature failures from heat problems. As for the AR lens, I find it to be a better over all performer, and it doesnt feed energy back to the diode, which also reduces the life. Im experimenting with a new setup with the same unit your getting with a bigger heatsink, it cuts tape at 17ft and I havent tried a ballon yet but its probably gonna break my personal best.
~pyrotronic
and finally
Now all i have to do is solder the leads an shrinktube it and put it in a host. iam just learning, and putting countless hours into reading, just ask my wife
Not exactly what most members would call a diy, but there will be time for that later, when ive learned more. For now i just really want a working laser and this for me IS a DIY ....for begginers
I posted the link to this item which is not avilable to see at the time because someone has already snagged the prototype!
but i know hes already making more.I can make vids and pics, maybe pics of the packaging, he says he over packs everything.
the purpose of this thread really is to show, what sounds like a ship in the sea of uncertainty. from reading tons of lpf threads it seams like some laser company's product is junk, some are hit or miss, and some are awesome, but man do you end up payin either way. Sooooo, thought Id send along what seems to be some good news.
P.S. if your an aixiZ fan then dont read this,
In the one i made in that pic had the diode in a dvd burner stock heatsink and the optics hovered above it. As for axis ive never bought one, they just look cheap. The heatsink i use is solid brass and would destroy an aluminum housing for diode life. The way that I approach new projects is to deal with the design with everything sitting in front of me, it just seems to make more sense that way. This module is 40mm in length and 12mm dia. It will fit in a standard laser pointer and can be shortened by half when the rear of the two piece heatsink is removed. The driver is also small and with the protection of the heatshrink tubing the wire can be twisted and manipulated into position. Which ever host you choose will most likely work, it just depends on your persistance and patience. I cant suggest one yet as I tend to use these modules on their own or hyped up in a nice heatsink. Laserpointerforums is probably your best bet for good advice, they have reviewd many different host bodies.
- pyrotronic
Ok fire away, am i being naive, does some of this sound like BS?
Lifers please chime in here.
Al
