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FrozenGate by Avery

Two "VERY" large pieces of aluminum! Help?

You cut one block to make walls and cut the other block to make small structures and perchance roaches. Then let them colonize and acquire space travel. or a heatsink.
 





Oh I thought it would be heavier than that. Thanks. You could use it as a can crusher? :p Crush aluminum cans with aluminum. Fun stuff.
 
Unless you find a bandsaw or something and cut them up into manageable sized cubes or something.. Doorstop would probably be the best use. Or really big paperweight. I have a 4" diameter 4' long piece of 2024 out in the shop that I have similar issues with. It's just too big for me to do anything with without either cutting it up, or farming it out. Though the thought of carrying it to a machine shop and having it lathed into a solid aluminum baseball bat had occurred to me. :D
 
I actually do have access to bandsaws, lathes, drill presses ect.

Im not skilled in machining but i found some people who are.

I could take it to the local junk yard or something but i would rather use it for something laser related. Thats the reason i posted :) but it seems i have even less of a use for it then i thought.

I was thinking a rather large 445 labby running at experimental levels of power but i was told they produce alot of heat and need cooling of some sort. I was thinking i could mabye make some fins in it and adding a water cooling system which shouldn't be too hard. The only problem is i cant make my own drivers (haven't tried) but if if somthing like this would work then i will get on it :D

Anyhow im still open to thoughts as long as the aluminum is "one piece"
 
The waterblock idea sounds interesting, however, you still have a LOT more material than you'd need even for that. Though it would take a 5.6mm diode a LONG time to heatsoak that much aluminum even if you did nothing else but bore a hole through it with a diode pocket on one end.. You have a lot of mass there.
 
Go to Tailor Rental, or another tool rental place near you.

Rent one of these.
post-bandsaw.jpg


Its a steel cutting band saw. It runs slow, dry, and is easy to handle.

Then cut your stock down to manageable pieces. Then you can have them machined into anything you want. I'm sure a few machinists here would buy some too.
 
I have here some very ugly drawings of what i had in mind. Now these were just sloppily put together to save time but it gives a general idea of what i want to do. I was told however by one of our vets that @ 1w+ 445 diodes produce a lot of heat. Now If that be the case then my design should work in theory. The only problem i have is i am not an electrician and i don't know where i could get an appropriate power supply.

Anyhow even if i get rid of the large piece of aluminum i still have the smaller piece left.

here is my drawing, i can refine it tomorrow if necessary (warning its very ugly as its late and im tired ha) - http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/9140/45920708.jpg

Let me know!

Thanks,
Jeff

Edit:
Tech_Junkie said:
Go to Tailor Rental, or another tool rental place near you.

Rent one of these.
post-bandsaw.jpg


Its a steel cutting band saw. It runs slow, dry, and is easy to handle.

Then cut your stock down to manageable pieces. Then you can have them machined into anything you want. I'm sure a few machinists here would buy some too.
Click to expand...

i can borrow one from my dad. He uses them at work and its not a problem for him to get it.
 
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You don't need cooling fins on the waterblock. And the waterblock is really the only thing you'd have to make, the pump, external radiator, etc, can all be had off the shelf from watercooled cpu kits.
 
So events if I run my 445 @ 2A the water system would be more than sufficant to keep my diode cool?
 
You can dump 200W of heat into a waterblock without too much of a problem. The issue will be COD/damage to the diode bond wires at those higher currents though, not overheating. There's no real need to even watercool if your heatsink is large enough.

I need a laptop-sized chunk of aluminium to be milled out, do you have access to a CNC milling machine with a large enough working area, by the way?
 
I do have "very" limited access to cnc milling machines at work. The reason i say limited is because if i or my buddy get caught using them then i can possibly lose my job.

Im not quite sure what COD/damage is so if you could explain please :)

I can get whatever kind of compound/solder i need if thats the case.
 
Damage to the bond wires would be just from current. Run more current through them than they can handle and they'll literally burn in two. However these have been pushed past 2.3A, and they actually quit lasing (but start again when current is decreased) before that happens so that's not really a concern.

COD is exceeding the optical power capabilities of the facets on the diode material itself. With the 445's this degrading starts at between 1.5A and 2A of input current and you'll see a steady decrease in output power for the same current. LEDing a diode is what this is. When the diode is either zapped by ESD, or suffers too high of a current inrush, the facets can be destroyed instantly.. with ESD usually the pulse is so short you can't even see it, hence, your expensive LD just becomes an LED.
 
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Machining a laptop case is hardly something you can do in 5 minutes in secret, don't worry about it ;)

COD = Catastrophic Optical Damage - when the laser is producing a huge amount of light (when the current is very high) the sheer number (and energy) of the photons erodes the mirrors on the die, causing it to degrade and die (LED) quickly. The bond wires (tiny, hair-sized wires joining the pins to the die, inside the casing) also have a limit as to how much current they can carry before melting. I'm not sure if they will be the limiting factor at 2A though. You might be able to run it at 2A before COD becomes a huge problem, but you'd need a good diode (other people have had problems running at lower currents).
 
Oh ok thanks for clearing that up. Sorry i couldent help charlie :( good luck finding some one who can do it for you :)

So what kind of current should i attempt to run this at? I definitely dont want a 25 lb led..... That would be lame.

Would i just be better off running this @ 1-1.2A and have myself a nice custom labby?

Also im worried my glasses might now protect my eyes :O! I have these - NoIR LaserShields: Laser safety goggles for Argon and KTP lasers and applications.
 
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