Website, link or easy store to buy len(s) for red 650nm laser and 405nm lasers

[DrStein99]

I am building a laser rasterizing device. Aim a laser diode at a spinning 7 sided polygon mirror (from a laser printer) with a pulse from Arduino to create y axis, and combine this with x-axis slide. The 405nm diode will expose UV coated copper PCB material, to raster etch resist.

I have my project up to the point where I am trying to aim these cheap laser diodes onto the small mirror and having focus issues with the len(s) that I have from other cheap laser toys. I am testing using 650 red laser for safety reasons, and the red laser is bleading out and the focus distance for this is terrible.

I was wondering if anyone had any links, pages, or stores I can browse to better educate myself, maybe spend tens of dollars for some lens and housings. I do not want to get into thousands of dollars in some vacuum fibre sealed nitrogen diamond ruby thing, with a $20,000 power supply (at that cost I can pay a designer to make my own circuit boards for me).

I go on eBay and overwhelmed with all the options, and same with google searches. So I post here, hoping someone can please give me some summary useful advice, so I can avoid blindly buying housings and lens that take 3 weeks to deliver.

 

[steve001]

I am building a laser rasterizing device. Aim a laser diode at a spinning 7 sided polygon mirror (from a laser printer) with a pulse from Arduino to create y axis, and combine this with x-axis slide. The 405nm diode will expose UV coated copper PCB material, to raster etch resist.

I have my project up to the point where I am trying to aim these cheap laser diodes onto the small mirror and having focus issues with the len(s) that I have from other cheap laser toys. I am testing using 650 red laser for safety reasons, and the red laser is bleading out and the focus distance for this is terrible.

I was wondering if anyone had any links, pages, or stores I can browse to better educate myself, maybe spend tens of dollars for some lens and housings. I do not want to get into thousands of dollars in some vacuum fibre sealed nitrogen diamond ruby thing, with a $20,000 power supply (at that cost I can pay a designer to make my own circuit boards for me).

I go on eBay and overwhelmed with all the options, and same with google searches. So I post here, hoping someone can please give me some summary useful advice, so I can avoid blindly buying housings and lens that take 3 weeks to deliver.

Since you apparently live in Jersey check out Edmund Optics located in Barrington, New Jersey.
They have a nice site, but I enjoy browsing their free catalog.

 

[paul1598419]

There could be so many reasons you are having problems with this. I would use 405nm diodes from Blue Ray machines as these have a very good beam convergence when used with an aspheric lens. You will want to focus the beam on the board you are etching. This can be done while the mirror is not rotating and a spot is reflected off the mirror and onto the surface to be etched. Hope your mirror is in good shape as this will have a detrimental effect on the focus as well.

 

[DrStein99]

The hexagon mirror from laser printer WAS immaculate. I'm a smoker, and a slob - so who knows what condition it's in now. I am not going to pretend to clean that thing yet. A small spring clip looks like I might be able to remove mirror, clean it and re-install - but who knows if it's going to be balanced or what other surprises. I have 1 more sacrificial laser printer upstairs I can grab another assembly from before I need to farm out more. I am not concerned with that.

The laser diodes themselves I have trouble with. I know I need a lens, 2, 3 or however many I need to make a focused dot close up < 2", and travel maybe 6" or 8". The cheap red diodes I have can focus 2" but makes a big huge quarter sized dot at 24". The beam is messy, bleeding into my optical pickups and throwing off my sensors. The red dot I can focus onto mirror is actually too big the for the mirror, bleeds off onto the motor and that spins and reflects all over the place. I am trying to analyze the timing of the motor and the laser output, it's real distraction.

I spent about 2 hours on eBay sorting through all the laser diode housings and focus mounting stuff and get saturated and confused - not knowing what to pick.

Thanks for the information at Edmund Optics. Wow what a bargin! Only $100.00 for a 10mw red laser:

https://www.edmundoptics.com/lasers...modulation-elliptical-beam-laser-diode-module

... NOT my idea of budget laser electronics. I think they wanted to charge like $2,400 for a 3 amp 24 volt dc power supply too - (in case anyone else had some extra money to play with).

 

[paul1598419]

Have you thought of visiting DTR's website? I think he has everything you would need to make this work at much better prices.

https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home

He has copper modules and diodes, lenses, drivers and will press the diodes for you and add the driver so you have two wires to attach.

 

[steve001]

The hexagon mirror from laser printer WAS immaculate. I'm a smoker, and a slob - so who knows what condition it's in now. I am not going to pretend to clean that thing yet. A small spring clip looks like I might be able to remove mirror, clean it and re-install - but who knows if it's going to be balanced or what other surprises. I have 1 more sacrificial laser printer upstairs I can grab another assembly from before I need to farm out more. I am not concerned with that.

The laser diodes themselves I have trouble with. I know I need a lens, 2, 3 or however many I need to make a focused dot close up < 2", and travel maybe 6" or 8". The cheap red diodes I have can focus 2" but makes a big huge quarter sized dot at 24". The beam is messy, bleeding into my optical pickups and throwing off my sensors. The red dot I can focus onto mirror is actually too big the for the mirror, bleeds off onto the motor and that spins and reflects all over the place. I am trying to analyze the timing of the motor and the laser output, it's real distraction.

I spent about 2 hours on eBay sorting through all the laser diode housings and focus mounting stuff and get saturated and confused - not knowing what to pick.

Thanks for the information at Edmund Optics. Wow what a bargin! Only $100.00 for a 10mw red laser:

https://www.edmundoptics.com/lasers...modulation-elliptical-beam-laser-diode-module

... NOT my idea of budget laser electronics. I think they wanted to charge like $2,400 for a 3 amp 24 volt dc power supply too - (in case anyone else had some extra money to play with).

The suggestion was for the optics.

 

[DrStein99]

The Edmund Optics was a good place to visit when they had the surplus retail store open. Then they sold it, and all the good stuff quickly vanished. I continued to collect stuff from there up until they shut the doors. Unfortunately, due to a theft - most of my good stuff collection is gone and I have to start over.

 

[paul1598419]

That sucks. Would a thief even know what you had when it was stolen? I doubt most people would even know where to look to find out what I have in my stock.

 

[steve001]

The Edmund Optics was a good place to visit when they had the surplus retail store open. Then they sold it, and all the good stuff quickly vanished. I continued to collect stuff from there up until they shut the doors. Unfortunately, due to a theft - most of my good stuff collection is gone and I have to start over.

Though they closed Anchor Optics there's still the clearance section. https://www.edmundoptics.com/clearance-products/

 

[paul1598419]

Thanks, Steve. I was unaware of their clearance products. Had a look at some stuff for holography and it is quite reasonable.

 

[DrStein99]

That sucks. Would a thief even know what you had when it was stolen? I doubt most people would even know where to look to find out what I have in my stock.

They took heavy tool boxes, filled with tools - to a scrap yard where it was chopped into bits and melted. Gauges, dials, indicators, posts - all the knuckles and miscellaneous parts I inherited from my father. I had several tool boxes, one just for traveling, and another one was spare brand new gauges I sniped the prices from eBay.

Boxes of collected aluminum pulleys. It pains me to remember this.