Hack N Mod - Amazingly Cool Hacks, Mods, and DIY Projects » laser pointer

Powerful Mini Green Laser Build

jayrob — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:43:24 +0000

Here’s another fantastic tutorial from Jay, a DIY lasers expert. See all of our DIY Laser Projects. I modified this very nice Stainless Steel flashlight into a 50mW green laser. It is very heavy duty, and super small. Below, I will show the modifications that have been made to the host and module.

Important: This is a class 3B laser and should be used with care. Proper eye protection for 532nm wavelength recommended. It can instantly damage the eye if it is pointed directly into the eye. Even reflections can cause eye damage.

Here are the pictures that show the modifications:

These are all the basic parts you really need for the project. It’s a super simple setup really, just the laser module, the battery, and housing. That’s it!

The only major modification we have to make is to simply shorten the barrel of the laser. A simple mod to get everything to fit in our steel housing.

Final Results:

It is a very heavy and solid design with good heatsinking for the module. This design offers the option of using CR2 primaries, or RCR2 rechargeable batteries. I am using a CR2 primary and am very happy with the results, so I will not need to push the module with the slightly higher voltage that the rechargeable battery has.

More Exceptional Laser Projects:

LaserGlow’s Massive 150mw Green Aries Laser

Joe L — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:00:30 +0000

Compared to a standard sized pen-laser pointer.

As you know, we feature loads of fantastic DIY laser projects on Hack N Mod. LaserGlow sent in their flashlight-sized 150mW green laser pointer for us to test out and review. This this is a beast, coming in at about and 18 oz. and literally is the size of a flashlight. Aries isn’t the only laser they carry, they have a wide variety of colors and sizes up to the 500mW Hercules which lives up to it’s name.

First, let’s start with the packaging. As you can see, it comes in a sleek “large amounts of cash”-style briefcases and cutouts for all the parts and batteries. Definitely a classy touch to such a powerful laser. Of course, the first thing we did was the classic balloon and matches tests. It’ll pop a balloon in less than a second from about 10 feet away. Matches took about 3 seconds to light at around 8 feet away. It’ll also burn through electrical tape in a few seconds as well. Check out more demonstration videos.

Output Power: 150mW
Pump Diode: 1.0-1.2W 808nm
Diode Make: Osram or nLight
Wavelength: 532nm (green)
Casing: Solid Aluminum
Warranty: 6 Month Standard/ 12 Month Extended

The LaserGlow Difference:

Green lasers have a natural tendency to PEAK in brightness when turned on, and then gradually drop in output power if no heat sink is present. This happens due to over-heating. This type of laser usually looks like a regular laser pointer, but with claimed output of up to 150mW. Green lasers with a heatsink will also produce a PEAK, but will decline in output at a slower rate. Many retailers take advantage of this, and measure the AVERAGE output during this decline. This AVERAGE is taken over only 1-2 minutes- and sometimes over only 30 seconds. Each Aries Series laser from Laserglow is tested to ensure SUSTAINED output power over 10 minutes of continuous operation

In conclusion, this thing is a beast! The beam stretches for miles and will literally illuminate an entire football field. Plus, it looks like you’re holding a light saber when you’re in a dark area (or even a dimly lit area) because the beam is so bright and visible. It also comes with multiple saftey mechanisms and glasses to help prevent any premature blindness.

More photos!

Beam shot across a park.

Another time lapse beam shot.

As you can see by the demo pics above, this thing is extremely powerful and incredibly bright. Head over to LaserGlow for their entire selection of lasers and more photos.

Check out our full collection of DIY laser projects including:

Make your own Burning Blue Laser Pointer

Joe L — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:53:37 +0000

This fantastic video demonstrates how to build a powerful, burning blue laser and place it inside a lighter. While you could get the laser diodes from the site mentioned in the video, you should buy the laser diodes way cheaper on eBay. We’ve covered a few similar projects including building a burning laser from a DVD drive. The overall hack is actually incredible simple, involving the simple soldering of a few basic components.

More incredible Laser projects:

Powerful Blu-Ray Laser on a Keychain

jayrob — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:30:04 +0000

Here’s another fantastic tutorial from Jay, a DIY lasers expert. See all of our DIY laser projects. I picked up this little key chain light at Lowe’s. It is made from a solid piece of brass. It is very heavy duty, but very small.

Beam shot – with smoke. This is a 405nm ‘blu-ray’ laser diode. My camera happens to capture the true ‘violet’ color of the blu-ray using smoke.

Important: This is a class 3B laser and should be used with care. Proper eye protection for 405nm wavelength recommended. It can instantly damage the eye if it is pointed directly into the eye. Even reflections can cause eye damage.

I managed to get a FlexDrive inside there for an 803T blu-ray build! (then I made a red build, and then I made a 6X build – 268mW’s!). Here are the build pics:

I found that the stock, ’stacked’ button cell batteries were not enough to run a FlexDrive. The answer was to use a 3.6 volt Lithium 10180 battery. Or better yet… the tail cap can be drilled out to fit a 10280! The 10180 batteries are 90mAh… But the 10280’s, are 180 – 200mAh’s!

With this in mind, I chose the highest efficiency PHR diode that I could find to keep the current as low as I could and still have good power! 117mW’s @ 117mA’s! With a 10280, that should give around a 1 hour run time per charge.

For the 10180 fit: I shortened the spring on the tail cap just a little, because the 10180 is just a little longer than the 3 stacked button cells that came with the host. The only other thing that I did, was to bypass the little button circuit on the stock board to make it a momentary button switch.It had some kind of little circuit that allowed it to be a constant on / off switch, but this did not work with the FlexDrive, so I just bypassed the circuit…

Notes: Figure a setting of about 130mA’s to give (normally) 115mW’s of blu-ray with the 803T diode for around a 1 hour run time between charges with the 10280 battery. For a red, 275mA’s still gives me 200mW’s using the Sony/Senkat SLD1239JL-54 diode, along with the AR coated acrylic lens that I have linked below. I bought these from e-bay.

Considering run time (boost vs buck vs diode used), IgorT did some calculations that theoretically should allow using a higher current with a red diode build! Because the red diode takes less voltage, and the driver doesn’t have to boost. A 200mW red, should be about the same battery life as a 200mW blu-ray. (I’m guessing about 1/2 hour at this higher current with a 10280)

Here are the AR coated acrylic lenses for red diodes. You’ll get about 10% more power with these (vs AixiZ acrylic), and they fit right into the AixiZ module! Additional mods:

Meredith glass lens modification fit for AixiZ – 20% increase in power for red vs AixiZ acrylic! (back opened)
405-G-1 glass lens modification – 26% increase in power for blu-ray vs AixiZ acrylic! (back opened)

For a 6X build
A normal efficiency GGW 6X diode, set at 180mA’s, will give you around 170mW’s. (AixiZ acrylic lens – back opened) But with my 405-G-1 glass lens modification, you will get at least 26% more power!

Tail cap mod

I found just enough room in this host for a 10280, by drilling out the tail cap. Now there is room for a 10280 (200mAh), which is twice the capacity of a 10180!.

Battery tip:
The AW web site where I ordered the 10280’s, says 180mAh’s, but the batteries say 200mAh’s on them. I thought I would show that it is an easy mod to expose the negative end of the battery edges. This is needed with this build using the longer batteries. Because of the tail cap mod, there is no longer a center spring.

Battery Current Draw – for 3 different builds: Here are my three different builds and the current draw on fully charged (200mAh) 10280 batteries…

High efficiency PHR-803T blu-ray set at 117mA’s and putting out 117mW’s. (AixiZ acrylic) – 175mA’s battery current draw.
Sony/Senkat SLD1239JL-54 red set at 275mA’s and putting out 200mW’s. (AR coated lens) – 228mA’s battery current draw.
High efficiency (freak) 6X blu-ray set at 183mA’s and putting out 215mW’s! (AixiZ acrylic) – 288mA’s battery current draw. (268mW’s using my 405-G-1 glass lens modification!
I”m guessing the 6X build will be 30 minutes run time (or less), but who cares?… 268mW’s of blu-ray in a Key Chain build!

Build tip:
Before you complete the build, make sure you check to see if you are getting a voltage reading between the negative end of the battery, and the host! If you are getting any kind of a voltage reading here, then you have not disabled the stock switch circuit good enough.

There is a connection from one edge of the board (which is ground), that goes to the center. This has something to do with the way the little circuit would let the switch be a ‘constant on’ switch. I found that I needed to ’scrape’ through this connection to by-pass the circuit completely.

Otherwise, I got a voltage reading from the negative end of the battery, to the host. Strange… On one of my builds, I actually got a small current draw here, and it would slowly drain the battery. After I did the above ‘fix’, the problem was solved.

Here is a video showing a much less powerful blu-ray build of mine lighting matches. You can see that just a very small amount of smoke in the air from the matches will make the blu-ray beam visible. That one is only 80mW’s. My 268mW Key Chain build is much brighter!

Final Results:

(Beam shot – with smoke)

Here’s a photo of the laser in action. Hope you like this project! – Jay

You may also enjoy these other laser builds:

This post was submitted by a Hack N Mod fan, just like yourself. If you’d like to earn money from your projects, feel free to contact us.

6 Fantastic Laser Pointer Projects

Joe L — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 03:47:05 +0000

Burning lasers, keychain lasers, 1000 watt lasers…We love them all. Everyone enjoys the green, red, or even blue glow of lasery goodness. We’ve found six outstanding projects using lasers you don’t want to miss.

Learn how to make your own home laser show for dirt cheap.
Make a laser projector with a custom stand.
Kipkay has a few videos on how to create burning red and blue lasers.

Make a wicked sweet laser blaster gun.
Use a laser as a long distance listening device.
Last but not least, build your own laser surveillance system.

The HacknMod Store carries Lasers! Join the thousands of other DIYers who have purchased our red and green lasers.