Laser Flashlight Hack!!

Turn a MiniMag flashlight into a powerful DVD laser pointer! This 245mw laser is powerful and fits real cozy in a MiniMag! See the video at the end for the Test Results!

NOTE: This Instructable WILL NOT WORK with any CD burner/player diodes or DVD player diodes!

See the FAQ on the last Step for common questions

GET THE BURNING LASER DIODE HERE!

GET THE MINI-MAG FLASHLIGHT HERE

UPDATE: If you want to use this as more than just a novelty item, a driver circuit is recommended. See the schematic for details.

Disclaimer: CAUTION! As you know...lasers can be dangerous. Never point them at any living object!T his is not a toy, and this should not be used like a conventional laser pointer. In other words, don't use it in presentations, or to play with pets, or allow children to use it. It should only be operated by responsible persons who understand and respect the potential laser safety hazards.

Step 1 What you need...

You will need the following items:
1. 16X DVD Burner. I used an LG burner I had as a spare.

or...

You can buy the Red LASER DIODE HERE

Comments

[LightSpeed1]

I was really intrigued by this Instructable. Thank you. I have taken to heart all the cautionary comments, too, so I may not try to build it for myself since it requires enough safety precautions to make it NOT a fun toy to play with; more like a dangerous power tool. The need to put the laser diode into the housing from a low powered laser was not fully explained. But I have deduced from later comments that the reason for the extra housing is: 1) to act as a heat sink for the diode during operation. And 2) The housing includes optics--lenses to focus the laser light to a dot, or a linear ray. I wonder if an alternative source of focusing lenses could be suggested. I am aware that often the primary difference between a good and a cheap laser device is the lenses used. I presume that with only a single wavelength of light, cheaper lenses can be used since there is no worry about chromatic distortion, but still there are cheap lenses and then there are cheaper lenses. The Instructable is sketchy also about the details of the hookup of the laser housing/electronic connections and the flashlight housing. Perhaps this section could be more detailed with closeup photographs. The same needs to be said about the regulator--how would this be fit into the flashlight housing? Is the regulator more for regulating voltage or limiting current? And how does one know where to set it? I suppose one could calibrate it with a multitester and mark the potentiometer for reference. BTW, could a simple resister or pot be used to regulate the current at least, without the rest of that circuit? Just wondering. Apply Ohm's law. It would really be good to research the optimal voltage and current of the diode used to be certain not to shorten its life--perhaps with that knowledge and Ohm's law a simple resister would be all you would need to regulate the current with a a prescribed number of cells powering it. I want to remind people that there is a much more powerful "Laser" that is available for free and requires no batteries. All you need is a mirror and a magnifier. And sunlight. Yes, you guessed it: reflect the sun with the mirror and it really is like a solar powered laser--visible for miles! (Not bad if you are signaling a search plane while lost in the wilderness.) The magnifier is all you need to burn wood or start a fire with the sun as well. Very simple, and obvious, of course, but we forget that when the word "laser" is mentioned, and we conjure up visions of Star Trek or Star Wars. Obviously the same precautions need to be observed with your high powered laser as when using a magnifier with sunlight--as every kid has learned early on when the light starts to burn the skin and he stops as once. The difference here is the fact that the laser beam focuses that energy much farther away from the source than a simple lens does, and the heating of distant objects may not cause as immediate a realization on the part of the aimer. Also the potential of scattered light off of unexpected reflectors doing harm is also introduced, since the longer focusing distance makes it a much more dangerous thing. For instance, shining it through a window perpendicular to the beam will reflect back a large percentage right to the aimer, or bounce it in other unintended places. I would caution against aiming it out windows or at metal or glass or liquids, or plastic bags even. Anything reflective can bounce it in unexpected ways. I learned from this Instructable the fact that DVD burners use visible wavelengths unlike CD readers which are IR. How about CD burners? What do they use? And the new Blue Ray DVD burners: do they have more energy output per mW? Certainly the ability to see the ray you are aiming is a safety feature, making IR or UV lasers less desirable. Thank you again for a truly interesting and informative Instructable.

[REALONE414]

blu-ray laser diodes work great but the diode from a casio x something projector is the best and you can buy one off e-bay for less then $50. i dont know the casio full name but when you are looking up the item you will see plenty of the right name and model.

[reeseecup]

thats long

[ashannon1]

geez, that's one long post! :-)

[mo5]

killjoy...jk :]

[jerrysl]

- Yes the Aixiz housing includes the optics necessary to focus the laser into a beam.
- I don't know if the driver is more for regulating voltage or limiting current, but I do know that you can buy drivers for laser diodes online, or you can make one. The trick for making one is to make it small enough to fit it in the host you want it in (like a flashlight. As for setting the driver to work well with the diode, I don't know how to do that yet, but www.laserpointerforums.com is a great source for all of that information.
- Blu-ray diodes are about 405nm, which is violet/near UV. Some blu-ray lasers are more/less visible depending on the exact wavelength, which may be off by a few nm. Their power is generally around 100-150mW, where some of the red DVD burner diodes can go up to 200-300mW.
-Another housing you can use is the Meredith module which can be bought here: http://www.mi-lasers.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?search=action&keywords=diode_optics . According to what I have read on laserpointerforums.com, those have better quality optics that produce more powerful lasers.

Please don't quote me on all that; I'm trying to help, but I'm not entirely sure of the accuracy of those statements.

[dmhjah]

It didn't look like he used the driver just the housing. Whats your take on that?

[jerrysl]

Well, if I remember correctly, the laser community called out kipkay for not using a driver. While it is possible for it to work without one, the longevity will be reduced, and it still may not work at all. The laser community practically considers the driver an essential part.

[dmhjah]

I saw the driver that is in the laser housing and its pretty small. I guess it might fit under the lid of the minimag that has the two holes to plug the bulb in?

[NuclearFishin95]

Would it be possible to use a diode from an obsolete PS3 instead of using a DVD one?

[lego cowz]

DUDE WHERE CAN I BUY A GOOD DIODE THAT DOESNT HAVE A RIP OFF PRICE!!!!!!!

[J.Reynolds09]

http://www.rapidonline.com/

[awang8]

http://www.newegg.com

[squit101]

ebay.com

[awang8]

That's like $40...

[cybertech43]

Hello everyone.

My name is Calvin. I own a Crafted wood working business on line. I am useing a bench scroll saw to cut out my items that I make. I would like to up grade it to a laser cutting tool that will cut through 3/4" thick wood. I could purchase a tool that can do this, but I would like to build it my self, can any one give me some pointers on this, please?

[drbill]

You might want to use a Co2 burning laser for what you want to do instead.

[mondeluz]

hey i have a problem i bought a 16mm Focus Focal Glass Lens for Green Laser 532nm-635nm-650nm-660nm Red Lazer my laser diode has 660 nm and it is red i also bought Coated Collimating Lens w/ M9/P0.5 Frame for 660nm 650nm Red Laser Diode from ebay but it still doesnt burn!!!! CAN SOMEONE PLEASHE HELP ME I BEG OF U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[OhioStrikersUnited]

So where can I get one of these 16x DVD burners besides online? This would be my first project and I am really looking forward to it, but I have no clue where to find one of those.... someone please help

[ashannon1]

can this actually burn stuff?

[cybertech43]

Hello everyone.

My name is Calvin. I own a Crafted wood working business on line. I am useing a bench scroll saw to cut out my items that I make. I would like to up grade it to a laser cutting tool that will cut through 3/4" thick wood. I could purchase a tool that can do this, but I would likie to build it my self, can any one give me some pointers on this, please?

[mondeluz]

yes it can only you will need lens that are atjusted to laser diode
example:if your laser diode have 660nm wawelenght then lens also need 660nm

[or_ford98]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgJ0EpxjZBU

[dirt action julian]

can you make a vidio

[or_ford98]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgJ0EpxjZBU

here it is!

[atlas n pbody]

i have a super important queshtion i have a laser diode that i hooked up to a 9volt and it still dosent burn i thik i spy a risistor but im afraid if i take it out it will mess up everything. chold i whier a wier to the other sideof the risistor and get it to work?...............................sorry for spelling

[mondeluz]

hey can someone please send me link on how to get the parts for the laser driver circiut? if yes then please send me link becouse i realy realy need one please replay

[mondeluz]

hwy i made this laser pointer and bought a realy powerfull diode and all but i do not understand how do i make it burn it still is just a regular pointer im thinking of using some other lens than original ones that came in the 5Mw laser housing is that ok?

[LordConstantine]

Hello KipKay!
I would like to ask, is the minimag flashlight necessary for making a burning laser? Or i can connect the laser housing with the DVD writer laser installed to the batteries?
Thank you!

[000TOMO000]

Can i use 4.5 volt ?

[Kipkay]

NO! that will blow the diode in an instant!

[exterminater92]

Hi Kipkay,

I was wondering if we don't need a driver circuit between the diode and the batteries. You are using two AA-batteries, that's 3V. Wouldn't that be too much for a diode of 250mW? Connecing it directly to the batteries might fail in giving a constant current, so I guess a driver would do better. Or am I very wrong now?

You can also mail me at [e-mail].

[blacklion]

I had an old dvd burner diode that I hooked a 9volt battery up to. Did I just burn it out? I also only got an intermittent 'faint' glow when I tried it.

[dolfi]

can I use also different diode instead of the one form LG burner? I have some diodes from Philips DVD recorder. will it work?

[stuffman366]

as long as its relativly fast (12x or faster )it should work

[jmoody213]

Hey kipkay, I was wondering if this really works or its a fake video..because i have alot of friends that know alot about heat lasers and i asked them about this and they said that it would blow the diode. Are they right?

[Ryo_Ohki2]

It's real. You see the module the laser is in? It acts like a heat sink and will distribute the heat out so you can use it for a little while. Now for long burns I'm not sure if it would last. My rig I place the housing in a block of metal that fit in one of my flashlights and it worked out perfectly.

[kwa9]

hey kipkay, i am buying the diode from mfgcn.com and was wondering if two 1.2 volt batteries would work or two 1.5 volt batteries would work?

[Unshapenkris]

iam really confused , I got out a "laser" , but when i look at it from the top , wich is where the laser would come out , all i see is 2 pins and a tiny tiny tiny glass piece , is this the laser ? , and it has like a grey metal thing around it , but there is no lence or anything Oo , its glued to the metal like hell . help me please ?

[musick7]

PLEASE READ BEFORE DESTROYING YOUR HDDVD LASER DIODE.
 It seems a bunch of people are trying to figure out where the DIODE is located...
IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER Drive of sort ANY will do (An old CD ROM from a Bad PC)
My advice is Go buy a 5 dollar DVD or CD ROM from a PC Store or the local recycling center.  Might be cheaper...  But DON'T try to GET the HDDVD Laser out if you haven't had a little practice on a Cheap "WHO CARES IF I BREAK IT DVD or CD ROM."  You only get one chance to take the HD one out and if you slip you get to buy another.
READ THIS IF NOTHING ELSE!!!!
The LASER DIODE is "Hidden"down deep inside.  You will end up Probably Breaking the Metal Casting around the laser itself.  If you see the LEN'S (The piece that runs back and forth that you can see without taking anything apart ON TOP)  Below that you'll see a Round Piece of Glass. Dig Deeper Behind that maybe upto 1/2" away the Laser Will be, behind that.  This is where you might have to break the Metal Casting of the housing. ***NOT the LASER HOUSING***  "The metal housing you might need to break to get the diode out."
Dig way down under everything you see and pull out a 3 Pin Laser Diode as Pictured in Step 6.
BE CAREFUL AND TEST WITH SOMETHING OTHER THEN THE REAL HDDVD LASER