Laser Flashlight Hack!!

Step 11 Test it out!!

Reinstall the 2-AA batteries and slowly unscrew the top of the MiniMag, turning on your new Laser Flashlight! Caution!! Laser diodes are dangerous and should never be pointed at any living thing. Thanks and I hope you enjoyed this Instructable!

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.

[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?

[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

[jverschueren]

How many Watt is that laserdiode?

[jimkash]

i dont knw what for evry1 liked this instructable.. i simply got a pointer laser for less than 1$ whats special to break a burner and do all this y not simply get 1 which is so cheap

[cchurch1]

I would like to build it for fun and just to be able to do it. You can buy almost anything you can hack but it's usually cheaper and a lot more fun if you are into DIY projects.

[flakman]

Your $1 laser will not be strong enough to do anything but burn out someone's retina. The DVD burner diode will produce enough heat to actually cause some etching in material. I wouldn't break a working burner to do this. There are plenty of bad burners to take apart for this.

[dmhjah]

What could you etch with it?

[flakman]

dmhjah: Not sure about all that can be etched with this. This would be good information from someone that has built one already. Give some examples of time/burn quality.

[laserz1111]

You can burn electrical tape, light matches, pop balloons, maybe light homemade black powder, and maybe light cigarettes

[flamingo123]

i like to light fire crackers from 30 ft away... perfect!

[Topunisher]

Can it set a cloth a fire? If so what range?

[ricardop]

This is Good Stuff!

[Johndoes]

OK, There's a be nice comment policy, so I'll do my best. This instructional is rubbish, and I'm still being nice. You advice people to run a laser diode without any form of current regulation and that's just dumb. A laser diode needs a strictly regulated voltage and current, as any well informed laser builder will tell you. Your diode will most certainly die pretty soon, and since you wrecked an entire DVD writer for it, you won't be very happy with it. Also advice people on the safety aspects, they need goggles, goggles people! And sunglasses won't do the trick with this kind of power, you need real laser-goggles that block at the right wavelength. You only have two eyes and can't get any new ones after you messed these up.

[Fridge Gnome]

Do you have to do this with the flashlight, or can you just replace the diode of a laser pointer

[Captain Molo]

actually the air force has special glasses to block lasers. But they cost Thousands.

[lasersage]

don't believe all that you read, they might block a few popular wavelengths but if they blocked all then they'd be black!!!!  :)
finding materials which block one wavelength isn't hard, getting it certified as safe for your eyes is where it become expensive.
Fancy reflective coatings for various wavelengths stacked ontop of one another is how to block a lot of wavelengths effectively, but like I said, if you stop em all then its black!

[froggyman]

you cant get new eyes... YET, lol i am just kidding and know that lasers do require a lot of safety..!

[yrogerg77]

I agree, this project was extremely frustrating and far more expensive than I expected...

[ifrgtmyname]

I agree, do you 'like' killing laser diodes?

[1up]

Would you mind posting a schematic of a proper laser diode driver suitable for this type of laser?

[mb4004]

Here is a driver: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://stonetek.org/shop/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=205">http://stonetek.org/shop/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=205</a><br/>

[1up]

Ok... Is the LM317 an IC? Or is it a Mosfet or power transistor?

[Big Bwana]

It's an IC, actually it's an adjustable voltage regulator simular to the 780X series but they are not a fixed output voltage allowing you to adjust the voltage or current output, and they have internal fault protection so you can't really hurt them and depending on the case size selected they can look like a MOS-FET T0-220 3 PIN case but they also come in smaller 3 pin sizes... They are only a buck or two at most parts stores And or they can be salavaged from lots of switched mode power supplies, some motherboards, broken sat receivers ( bell / dish have them ) and lots of other things.... mb4004 thanks for the nice simple supply schematics ..

[zaery]

Sweet!! I just engraved my laptop with this laser!!!

[JakeManes]

I doubt its powerful enough to do that. Post some pics.

[zaery]

So, i know that i'm quite a few months old, but i was bored and remembered about your comment and that i lasered my DS and the back of my n93, so here they are, VOILA!!

[zaery]

whoops, i didn't get the pics in there, here they are

[sadunpererarules]

wow. you really stuffed those up :D, so amped to make this now

[zaery]

It was a black laptop, and i have since gotten rid of that one, it was old.

[squit101]

how much power can the diode ect take before burning out. and am i right in saying that the more power supplied the hotter the beam produced ?? (obviously not limitless though)