My favorite pen broke and I tend to think out of the box so,it now wrights with light.

First i have a back ground in lasers so i will dispense some wisdom that is not conventional, it comes from me actually questioning my laser professor in college.

i will show you how to turn a your favorite pen into a burning laser using recycled parts.

i an not the best at spelling so if you want to leave a comment i will try to fix it in a speedy manor.

Step 1: Gather Materials

1.your favorite pen

2.a broken mechanical pencile

3.1 watt fiber coupled diode laser, go to ebay they are second hand from the computer industry that's the equivalent to 500 small laser pointers

4.scrap wood and dowels for case, wood an excellent static shield

5.old computer hear sink and thermal gees

6. some wire

7.1 resister use omes law and spec sheet to figure it out mine is 0.39 ohm 2W resister. your diode might need a different size do not use variable resisters ever. ill expane why latter.

8. 8 small screws

9.1 bolt end cap

10. aa battery holder for 2 batteries

11. finally one big red button that screams push me

Step 2: How to Do the Wiering

first the diode is both heat and shock sensitive so ware a grounding wrist strap and dont soder the diode use wire conecter clips or electrical tape.

1. look up diode spec sheet to determine cathode from anode.

2. attach positive wire to switch then resister then anode.

3.attach negative wire to cathode

4.place thermal grease on bottom of diode assembly, and then pace that on a heat sink.

personal preference

this dose not require a circuit board. bend the leads on the resistor so you can twist wire on and soder it. this is not completely necessary but it makes it easy and looks cool.

make all wires longer than needed so you can work with it and not have to disconnect wires. this can be achieved by pig tailing your wires take a pencil and cure the wire around it will look like a spring .

variable resisters are in many wiring diagrams for simple lasers they are based off of an old lab experiment where you study the effect of current on out put. it is too easy to give it too much current and kill the diode or shorten its life.

Step 3: Case Building

use static resistant materials aka wood. The case design is up to you but ill give you some advice.

1 dont fully enclose the sides you want hot air to get out

2 you dont want to ever touch the electronics so give your self an easy place to hold it

3 crate some thing to hold the pen and fiber optic, otherwise its a pane to move

personal preference

i used srap square dowle rods for the sides on mine it gives it a a steam punk look and i like to see the guts

i found that to keep the pen in it's holder a bolt endcap upside down works really well.

Step 4: Pen Altering

1.remove ink cartridge

2. drill hole on side of pen to insert fiber optic

3. take apart mechanical pencile. place brass fitting from pencil and glue in tip af pen. if old pencile clean hole of fitting with string. do not try to be lazy and just use the pencil for the fiber optic pen the graphite will ruin the optics

4.thread fiber optic through dont let it hang out if the tip gets dirty it will heat the tip till ti cracks and then it will have to be cleaved aka cut it back to get a better beam

Step 5: Your Done and Hears Your Warning

a 1 watt laser is like 500 2mw lasers pointer and those have a warning on them about blinding.this one will burn your flesh and could give a one of a kind sun burn. also be aware that this can also start fires

Step 6: Have Fun

it wont do every thing but, it will work on black plastic dark wood or stained wood and various other things so try any thing you like. you ability to burn an object depends on how much light it absorbs. the laser is in the infrared wavelength so a clear coat on wood will help absorb more light even if it dose not visibly change the woods appearance.

you can start a match with it but, its cooler to laser engrave flames on it afterward

you ability to burn an object depends on how much light it absorbs. the laser is in the infrared wavelength so a clear coat on wood will help absorb more light even if it dose not visibly change the woods appearance.