How to Make a Laser Diode Driver That Enables You to Burn Paper

A cheap laser diode is the first thing you need to make your very own high powered laser capable of burning paper.1000s of laser diodes  have died due to the lack of proper drivers A laser diode is current hungry, it will take all it can get.
i  would advice you to wear safety glasses and not fool around while doing this project  have fun and be carefull

what we are going to  make today is something called as the LM317 constant current driver

so lets make one

Step 1: Materials

what we are going to need is 
1 laser diode (you could hack it out of a dvd drive) x1
2 10uf 16v capacitor or 10uf 63v capacitor x1
3 1n4007 diode x1
4 10 ohm resistors x2
5 100 ohm variable resistor x1
6 lm 317 voltage regulator x1
7 veroboard x1
8 soildering iron 
9 solder
10 heat sink
11 switch
all done !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Step 2: What Actually Happens Inside the Circuit?

Laser diode (mine is red you could buy any color it hardly matters)
10 microfarad 16v capacitor (protects Laser Diode  from immediate  power supply especially when switching on/off)
1N4007 rectifier diode (protects Laser Diode  if batteries are inserted the wrong way )
2 X 10ohm resistors in parallel ( sets the maximum voltage and current the Laser Diode will get)
100ohm variable resistor (allows fine adjustment of output current )



IMPORTANT! the switch MUST be placed between the battery and the driver, NEVER between the driver and the laser diode! doing so is as good as not making one of these

Step 3: Solder It Up

solder all the connections properly and always test your driver using a bulb before using your diode any wrong connections would kill it 
also  always short your capacitors

have fun and do not point it on naked eyes

Comments

[Ongola]

Objective of the project

[JureH]

which one exactly i must use?

LM317T

OR

LM317LZ

[anuragtheviper]

both nearly same.
I use lm317 .. not lm317t

[Mind2Shape]

Congrats Wade, youve won the award for "most repetitive commentator"

[phillip 29]

[RaviB6]

I have 808nm 300mW 5.6mm TO18 High Power Burning Infrared IR Red Laser Diode Lab 2.2V, can i use this driver for my laser diode. And can i use 12v dc hi-power battery?

[Solomon Sig]

Thank for sharing.

[djevukas]

Welcome. I've made doctrine but my laser is very dull even glows in which only could the problem be?

[anand210394]

Kindly tell me. If this circuit would work with IC-7805 instead of LM317. Reply Asap.

If possible, can you please also give the link for this laser purchase. I need the same laser for my project

[bravoechonovember1]

could you provide a better schematic please i find it hard to understand the one you have right now

[miicchhii]

You can find one here:

http://www.langeder.org/homemade-laser-driver-with...

Take care

[TECHTRAKER]

be careful

[atharva12]

what color diode

[atharva12]

it dosen't burn

[atharva12]

send me the diagram at [e-mail] pleaaaaaaaaase

[gauravclb96]

if i increase the voltage input of any laser pointer will it be changed into laser burner

[joshuam511]

While you will increase the power going to the laser - and so the amount of energy transferred - you will also increase the heat produced on the diode and shorten it lifespan. If you significantly increase the voltage you will blow the diode and it will just stop working (or it may damaged other components near it).

If you want to have a more powerful laser, it is probably sensible to just purchase a higher power rated laser diode (from ebay) and use its rated voltage.

[miicchhii]

Here is a PCB with curcuit,
LM317 Laser Driver Schematic and PCB Layout
you can download and edge it to get a tiny driver.

[coolkids]

how did you draw that figure of 6.75 w ? please show me the working and i might be able to tell you a little something

[j553738]

What would the wattage be from this driver? Doing the math (wrongly, I assume) I work it out to be 6.75 watts. That's a pretty hefty laser. And that's 120 ohms resistance so. If I'm doing my math wrong I'd like to know, but I'd suffice with knowing the "right" answer and discovering where I went wrong on my own :)