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This can be done with partially transparent mirrors positioned at the start of each "line," set at a 45 degree angle from the laser source. The last mirror can be a "normal" fully reflective mirror. The power will diminish by a fixed proportion with each mirror, resulting in very little power...

That's odd. I was able to get divergence close to single-mode diodes with a pair of cylindrical lenses and a 1.2 W 638, which likely has a much larger emitting area. Instead of expanding and then collimating the slow axis, I opted to collimate both the fast and slow axis individually with convex...

I've done some lens shaping with a fine diamond file and water. It's a tedious process but it does work. Just be sure to mask the optical surfaces you want to keep... optical. I've made round lenses rectangular and even reduced the diameter of a wedge prism so it would fit one of my projects...

Well there are more costs than beam quality. Pushing those diodes into the 470 nm range also decreases the life of the diode, dramatically increases waste heat, and also increases optical output power, which - I know this is a strange concept to some of you - is sometimes undesirable. All this...

Orange between 600 and 610 nm is what I really want. I've been collecting some rare red diodes and at some point I'll work on miniaturizing a cooling module to bring the wavelength down a bit. Starting at 633 nm makes it relatively easy to get real orange at much less than the cost of other...

I count 13 lines if you include a faint spot in the UV range.

The one on the left is. The 638 in the middle is slightly brighter than the other two, which increases its exposure in the photo, making it appear "lighter." No, I don't have a HeNe. One of these days I'll get one. I forgot to mention in the first post that the calibration laser with the least...

This weekend I decided I would measure the wavelengths of a few lasers I have. Using a diffraction grating, some scrap plywood, and spare hardware, I assembled a simple setup for measuring the wavelength of any visible laser. Construction: A 1.15 meter length of plywood was drilled to hold 4...

Good suggestion. I had an idea to make a small magnetic block that can hold optics and snap it in with little neodymium magnets installed in the host - as Curtis says, it wouldn't be hard to fabricate something from metal. But I'll probably reserve that idea for future projects since the small...

Thanks! I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. What's the 495 in right now?

Here's my latest project: a 561 nm laser installed in a hand-made aluminum-bronze host. When I say hand-made, I mean I formed the host from stock using hand saws, files, abrasive paper, and tapped the threads by hand. The only power tools involved: drill press and belt sander. Here are some...

Nice work. I have used diamond abrasives to re-form lenses that are too large for some applications. I cut out the shape I want out of masking tape, apply it to both sides of the lens, and then use the abrasives (wet) to carefully grind off the excess material. This works best when only a small...

Here is a nice demonstration of spatial filtering: Good luck! Be sure to show us how the project goes as you continue to work on it. :)

"G-2" refers to a short focal length aspheric collimator. It is typically mounted in a brass thingy with m9x0.5 threads. The threads fit the heatsink most commonly used for mounting diodes. The dimensions of the adapter will need to be tailored to the specific laser pointer you end up...

There are some members of this forum that do custom machining. You can try contacting one of them. Unfortunately I don't know who is actively taking commissions these days. Lifetime17 may be able to help you. Otherwise, if you opt for the last resort, you could probably make something like this...

A simple adapter that holds the lens and fits over the pointer will work fine. The design of the adapter depends on the lens design. Edmund Optics has powell lenses that have a circular profile which will be easier to mount into an adapter turned on a lathe. I see that Thorlabs' powell lenses...

Nice work! Looks like the type of thing I built back when I first started. What's the next project gonna be?

I see the problem. It may be best to replace the diode. If you need very high precision and need to eliminate leakage of unwanted light from the diode, you may want to consider spatial filtering. It is not easy to implement (maybe you have the capabilites) but it will give you a very clean...

Also the IR wavelengths you will find commonly available are not absorbed by skin very well. An IR laser would not cause any pain unless its outputting several watts in a well collimated beam - highly unlikely.

The surface you are projecting the beam onto is fluorescent. This will make it appear much brighter. You may be able to get a better idea of the beam profile on a non-fluorescent matte black surface (preferably something that won't burn). I took another look at your first video and when you...