Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally done

[GooeyGus]

Well... due to a lot of different things, this project has taken me a few weeks. I've had driver problems galore. I've had to deal with the usps, which sucks in my area. Tonight I just couldn't wait anymore, and decided to throw it together with things I already had. I was originally going to use the lavadrive, but it was a pain to solder and I ended up breaking one of the pieces (after I had it working... I wanted it centered better.... damn that OCD...). So, tonight I remembered I had a 38ma rckstr driver laying around somewhere, so I found it and added resistors until I came up with about 115-120mA. I glued everything up all nice, made sure everything was perfect, and screwed the barrel together. I closed my eyes as I pressed the button, because with all the trouble I've had with this damn thing, I was expecting the worst. BUT... all the hard work paid off, and here she is:

 

[VillageIdiot]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Looks sexy. Good job dude. Balloon pop or match light video or I shall tar and feather you.

 

[Murudai]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Wow, very nice indeed.

Truly, a 6x blu-ray is one of the pinnacles of DIY. I hope to make one next summer (or winter, if you're in the northern hemisphere) but until then, I can get inspired by efforts like that one

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Your hand doesn't look anything like the dude in your avatar.

 

[motorider826]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Your hand doesn't look anything like the dude in your avatar.

I was thinking the exact same thing!

 

[z000z]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Nice job!
You can always tell when someone has high powered lasers from their photos. Squiggle squiggle...

 

[JLSE]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Very Sexy Laser! Nice job!

 

[GooeyGus]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Here are a few more pictures...

 

[Razako]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Have you tried burning stuff with it? 100+mw of 405nm should be great for burning when focused.

 

[GooeyGus]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Have you tried burning stuff with it?  100+mw of 405nm should be great for burning when focused.

Oh man... let me tell you. I swear it burns better than my red DX200. The first thing I did was focus it on my wall. It smoked white paint. The weird thing is... you know how red lasers, when focused all the way down appear to flash 'white' on some surfaces? Well, this one actually flashes to RED on some surfaces! Its a weird pinkish red, but it looks killer. I mostly noticed it on wood.

 

[rog8811]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Its a weird pinkish red, but it looks killer. I mostly noticed it on wood.

I remember a post from DL saying the higher voltage/ma may change the wavelength.... I too have noticed with my freak PS3 LD (@80ma) that at an oblique angle the dot is very much red, especially when shone on a leaf.

Nice pictures by the way GG, all you need now is a focus ring on the Aixiz lens as I would guess that your fingers get in the way a bit with it being reccessed like that?

Regards rog8811

 

[GooeyGus]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Well... sad news. After two or three weeks of lasing fun, and only two days in the completed barrel, the diode is dead. It was my own dumb fault though. I dialed in the current last night with what I thought were 95% charged batteries. It was about 120mA. Well I put the batteries in the charger last night and took them out this morning for more lasing fun. Except I only had fun for about 5 seconds, then purple LED. I checked the current and lo and behold... 270mA     NEXT TIME I am going to make sure that I set my driver with batteries that I know to be 100% charged. Lesson learned. Hopefully I'll have a new (open can 6x blu ray!) diode in by the end of next week though. I'll keep ya posted.

 

[thejunkmonger]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

nooo that sucks maybe you should have stuck it out with the lavadrive. Hope you get it up and running soon. I didn't even know the lavadrives needed to be assembled I ordered one the other day, they are so tiny I can see myself screwing it up for sure. Just a hint if your soldering smd stuff and your tip is too big I use a piece of solid copper wire that is clamped to the original tip and solder with that.
worked for me in the past.

 

[hydrogenman15]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Is it safe to use rechargeble batteries for lasers?
I would rather pay a few more dollars then risk breaking my laser.

 

[danq]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

A constant-current driver should be fairly independent of battery voltage, within certain upper and lower limits. I think something is wrong with your driver.

Hydrogenman: yes, rechargeables are great! As long as the circuit truly regulates current, it should deal with normal fluctuations in voltage from fully-charged to greatly discharged.

 

[Razako]

Re: Here it is... 6x blu-ray in kryton, finally do

Ouch......$300 dead diode :'(

What batteries were you using? You need to be careful with 3.6V rcr123A's because they come off the charger at over 4.2V sometimes and you need to design the driver with that in mind. Even with the slightly increased voltage the current shouldn't go up that high. There is definitely something wrong with your driver.