Laser Bench...

[Daedal]

I am working on making something that I think would be hours and months of fun. Quite useful too, in my opinion, and I wanted to ask for the general input of my most trustworthy source of all time for all lighting questions; you guys!:goodjob:

I currently have the motors(http://www.web-tronics.com/stmo52.html), motor drivers(http://webtronics.stores.yahoo.net/2phmococ1.html) and the power supply(http://www.web-tronics.com/1536siouposu.html) for the motors. I also have some .5W 808nm lasers for the sole purpose of testing and beam calibration. I do realize that the collimating lense and the source would need to be changed later on, but I really do not have a way of "seeing" IR. I rigged a webcam, taking out the IR filter and it sees nothing but absolute whiteness

Now, here is my barrage of questions:

I need some useful eye protection, any suggestions?
I have no idea how to make sure the thing is actually working other than the webcam and possibly using a paper to see burn marks. Any more effecient suggestions?
I have no idea how to collimate the laser, or where to get a good collimatinglense that would be usable on a 50W or so laser, any help would be appreciated.
Does anyone have any experience with reflecting the laser beam across moving platforms? I could really use the help.
What would be the suggested material to house the whole project? Preferably somethign that is easily moldable and readily available for customization.
Any idea what amount of power would be needed to burn into wood at a descent speed?

I am looking to make a machine that would basically connect through USB(http://www.dlpdesign.com/dlp-io8-ds-v14.pdf) and I currently have that controlling the motors via my laptop. I am still working on getting the laser logic correct though...

I am right now working on building some circuits suggested by Sam's LASER FAQ(http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm) and I have a circuit that uses some simple logic to control the power (on/off) on some 5mW red lasers that I hope to port into a more complex, more powerful, system to control the more powerful laser to be used for wood burning.

Any help/suggestions/brain-picking/anything, is mostly welcome and greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much;
DDL

EDIT: I should probably also note that the "bench" is much of a laser printer silimar to the VersaLaser(http://www.ulsinc.com/versalaser/english/index.html) in design and function. When I came up with the idea, I was unaware of the existence of the VersaLaser. I made sure not to look at it in detail, I want to come up with my own solutions and my own application of the idea. I am a novice at woodburning using the good old fashion burning iron. I hope to make this a much more fascinating and definately an encompassing product.

P.S. : I also wanted to make sure of something, plz...
Is (http://www.optics-online.com/rms.asp) what I should be looking at if I want to combine a red, or green, and an IR laser so I can see where the incident laser is at?

My plan for the application is perhans something as follows:

IR
|
RED --\|--- Combined

Excuse the very ugly ASCII image If extra details or a 3D demonstration is required, please let me know.

Thank you all in advance, again;
DDL

 

[allthatwhichis]

Um... first off, good luck. Sounds like a big project, and somewhat dangerous. Definatly get some IR goggles.

To see IR you can get a newer camera or DV camera that has "Night Shot" (Sony) or something similar that will pick up IR. I use my DV camera.

I wold also get some type of optical bread board for mounting every thing on. I don't have one, but it is my next purchase for my laser projector and is the standard that we all use for mounting our lasers for projectors... :candle:

Again good luck and... be careful.

 

[Daedal]

Any suggestions on where to get the breadboard? What is that? How does it work? What will it allow me to do?

Thank you;
DDL

 

[Ashton]

I just thought I'd point out, if you want to play with an IR laser, CO2 lasers emit IR at such a high frequency (somone quoted int he 10K nm range, but I dont htink that's right) that ANYTHING, even plexiglass ($1 safty goggles) or glass (RX eyeglasses) will block the IR --- but it WILL leave a amrk, CO2 can be used to engrave glass! I'm looking at eventually building a similar device, and I'm plannign on using a 40-80watt CO2 laser, so I'm very interested in how this proceeds.

As for power, my Pulsar 135mw will burn wood @ 1mm^2/2seconds or so. That might give you a good starting point.

 

[allthatwhichis]

A bread board is just a plate of metal, usually aluminum, that has a grid of holes all over it, usually tapped. I'm at work or I'd send you a link to an eBay auction to a couple... Search optical breadboard on eBay, or Thorlabs is a maker of them, they have some on their site. They can be small, 6in by 6in or full table size, 6ft by 6ft or bigger.

 

[B@rt]

I rigged a webcam, taking out the IR filter and it sees nothing but absolute whiteness

You need to replace the IR filter with a piece of exposed photonegative film. This will block visible light while IR passes through.

Here is a shot I just took of a bottle of Pepsi, as you can see it is pretty much clear in IR.

 

[Kenom]

That's freakin cool.

 

[Aseras]

for IR you use a red laser for alignment and testing ( colliminating optics are the same ) so you can see it then you switch to the IR. 808 is hard to use. it's barely visible and it's hard to get visible light and block IR. co2 10.6K ( while ir by definition it's also a rf/mircowave beam as well ) lasers can use glass or plexiglass as filter.

take a look at the insides of a dvd/cd burner. it uses both red and IR on the same output but from diffrent diodes using HR prisms for diffrent wavelengths.

 

[Daedal]

I just thought I'd point out, if you want to play with an IR laser, CO2 lasers emit IR at such a high frequency (somone quoted int he 10K nm range, but I dont htink that's right) that ANYTHING, even plexiglass ($1 safty goggles) or glass (RX eyeglasses) will block the IR --- but it WILL leave a amrk, CO2 can be used to engrave glass! I'm looking at eventually building a similar device, and I'm plannign on using a 40-80watt CO2 laser, so I'm very interested in how this proceeds.

As for power, my Pulsar 135mw will burn wood @ 1mm^2/2seconds or so. That might give you a good starting point.

WOW... well... in terms of the CO2 being at such a high frequency, I really highly doubt it. Can anyone confirm? I mean... the laser itself says that it is 808, 1064... etc nm right on the source. But if there really is one that is at such a high frequency and at a reasonable price, I'd rather go with that one. For one, at such a high frequency, the energy of laser will be Extremely tiny, the beam would be very tiny, and would give me much greater accuracy in printing the wood.

As regarding the 135mW burning wood, I think I might have some success burning something descent if I use the 500mW's that I have. Maybe even use a couple mirror prisms and comibe the rays from a couple of them to make a 1W

Thanx;
DDL

 

[Daedal]

You need to replace the IR filter with a piece of exposed photonegative film. This will block visible light while IR passes through.

Here is a shot I just took of a bottle of Pepsi, as you can see it is pretty much clear in IR.

AWH! I have read that somewhere before but completely forgot about it. I have an older Digital Camera (~4MP) that I do not use anymore. I wanted to take out the IR filter from that and replace it with an exposed film. That should definately give me a much better result than the webcam. The webcam I am using is not all that bad, It does see something, but mostly takes a few minutes to adjust to the new levels. I've tried looking through several things with the IR and it's pretty fascinating.

Thanx B@rt;
DDL

 

[Daedal]

for IR you use a red laser for alignment and testing ( colliminating optics are the same ) so you can see it then you switch to the IR. 808 is hard to use. it's barely visible and it's hard to get visible light and block IR. co2 10.6K ( while ir by definition it's also a rf/mircowave beam as well ) lasers can use glass or plexiglass as filter.

take a look at the insides of a dvd/cd burner. it uses both red and IR on the same output but from diffrent diodes using HR prisms for diffrent wavelengths.

10.6k it is then... How are their prices in comparison to 808nm? Burning power? Suggested retailer? Would it be better, or more efficient, to just get a precollimated module and reflect it, or to make my own?

Thank you;
DDL

 

[Aseras]

co2 lasers are the cheapest high power laser you can get... 100 WATTS for @ $500-1000. Just don't put your eye out.. or cut your arm off or burn down your house. Seriously, it's cheap raw power you can cut steel and etch glass. While glass or plexiglass will protect from errant reflection, it's completly invisible and POWERFULL. One mistake has serious consequences. There's also hazardous voltages and water involved so it can be a safety nightmare from the electrical side as well as the laser side.

If you have the time to do it right though, co2 lasers are the way to go. The have excellent beam quality, the best collimination you will ever get. cheap raw power to do the crap you wish you could do with a laser.. like cut holes in 2x4's and etch glass and cut steel and weld... the only drawback is it's invisible. you turn it on, the tube glows and presto anything the beam terminates on burts into flame... or starts smoking. even concrete.

 

[Daedal]

That is a pretty good price, ofcourse, you're just talking about the tube, right? I don't know where to find a complete CO2 system for under a couple thousand.

Thanx;
DDL

 

[Ashton]

look on ebay. I could set up a whole system, piecemeal, for under 1K, including an 80w tube. Some of the systems even come with everything you need included, but they're higher-up in price.

 

[Daedal]

look on ebay. I could set up a whole system, piecemeal, for under 1K, including an 80w tube. Some of the systems even come with everything you need included, but they're higher-up in price.

What would be required other than the tube (with intenal optics), the water pump, and the power supply?

Also, how would I know that the power supply is powerful enough to power up the tube? and how well the water pump will be for the laser?

Besides, if at 135mW i could burn wood as you said earlier, would I really need something that powerful?

VersaLASER can burn wood at a descent speed with a 10W laser, and their top of the line is 50W. I also don't want to get in trouble with the government for trying to build something that uses 100W or so without approval I'm not even aware of what regulations apply to these things and how their uses would require registration and approval or the whatnots.

Thanx;
DDL

 

[Ashton]

Well, I'm planning on doing engraving of anything from wood to gold to glass, that's why I'm wanting such a powerful laser.

Each tube has a required voltage/amberage/wattage to fire up and begin lasing. I dont know how much it varies, but they shoudl all ahve a factsheet form the manufactyurer with this info (or so I'm told, to date, I've not bought a CO2 laser, so I dont know)

There is a thread on lasercommunity under "help" that lists state/coutnry laws on lasers. I know in GA and SC, there are NO regulations, so, for me, it's all Hakuna Matata! I suggest you check that before you begin construction, so you ahve time to apply for a permit if needed.

 

[Daedal]

Well... after a quick search I still find nothing about lasers from where I am. I don't know if that is a good thing, or a bad thing. The states only limit the use of them as "pointing devices" rather as implemented into equipment. There is also a cool little comment about pointing any laser at an officer

Cheers;
DDL