Alright, today we’ve got two different methods of making your own burning laser pointer at home in very little time at very little or even absolutely no expense whatsoever (if you’ve already got a low-power
| green laser pointer you can modify you won’t have to spend a penny). The first one presumes that you’ve got a low-power green laser pointer (these are relatively inexpensive these days–cheapest one I see on Amazon is this one for $14.92) that you’re going to modify by disassembling it and disabling the power-limiter component on it with |
a soldering iron (you need a soldering iron, yes). The second one shows you how to construct a very powerful laser pointer out of a small Maglite flashlight (the kind that runs off of 2 AA’s) and the laser diode from a DVD burner. This one happens to be my favorite because it’s SO easy to get ahold of a DVD drive (must be able to write/burn DVD’s) for either VERY cheap or for free–if you’ll get a broken one from a dump or off Ebay, odds are excellent that the diode works just fine and it’s something else that’s broken, those diodes almost never break, it’s almost always some type of moving part (i.e. a motor) within the drive that broke, or you can just buy a used-but-working one for VERY little.
Method #1: Modified low-power green laser pointer
Here’s the first method. Remember, you’re going to need:
- An inexpensive low-power green laser pointer.
- A pair of pliers (he uses a pair of needle-nose ones)
- A set of micro screwdrivers.
- A soldering iron.
Here’s what to do:
Method #2: Modified DVD burner diode + Maglite
One of the cool things about this one is that DVD drives use several different colored lasers, depending on how old your drive is and
| what brand it is, it could be either green, blue, or red (as show in the video). I suspect you could get this to run off of any type of flashlight that you want, including some of the bigger Maglites, but I don’t know why you’d want to as the small AA one is perfect for this. |
Here’s what you’ll need:
- A small Maglite (takes 2 AA’s–they sell these things EVERYWHERE, very cheap like 5 or 10 bucks or so).
- A DVD burner (he says 16x, I suspect you could go lower or higher and as long as it can actually BURN DVD’s, it’ll work).
- A set of micro screwdrivers.
- A housing for the laser (you can get the one he recommends here)
- Soldering Iron
Here’s what to do:
Additional Resources and Further Reading
The best place to go for research and asking questions about doing this sort of stuff is the Candlepower Lasers Forum.
Instructables.com has a whole area dedicated to laser pointer projects that’s got tons of stuff in it with 232 members as of now.
HacknMod.com has a really cool pages with 6 different laser pointer projects/hacks.
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
i found laser and all things i need Except driver…where to gind that???
where to get*
soo i bought a green laserpointer 5mw 532 nm i assume and its a little different than your laser in your video im trying to find the component to heat up to make it a 100 mw green laser was very interested in your project, cant seem to find wut to heat up not sure what Q1 C2 R4 R5 and R8 mean help please.
the first method where u turn the green lazer into one by tightening the screw and burning the one part, will that work with a cheep little 2 dollar red lazer from walmart? runs off of four little watch-battery like things?
Alex, the laser he used will probably have different markings than your laser. Gary, I just dissasembled my $2 laser and, no, it won’t work.
ok i was just wondering about the screwdrivers on the second one if there is a specific set that would help more than another?
No, just a set of mico-sized screwdrivers like the kind you would use on eyeglasses–hardware stores will all carry them.
ok thanks for the help
Which diode # do I have to burn out. Your video was a little blurry to see which one it was. I have a green laser pointer that uses 2 aaa’s
That was totaly wicked. :happy:
That was pownawesome:cool:
Do you guys know if an xbox 360 drive dvd diode will work?
If it’s capable of burning dvds then yes, it should work. If it can only read them then no, probably not.
see idk if it can actually burn them. i know its got a dvd reader, but the burner i guess ill have to find out
So cool
Can it work with any other colored laser? (“)>
I like pie
OMG I LOVE THIS LASER!
omg!!!!!!!!!!! i love pie to but i like pumpkin pie the most and then lemon pie and and almost eny other pie aslong as it has whip creem on it………….. ohyea the laser worked good shut up mom im wrighting stuff what no! im not looking at porn
what the hell is wrong with im gona fuckin beat the shit out of you ……. kill whitey!!!!
is there something like a dvd berner that will work
opps i was talking about a DS
hey where can i get a pen like yours??? &ndd gary does it really work with a 2 dollar wal mart laser… what kind of brand laser is it on the video??
hey gary does it really work with a 2 dollar walmart laser??? &ndd what brand laser is it on the video… its to blurry where do you get it
please help???
Hey curious… i have a red laser pointer… can that work to modify? or can i switch the diode with one from a dvd burner?
bLehH
….. what are you talking about?? I cant understand you!!!! such a fool
would there any cutting or enough heat power if i use a vcd diode?
Where can we find an aixiz laser housing nowadays? I looked on the aixiz site and couldn’t find any. Which kind specifically should we get? And the link above the video doesn’t work anymore either.
Here it is: http://aixiz.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=45&osCsid=a236afd55b7b0ad2730376a0bc8d6b1f
I’ve fixed the link as well, thanks for letting me know about that.
Cheers,
Andrew (admin)
>..>” Laser…….epic…
Hi. does the torch hve to be from maglite or can it be different cmpany that uses 2 AA cells. An one more thing. Can you possibly send me some detail on what wire goes where when attaching the diode from the laser to the torch. where do you get the laser housing??
Oh yeah who the hell is the guy talking about pie????
alternative for a soldering iron could be a ???
Jeez guys, maybe you shouldn’t do this mod at all?
Any knife with fine point will work as screwdriver.
Soldering iron. Just heat any thick piece of metal with a lighter ’till it’s red hot and use it instead.
Laser Housing. Just use any $2 china-made laser pointer.
Power source. Any 3Volt power source will work. Kipkay uses two AA batteries (1.5volt each).
Enjoy your new burning laser. And remember, you can get tens of thousand dollar fines or go to jail for using burning laser on someone or flashing it in someones eye.
You are not even allowed to carry powerful laser, learn your local law regarding lasers.
this is awesome!!!!!
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