How we made a DVD-RW drive laser

Without special preludes, I’ll start with what kind of drive is better to use.

• First, it must be a writing drive (RW);
• Secondly, the higher the recording speed of it, the more powerful the laser will turn out;
• Well and, thirdly, the more unnecessary it already is, the more satisfaction one can get from it. I noticed a direct relationship :)

So, we select the desired drive.

Removing the laser module

We disassemble and reach the laser head.


Remove the laser head.

Our goal is a laser module.

Before removing the module itself, we short-circuit all three of its outputs with a thin copper wire (we took one strand from the multi-core). This is needed for safety statics.


Now you can remove the laser module. He is “sitting there” quite well, so you need to work hard and balance the efforts between “peeling” and “not breaking”.

That somehow should happen.

Circuit assembly

We now turn to the scheme. It is necessary to control the laser power. Otherwise, it will simply burn.

We did not bother and did the installation of hinged.

Nutrition

Need to feed from 3.7v. For a portable laser, batteries from mobile phones, connected in parallel, are perfect.

We used the stabilized power supply.

Warning

It should warn in advance about the ruthlessness of the laser to the retina. During the work with the laser it is necessary to use special glasses. You may ask why I am writing all this, because no one will do it anyway? Well, what if! Suddenly there will be at least one reasonable person and put on special glasses when handling the laser. And one or even two eyes will save these lines!

We did not have such points and we did everything at our own peril and risk. But red glasses, unlike safety glasses, will allow you to see the laser beam better. For beauty, you can let in smoke, as we did in the intro to the video .

Trial run

Connecting power, we see the consumption of 200mA and a beam of bright light.

In the dark, it works like a flashlight.

Focusing Lens

The beam was not at all "laser". Need a lens to adjust the focal length. For a start, a lens from the same drive is quite suitable.


Through the lens it turns out to focus the beam, but without a rigid body, the occupation is tedious.

Body manufacturing

On the Internet, I met a description where people used laser pointers or a flashlight as a body. Especially since the lenses are already there. But, first, we did not have a laser pointer of the right size at hand. And, secondly, it would increase the budget of the event. And I have already said that for me personally this reduces the pleasure from the result obtained.
We began to cut aluminum profile.




Be sure to isolate everything.

Lens

The lens is attached to the clay to adjust its position.



By the way, this lens works better if you turn it with a convex part to the laser diode.

We regulate and get a more or less collected beam.


It is probably possible to precisely adjust, but this was enough for us to make the black plastic melt.

The match instantly caught fire.



Black electrical tape cut like a knife in butter.



This laser would have made a great gun for playing soldiers.

Video

The video shows the speed of laser exposure to some materials (white sheet, inscription with marker on paper, black plastic and black electrical tape, thread, plasticine).
')


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