Solarfires' DIY low cost high end (beam quality) 445nm build

[Solarfire]

Not sure I follow this correctly....

Is the diode pressed into a 405-G-2 lens holder of some kind which measures 10.7mm in diameter ??? I thought the lens itself was much smaller than 10.7mm

The rest is very nice and crystal clear except for the 45° / beam output.

Cheers

I'ts the original 405-G-2 mounted as Will @ laser66 sells them, they have a diameter of 10.5mm and are set into the 10.7mm bore with thermalpaste filling the rest to ensure a low thermal resistance between diode carrier and mount. The 10.5mm diode carrier is secured with a set screw accessible thru the bottom of the base plate.

The head will be mounted on 2 10mm thick 45° angeled wedges to give the 45° turn of the beam giving better results when doing graphics. Due to the fact that the beam still has a line shape in the farfield, this will prevent that vertical lines won't look like a blue flat beam within the red and green. Of course this will still be an issue now @ 45° scans which appear to be less comon on longer streches than vertical or horizontal scans.

Yes, I know I could have set the focus to give a 10mm x 10mm beam but it just looks so much sharper this way.

[Solarfire]

Might you have any spare drivers?

Sorry, at the moment I only have 2 prototypes and the parts are SMD due to the OP amps I used, they are not available in DIL packages. At the moment it measures 32mm x 32mm and could theoretically do 16A clean @ 12V, so lots of head room. Later I’ll do a LD/TEC-Driver combination based on the Solarfire-n-ice V2 in non SMD and one in SMD.

[taggalucci]

Later I’ll do a LD/TEC-Driver combination based on the Solarfire-n-ice V2 in non SMD and one in SMD.

Awesome! That'll be a great set of options

[Carl B]

Sorry, at the moment I only have 2 prototypes and the parts are SMD due to the OP amps I used, they are not available in DIL packages. At the moment it measures 32mm x 32mm and could theoretically do 16A clean @ 12V, so lots of head room. Later I’ll do a LD/TEC-Driver combination based on the Solarfire-n-ice V2 in non SMD and one in SMD.

Hi Solarfire

What is the time scale for the production and the price of these driver's as I will soon be in need of two.

Carl

[catalanjo]

I'ts the original 405-G-2 mounted as Will @ laser66 sells them, they have a diameter of 10.5mm and are set into the 10.7mm bore with thermalpaste filling the rest to ensure a low thermal resistance between diode carrier and mount. The 10.5mm diode carrier is secured with a set screw accessible thru the bottom of the base plate.

Ah! so the diode carrier IS the lens holder then ?

Cheers

[LaNeK779]

Ah! so the diode carrier IS the lens holder then ?

Cheers

that is correct, see the pic in here http://cgi.ebay.com/445nm-405nm-Lase...item1c1b743b86

(no lens on this particular listing)

[catalanjo]

that is correct, see the pic in here http://cgi.ebay.com/445nm-405nm-Lase...item1c1b743b86

(no lens on this particular listing)

Ta! etc.15chars

Cheers

[Fenechlaser]

Nice build, especially the idea for the body using square aluminium tubing. Just a question, how much is the distance between the collaminator assembly's edge ant the final cylindrical lens when adjusted to obtain a 10mm x 10mm beam @ 11m?

[Solarfire]

Nice build, especially the idea for the body using square aluminium tubing. Just a question, how much is the distance between the collaminator assembly's edge ant the final cylindrical lens when adjusted to obtain a 10mm x 10mm beam @ 11m?

Thanks. The only thing that's necessary for getting the 10mm x 10mm beam is to slightly defocus the collimator to match the slow axis divergence. The distance from the collimator to the first cylinder lens is actually irrelavent, I just leave enough space to be able to adjust the collimator if necessary. The distance between the 2 cylinders is predetermind by the focal lengths of the cylinders, In this case aproximatly 20mm. What beam size one wants should better be decided before positioning the cylinders. The cylinders are not very forgiving to of axis beams or even a marginal tilt of the collimator which can occur when the threds of the collimator don't sit tight and the focus is changed.

cheers!

[catalanjo]

The cylinders are not very forgiving to of axis beams or even a marginal tilt of the collimator which can occur when the threads of the collimator don't sit tight and the focus is changed. cheers!

Very important point this!
I think this is the main reason why Dnar recommends Dave's lens holders!
Still haven't tried them myself yet, but it is in the tube and waiting for $ .

Thanks

Cheers