what was the first/best laser you had operated of had fun with?

[Draco]

since every one has a starting point in this addiction i was wondering what laser was the most memorable?

For me it was a 120 watt CO2 laser our robotics lab had, it was a total loss system so it needed external gas supply's, the vacuum pump was on it's way out so on start up i had to whack it with a rubber mallet and i had to service the high voltage section my self when i incorrectly interfaced a PLC to it, i was the only student allowed to use it. The project i did with it was to cut holes or trace letters on some smoked plexiglass, the thing was the length on my truck and even used a vacuum tube voltage regulator. I think it was made my coherent but i don't remember, it's cabinet and separate control console/power supply where light blue with black trims. i believe the class still has it and am told i was one of the "elite" that used it and i had to pass an exam first. oh the memories, i still love gas lasers and hope to get an argon laser in the future

[WolfMax]

Having not had that many (5 but 3 were in the last 2 years), I remember them all. My first was an 1985 NEC GLG5210 'Cylindrical Laser'. Given to me in lue of purchase from an acquaintance, I only had it 2 weeks before I accidently broke it. I duly paid for it and still have the power supply he had made for it which still powers my second laser (an NEC GLT172 Internal mirror plasma tube).

My favourite has to be No.5, my DLT RGB bundle projector I recently built (See Here). The immense satisfaction I received designing, building, wiring and finally firing that unit is immeasurable. I can't see any other future project surpassing it (and it still isn't fully completed yet).

[Eidetic]

My favorite laser to work with was the Coherent Verdi, for holography. As may be true for many here, a holographer wants a laser that just turns on and runs as expected so we can get on with playing with the light beamin' out, which is what REALLY captures our interest. The Verdi gave soooo much power that was soooooo stable in a beam that didn't wander around a bunch like an ion laser' beam. And it plugs right in, and doesn't need water, and is small as a breadbox, ............ I'm gettin' a boner just thinking about it!

Takes a real laser jock, and there are a whole bunch of them here too, to see their lasers as pets. I'm one of them too unfortunately, but not so much so as to give them names. One of my favorites though, is the '62 Hughes 200 pulsed ruby system I got from fellow PLer Photonbeam. Oldest working commercial laser on the planet! Still can poke a hole in a razor blade (with a lens!). Here it is:

[flecom]

had a metrologic hene when I was a kid that my middle school was going to toss... replaced some bits in it and it fired right up, mounted it to a tripod and had it hitting a crystal ball on my parents chirstmas tree, hundreds of little 633nm dots on the ceiling...

[VDX]

... my first laser impression was on an exhibition ("Muster-Messe") in Leipzig around 1973 or '74, where a medium sized box emitted a bright green beam and they sometimes put matches into the beam to light them !!

The beam ended simply on a black target, but beside was standing a white brick with a maybe 50mm wide hole through it with molten glass on the walls and some glass-droplets on the lower part ... today I'm thinking, the hole was made with a much more powerfull CO2-laser (or even faked?) ... but then this was for me the proof for all the laser-related melting/exploding 'actions' in the SciFi-films I've seen then ;-)

Viktor

[Bradfo69]

Sadly... I don't have such a great story. eBay. $65. And the beginning of the end:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-a...laser-lighting

[Photonbeam]

...Takes a real laser jock, and there are a whole bunch of them here too, to see their lasers as pets. I'm one of them too unfortunately, but not so much so as to give them names. One of my favorites though, is the '62 Hughes 200 pulsed ruby system I got from fellow PLer Photonbeam. Oldest working commercial laser on the planet! Still can poke a hole in a razor blade (with a lens!). Here it is:

My hat is off to Eidetic for having the most amazing laser collection on the planet! I'm glad someone is saving these historic instruments.
One of my favorite laser acquisitions was a new Melles Griot 2.5W 532nm DPSS. Up to that time I had spent decades dragging ion laser systems around the world with miles of water hoses, booster pumps, feeder cable, 3-phase transformers, tools/spare parts, even tanks of nitrogen purge. Now I had an air cooled multiwatt laser with good beam quality that I could hold in my hand and plug in the wall! It cost around $15K but it paid for itself quickly.
My first laser was a 0.5mW HeNe I made in glassblowing class in the early '70's. It flickered out after a few months from contamination (the epoxy holding on the brewster windows out-gassed).
One of the most exciting times in recent memory was when blue LD's were discovered in the C@$io projectors - I didn't sleep for days!

[hitekvoop]

My favorite laser to work with was the Coherent Verdi, for holography. As may be true for many here, a holographer wants a laser that just turns on and runs as expected so we can get on with playing with the light beamin' out, which is what REALLY captures our interest. The Verdi gave soooo much power that was soooooo stable in a beam that didn't wander around a bunch like an ion laser' beam. And it plugs right in, and doesn't need water, and is small as a breadbox, ............ I'm gettin' a boner just thinking about it!

Takes a real laser jock, and there are a whole bunch of them here too, to see their lasers as pets. I'm one of them too unfortunately, but not so much so as to give them names. One of my favorites though, is the '62 Hughes 200 pulsed ruby system I got from fellow PLer Photonbeam. Oldest working commercial laser on the planet! Still can poke a hole in a razor blade (with a lens!). Here it is:

I know you've got quite a collection going... is that all in your house? How much of it is actually on display, and do you charge admission?

[hitekvoop]

One of my favorite laser acquisitions was a new Melles Griot 2.5W 532nm DPSS. Up to that time I had spent decades dragging ion laser systems around the world with miles of water hoses, booster pumps, feeder cable, 3-phase transformers, tools/spare parts, even tanks of nitrogen purge. Now I had an air cooled multiwatt laser with good beam quality that I could hold in my hand and plug in the wall! It cost around $15K but it paid for itself quickly.

I'm currently the owner of said MG DPSS, and while it's been for sale for the past two SELEM's, I may just keep it. It's pretty badass looking and talking to it over RS-232 is just plain cool.

[Eidetic]

I know you've got quite a collection going... is that all in your house? How much of it is actually on display, and do you charge admission?

Yes, it's all on display in the house. Anyone interested is welcome to visit, with notice in advance.