Smokin' Hot Laser

[danielbriggs]

Evening all,

First off, this is going to be one of those marmite projects. You'll either love it or hate it. I know safety is important, but something potentially harmful is only dangerous in the hands of an idiot in my opinion.
It's clearly not going to get CDRH clearance, but I'm not planning on making dozens of these to sell - this is a unique one off.

I'll begin:
A friend of mine found out I was into lasers, one thing led to another, and in short eventually asked if I could make him laser lighter.
I mulled over it for a bit, and thought "why not!?"

I did find a site on my travels, (can't remember the URL) that had a very similar thing done. However I made it my own, tweaked some parts, and added a few extra bits

So here we go, I present you the laser lighter! :
(All I have left to do is engrave a logo and his name on the back)

The laser has several custom milled and turned parts and all are squeezed into a zippo lighter.
It's powered by two lithium batteries (600mAh capacity in total), and is a 660nm red running at 181mA (a good 150mW output). The focus is set to about 2" for spot on burning just on the tip of the cover.
There is a socket underneath to charge the unit, for which I have build a separate USB charger in a separate box of tricks.
But the coolest part (well I think so) is the magnetic switch! Just pop a small magnet near the back end and 'click' you're on! (The magnet shown in the photo will be mounted into a keyring)
I don't smoke so can't fully test it, but it seems to light matches damm quick!


Ta,
Dan

*Regrets posting this now, due to an afterthought that this thread may get a little flamed; ah well... I can't un-make it now!*

[allthatwhichis]

Hey I like it! Might want to give your friend a set of red goggles. Maybe a use at your own risk sticker... Does it actually work? 150mW seems a bit low for lighting a smoke.

[danielbriggs]

Yep, I'll point him off to buy some goggles.
How about I engrave the laser warning symbol on the front?
Does it work?! Gah, the cheek! It's focused to a tiny point, so will light anything, but you're right, the raw collimated beam wouldn't light a sausage...

[mixedgas]

Your not the most insane engineer yet, that title goes to MJ Neal

There used to be a company called MJ Lasers that sold henes in the old days.

Their monthly catalog came with a April fools cover ad for a "Burning Lazor Razor" for 999$. In the pic it was a nice safety Razer with a 9 volt battery and a switch taped to it!, It had a little note on it, say "My technician Bill came up with this idea, and yes its time to keep Bill out of the lab...."

While yes the safety is questionable, at least its NOT a &#*& pointer! And if you toss it in a fire there is no butane to explode.

Steve

[Displaser]

Your not the most insane engineer yet, that title goes to MJ Neal

There used to be a company called MJ Lasers.....

Steve

Steve,

Here it is! - I had forgotten about that, but just had to dig it out. Circa 1987 (damn, I gotta throw some of this stuff out )

Greg

[daedal]

Nice work! Looks real good

--DDL

[cat]

Can you see DocJohn doing something like this in assorted colors? What am I saying can you see DJMatt trying this at my kitchen table. I think it's time to delete this page for the safety of my house Cat

[allthatwhichis]

That's just wrong... Have to get parental controls for his forum posts... Just build him a fire proof man cave in the back yard.

[cat]

ALLTHATWHICHIS.........the laughable "garage" which is in the back of the yard is full of his theater lights and various things that might get injured. You know I could see Matthew and DocJohn pulling something like this off. I could see you pulling a lighter laser off...................

[Diachi]

Rog over at LPF did this a couple of weeks back

nice build though, not that it's safe, but still, well done

-Adam