My first projector build

[T0mmm]

Hi all,
Now i've got my projector running in some form or other, i thought i'd share a few pictures (yes, PICTURES!) with you all

I thought i'd go a bit crazy and build the lid for mine out of acrylic because its something different, and everyone i show it to would probably want a glimpse inside it - hence the see through acrylic. I know some of you are probably like static!! - im planning to build a mini 'faraday cage' out of very fine mesh and line the inside of the lid with it

The base plate is made of 6082t6 aluminium, 6mm thick, and its about 400 x 280mm long/wide.


Scanners are the spacelas 20k ones, (bought from chinese department store ) I think they perform pretty well, but then again i have never seen any DT40's or CT's in action. they hold up well enough under the ILDA test pattern though, so im pleased for the time being.

you'll notice the X-mirror has a bit broken off it; thats where i opened the delivery box and found it had broken off the galvo spindle, so i upturned it and glued it on the other side lol

At the moment ive only got a single PHR blue ray diode.. i blew the first one i had up, but then danielbriggs kindly sold me a spare one of his

it's driven by a diode housing from Rob (StanWax) with an analog modulation boardy thing it works pretty well! The only problem i have is actually getting a monut for the thing, so i made do with a good-ol' roll of insulation tape and some blu-tak for the time being i could have waited and saved up to have one machined, but i wanted some photons quickly

The power supply for the driver board is a little 1A max velleman kit that i bought from maplin the other day

Im planning to put a safety cutout on it before long, because Laserworld showeditor 2008 LOVES to crash occasionally, or jam up, or whatever quite often, despite my laptop with 2 Gig of RAM lol

So yeah! thats it for the time being, i just hope all the pictures i attached will actually appear now

Next step will be a set of dichros, and then scrimping and saving to mount a laser behind each one... blue will probably turn up last if space becomes a premium (which it undoubtedly will!) i'll put another 'floor' underneath the current one and just have the top bit for laser heads and optics.



In the picture here is a "150mw" greenie, which just died on me after being in the cold for like 45 minutes




Top case assembled




Holes for mounting the plate with power & ILDA connector



everything mounted in place, the nice switch & plate came from an old power amp i had


Galvo's, with slighty broken X mirror. if anything it should give slightly faster scanning? haha







And voila! (oh by the way, i SWEAR the pyjama bottoms with the lips on on my bed, are my girlfriends )








I love this one








A few of the test frames: some of the ripples you se are from the pillowcase, the other 99% are from my amazing chinese galvo's


The box around the circle is actually straight in real life, the camera / pillowcase makes it look wonky in this picture!









wondering where my L has gone


Thats it! I think the pictures may be a big big, but hey

[danielbriggs]

Very nice!

I like the look of the acrylic box, however I don't think you'll be getting that CDRH approval anytime soon (or whatever our UK one is called) LOL

What are you running the diode at?

Looks mighty fine though

Dan

[T0mmm]

lol yeah, me neither! and neither do i expect to be showing it to any members of the public in the near future, as its only about 80mw i expect lol

running it at 4.8v at the diode, 90ma the last time i measured it... i dont wanna go blowing this one by the way, i pushed the broken window pieces out of the way and its fine now!

[danielbriggs]

by the way, i pushed the broken window pieces out of the way and its fine now!

Good good. Bloody Royal Mail

[daedal]

Very nice work!

I do like the acrylic case as well

Sorry to hear about your green though...

--DDL

[White-Light]

Nice pics. I just love it when you can see the projector internals.

[Laser Zone]

Just an idea ( Im not saying you have to do it ) ,, You can use a light sandpaper and sand the inside surface of the box to avoid stray beams from exiting !! So it would have a cloudy look to it.

[soforene]

Wha !?!

Go to all the trouble of making a see through case and then screw it up by scouring the insides?

Let the little orphans pressing their noses against the case to see the pretty lights take their chances is what I say.

[T0mmm]

Wha !?!

Let the little orphans pressing their noses against the case to see the pretty lights take their chances is what I say.

lol yeah, something like that if/when the need arises, i may have to 'blank off' some bits (such as above the galvos) to stop stray beams from blinding people/orphans, but until then its ok as it is, only a bit of a purple haze inside it at the moment

It's also got a little microphone fitted into the aluminium plate to act as a sound to light. forgot to take photos of that.. it works with loud music but i havent got around to fitting a potentiometer to it yet lol

[mikkojay]

Hey Tommm, cool project!
One thing I was wondering about the green- are you certain it is dead?
I have one of the exact same model, and found out by accident that the head's case is positively grounded. Just for kicks, you could make sure the head is isolated from all power supplies, like on a board, and try it once more.
I tried mine out on the bench when I first got it, all was well, mounted on the AL (grounded) plate, then it didn't work. I took it off the AL plate, tried it again & it worked. A little more looking, some insulation, and it was all good again.
-Mike