An introduction and my first RGB build progress...
Hey guys, well first off I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Paul and I've been lurking around for a few months now reading, and reading on lasers and scanning since I got hooked on the idea after seeing the Paramount Laser spectacular Pink Floyd show last year. I've always loved lasers. I was one of the first to actually own a 5mw red pointer back when they were very rare (and cost well over $100) back over 15 years ago.
So here I am now. I live in Cincinnati, OH (any fellow PR-ers nearby??) and am an avid tinkerer with electronics, machining, cars, etc. I figured I would have no trouble building one of these. Well... after all the reading I was slightly intimidated but nothing I couldn't handle. About 2 months ago I began the search and purchase of parts. First thing I realized is it is not that simple and requires parts and parts from all over the world. Oh and this is no cheap hobby! I wanted to keep it under $500 in the beginning, ha! Then I upped my budget to $1000 but to date I'm already over $1500! Yikes, don't tell the lady...
I started with purchasing some galvos (PT-30k), a few 445nm diodes, Flexmod (thanks Drlava!), Aixiz modules, and iShow (yeah i know). Had a blast working with the 445nm diodes but in the process blew one from a voltage spike. I was able to display a ILDA test frame but looked like crap with iShow. From then I knew I needed to get a better DAC. I bought Audiolase from Adam (Thanks, 300Evil) and Spaghetti but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. In the meantime I bought a DPSS 532nm from triangle lights since it had decent reviews for the money. I also bought a few 815 sleds to make red. Still waiting for those to show up. I then needed to order some dichros and mounts and mirrors. I contacted Dave from Lasershowparts in Australia and placed an order for those (thanks Dave!)
Now I needed a nice case to keep everything safe. I scrounged around work to see if I could find on old piece of equipment I could salvage the case from but no luck. Then I thought about using a computer case. Nah, that would just look tacky. Edison was selling some sweet cases but a bit too expensive for my budget. I found a company that makes Al enclosures but only up to 8" wide. At first I thought that was going to be too small but figured out a way to mount everything in a 8x6x14 case (Width-height-length) so I bought one. Then I needed a nice solid baseplate. Went back and forth between 1/4" and 3/8" (~7mm vs. ~10mm). Went with 3/8 6061. Had to buy a set stock so it needed to be milled down. Luckily I have a little mill converted to CNC (a project a few years back) It wasn't really big enough to do 14" passes to I had to do that dimension in 2 sets (re-positioning it on the table). Here are some pics of the my progress, enjoy!
Mounting base plate on milling machine:
http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/...d/Laser004.jpg
Milling to dimension:
http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/...d/Laser009.jpg
http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/...d/Laser018.jpg
Measuring, drilling and tapping of base plate:
http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/...d/Laser025.jpg
http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/...d/Laser023.jpg
Drilling of 445nm ld mount just after milling (crappy iPhone pic):
http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/...ild/photo3.jpg
Rough setup in case:
http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/...d/Laser029.jpg
I still have quite a bit more to finish but I just can’t wait to get this thing running! I’ll keep updating as I get more done.
