Sob Story...

[dsli_jon]

heh... I was looking for some stuff in the denizens of Laserium, last nite, and I came across a little box that was labeled: 'trashed laser optics'... Sheesh.. ever wonder what ~$32,500. in whitelight laser-optics looks like??..

...I believe the appropriate-word is 'Crikey!!'.. I mean, even-if - IF - these were *only* $500./set WL-optics, this is still ~ $17K of 'sob story', and, most sets of decent WL-optics I've ever had to source, were ~ $1K / set - some of the 'best' German-made ones were ~$2K a set, so... ..just sayin'...

..all you pups, weened on '$299. solid-state happy-meal rigs'... take a close-look at this sad, sad pic... this is (..in part..) why many of us 'old-skoolers' are a bit 'cranky'... we really had to *earn* the stripes... and by that I mean, you guys are, like, ready to commit seppuku when ya pop a $50. diode.. Not-quite like a 'bad day' when you've 'popped' a $12,000. laser-tube.. or baked a $1K set of mirrors... ...they'z were some tough hills to-climb.. ..ah, 'progress'...

..'what am I going to 'do' with them?' ...mini 'Mirror-ball', of course!!

njoy...
j

[Bradfo69]

Kinda make me wonder what this is really worth...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HUGE-LOT-COH...vip=true&rt=nc


AND.... what in the hell I'm gonna DO with them.







silly addiction

[dsli_jon]

...AND.... what in the hell I'm gonna DO with them.

..diamond-tip dremel-drill + dusk mask + few hours + trip to the local 'beads-r-us' = 'laser earrings' / pendants ..they'll be all the rage at Club EBCC..
j

[Bradfo69]

Wonderful... so you're saying they're probably useless??

[dsli_jon]

..so you're saying they're probably useless??

Dunno - can't really make that call from just the auction-pic... Mine sure are... Do those optics have any AR-coatings? They (appear..) to be all pretty 'water-clear' (?) Hard to tell from here.. Certainly some of the prisms could be useful, and those 'tube-lookin' optics are useful for 'shifting' a beam-height, for example, ever so-slightly, w/o any divergence-bloom.. But if they're all completely-uncoated, no-AR, etc... Mmm... not so sure of the 'value' for peeps, at least here... But still, I'm sure you've probably 'blown $160. in worse-ways', before, ya?

ttys..
j

[Bradfo69]

Well... since ya put it that way, I "did" get a few lap dances back in December so, yeah. And, I didn't get a piece of (gl)ass with that money. So... perhaps you're right.



Regardless, I'm probably not even opening the box 'til SELEM with more people in the "know" around, since they're all wrapped up in little packages.

[laserist]

Way back in the day Carl H. got an entire lot of white light optics that had a bad coating somewhere in the mix - he sent them back to be stripped and recoated. The problem is you'd have to need that many to make it worth while...

[absolom7691]

When I worked at MWK, I was working on a 60X argon head (I know, small potatoes back then but still sold for about $1800 refurb). I felt a rock hit my gut when I pulled off the brester stem cover and heard a small snap and a brief hiss. I had pull off a brewster window in the process. This was a tube that had just been re-gassed. Telling Mike about it was a tough thing to do. Them was the good ol' days. I saved up for several months to buy my 60X with a hotwired omni 150P PSU. Couldn't even afford an AO mod. I just used solenoids with dichros to get the colors I wanted. Lasers were near impossible for the hobbyist back then. You have to LOVE it.

[Photonbeam]

I think Pat would agree these old optics make excellent sling-shot ammo. The first white light mirror sets from Llambda were expensive (>$1K) and the coatings were rather soft. At Spectra Physics in the mid 70's we built special small frame white light kryptons for Laser Images / Laserium. They had 164 aluminum extrusion resonators and 165 belt-driven tuning plates. The output end was switched with the beam coming out the rear (anode) end of the head. Because the lasers were mounted vertically in the projector with the cathode bulb at the bottom, any particles coming loose in the bore would hopefully fall into the cathode bulb rather than onto the inside of the brewster window.
I heard that same sickening "tink, hiss" sound once while installing a new $13K white light 171 plasma tube from Brian @ Cambridge. He repaired it and regassed it for around $2500 as I recall.

[dsli_jon]

I think Pat would agree these old optics make excellent sling-shot ammo.

Hah! '...sorreh I dun kill'd yer rabbit wif my OC, Maw...'

... At Spectra Physics in the mid 70's we built special small frame white light kryptons for Laser Images / Laserium.

.. I recently heard that LII was the one of the major catalysts behind SP's new 'pump' design for the 168's.. that's.. just, uh.. 'epic'...

I heard that same sickening "tink, hiss" sound once...

Wow, Brian sure 'cut ya a deal'.. ..but yeah - there's few things in life that make you feel like you just bit into the 480V line, as-when you bust one of those tubes.. my 'crown fail' was a beautiful Kr, that - somehow, got something clogged in the lines, past the filter, etc, and built the pressure-up in the bell, till... KRAKKKPPPOOOOOSSHHHHHHHHSSSSSS!!!!!! 80psi of 6gpm, *everywhere* - with a fully charged tube - just seconds from the start-pulse... >_< ..I dun just about cry'd..

..gotta love the ol' 'tales from the crypt', eh?
j