My first lumia experiments...

[BradleyJay]

Got one of Len's Lumia motors (1/3rpm) and used his default rig with the home depot bulb through a little optical lens to just slightly diverge some white light:


Which produced a decent lumia projection:


I still need to find that perfect glass piece to use instead of that bulb...

[JD3]

Sweet ductape!


HAHA looks cool man, i wonder what it would look like with a piece of stained glass

[JasonB]

Bradelyjay,

Hey what is that first optic your white beam is passing through before it goes through the bulb (bulb is for diffusion, right) ?

Thanks,

Jason

[hakzaw1]

I found a smaller version of that 'faceted' clear bulb but was never able to find more- (if anyone knows please give us a link)-- these larger size are also at Lowe's -six pack for IIRC $7-


I got nice results with one set up like Bradly has it with random images almost going everywhere.

Enclosed in a box you can mask all but the one straight ahead -choice made with consideration of the power of the lasers used and where you would be doing this- unlikely it would be over the MPE-all factors taken into account.-- advantage of the larger size bulb is a bigger target for the lasers to hit.

My basic lumia kit comes with the same bulb and a way to attach it to the motor-compression fitted for quick and easy swapping out. The motor is 1/3rd RPM- AC smooth and quite- safe to run for long periods but will get hot. I tested one by letting it run for 5 days- N/p other than being hot.-- The lens Bradly got is a leftover from the diode harvest of a Kasio PJ-
IIRC it was between the optic train and the phlatlight RED LED. I can add one to any kit for another 1$-

Laugh all you want at the duct tape but don't ask us to believe that you have never used it....lol

hk

btw I have tried stained glass and the results were not too exciting- that is why you dont often see anyone using anything other than clear lumia glass .

PM if you have any Qs...
hakzaw

[polishedball]

PM if you want a chance to win a free LUMIA kit or a LK PD2- 50$ per chance - only 13 will be sold. money goes to a good cause (paying KGB)

hakzaw

Running a lottery in threads to make money ~ kinda poor taste in my opinion. But to each the own.

[Displaser]

I wonder what it would look like with a piece of stained glass

Clear stained glass is actually the best source for lumia glass out there. If you want the traditional planetarium-type "lumia", I would recommend two different glass patterns:

1) If you want a "sharp, jagged effect", which is really the most common we are used to seeing, then you will want Cathedral "ice".
2) If you want a "soft, swirling effect", which I believe is the better of the two effects, then you will want Cathedral "granite".

If you have a Hobby Lobby crafts store in your city, they will likely have both patterns - just be sure you don't buy any of these patterns with a dichroic coating on one side. Another source would be a local stained glass shop. Take a laser pointer to see what you like. The only drawback to working with glass, is the obvious care needed to keep things safe. You may be able to have a local glass shop cut and/or make a wheel. I have quite a few glass working tools and have done this in the past.

Another source of interesting glass can be architectural and or cabinet glass. I don't see too many patterns in sheet glass that really stand out, however when you start using crystals, glass drawer pulls, and other 3D pieces of glass, the effects can be amazing.

Greg

[LaserCo]

That's looking real nice BradleyJay
I'm guessing the synchro motor in Hak's kit are from where I purchased mine, those things can be found on the back of refrigerators and can practically run forever - I seen mention of safety.
What also works and is very easy to mount are salt & pepper shakers, I found some very small ones with many patterns at the Goodwill thrift store, like these

This lumia stuff can get your imagination running wild, I have so much glass now, it's insane!

Earlier tonight I took a 532nm DPSS Lasever outside and was bouncing it off a dead Bic lighter and onto the house, it was way too much power!, the lighter would quickly melt with a quickly expanding pattern growing much larger than the house.. To explore this effect in the future I guess I need to add a power adjustment knob to keep it all in a nicely sized 'sweet spot', I could not get anything as cool as in my avatar. speaking about my avatar.. Somewhere on one of my crashed computers I have video from that same setup, yet it is the type of swirly's that 'suck you in'.. the stuff that got me addicted to coherent photons way back during Laser Fantasy's first show "Laser Fantasy"

[JD3]

Ever thought about getting /making a small 1x1x1" cube and filling it with water and oil?

All this talk makes me want to get very experimental haha.

Blow glass comes to mind also.

[The_Doctor]

Ever thought about getting /making a small 1x1x1" cube and filling it with water and oil?

What's that stuff in 'lava lamps'? I wondered about that for a while because there seem to be several liquids that won't mix with any others in there. Anyway, a tiny one might make a great lumia, the heat being provided directly by the laser.

[JD3]

Lava lamps are full of oil and wax. The lightbulb melts the wax and convection current moves it around