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Low Cost CO2 Laser Build

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Goal: To assemble a working CO2 Laser from a minimum investment using only tools one can find at your average home improvement store.

Discussions

Paúl wrote 08/05/2014 at 22:05 point
Careful with the salt lens.

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k. Joel Winkler wrote 07/03/2014 at 01:38 point
This project is awesome. I'm not understanding how the glass fits and how exactly the bending is positioned and why. Newbie.....

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kathyminx wrote 05/10/2014 at 18:57 point
You are doing a terrific job! I'm great at glassblowing, electronics etc but my mechanical/plumbing skills are horrible. Me too! I really want to hear how it performs. When I was getting my degree one of my friends built a traditional one as part of his Master's degree and it produced about 8-10 Watts. When I did undergrad chem research before going to physics I did a lot of IR specs and we'd use cylindrical salt xtals. While trying to learn new things while I was working well after school one of the things I studied was laser th'y. The author of one book made a nearly field improvised CO2 laser and his output coupler and mirror were creative genius! Old glasses with the right dioptres. He used the toothpase soln, dam and steel rod trick to make a small hole in one lens then coated them with gold under vacuum (I'm sure we all still can visit our old depts and ask to use the vac deposition stuff ).

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redsquirrel_7 wrote 05/08/2014 at 15:31 point
This is excellent! I like the use of the salt. Never would have thought of that. I can't wait to see how this thing performs! Keep up the good work man!

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erikwayne13 wrote 05/07/2014 at 16:03 point
This Is a great project and I'll be following it closely

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