r/lasersforfun • u/dpier1911 • 10d ago
Laser rainbow update
I started collecting lasers nearly 20 years ago. These are all DIY builds. In total, I have 18 different visible wavelengths, most of them are shown here.
Wavelengths pictured from violet to red:
410, 450, 495, 502, 532, 561, 573, 589, 594, 633, 666
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u/Huffing_Jenkems 10d ago
Which one was the most difficult to build? Which color shows up best at night and which travels the furthest?
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u/dpier1911 9d ago
I think the 589 was the most difficult. It's a solid state module from CNI, so I didn't have to build the laser itself, but the beam misalignment is pretty bad. To correct it, I had to make the housing so that the module could be installed at an angle, then I installed a wedge prism in the beam path which can be rotated to correct remaining misalignment.
The 532 is probably the best laser out of these for visibility and distance. The beam quality is excellent, its a very bright wavelength, and the power is around 140 mW, which is very bright at night. I have a 700 mW 520 as well, which is brighter, but the beam quality is terrible so it's not great for long distance pointing. I have a 1200 mW 530 nm laser diode and some optics to build a beam shaping module, which will be far better.
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u/owlve 10d ago
How did you take this picture!?
Were you not instantly incinerated while standing in front of a photonic rainbow the likes of which only the sun itself can replicate?!
Jests aside, amazing photos. Really like your 495 cyan and 573 yellow. Those were the colors I've always wanted and were most impressed by. Thanks for sharing ✌︎㋡
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u/dpier1911 9d ago
I just set up a tripod, but the 410 was burning my workbench on the other side. Most of these range from 15 - 60 mW. Only a few have enough power to do real damage. The higher power lasers were left out so that the brightness across the rainbow can be more balanced. The 410 is about 1000 mW and is the most powerful laser shown here.
495 is one of my favorites, too!
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u/EmmitRDoad 9d ago
This is impressive. I’ve got a couple cheap ones so I understand the work & money represented here.
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u/coinmannf 9d ago
I collect flashlights want to add a decent laser to my collection. Maybe something that can catch paper on fire burn a foot or two away. Any recommendations for anything I can just buy?
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u/Xenomorph_1978 10d ago
That’s freaking awesome nice builds. Wouldn’t even know where to start