Homemade CO2 Laser Tube
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 มี.ค. 2021
- As this video seems to be gaining traction, I feel I need to address a few things:
1) I didn't actually achieve an output here, I thought the camera picked up on some IR that I couldn't see, but on further research, there is no dang camera in this world (excluding IR cameras) that would pick up the 10.6 um that this tube should be producing.
2) I called what was happening here "lasing", it is not. What I achieved here was an electrical discharge, which is a big step in the right direction, but certainly not "lasing". (yet!)
I'm new to all of this and still learning! Just sharing my progress as I make it, and as with any learning process, there will be mistakes. I'm not trying to spread misinformation here!
I'll go over all of this and more in the next video! Thanks for watching!
Just trying to make my way into the future man
Excellent resource for homemade co2 lasers:
www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasercc...
outro music is by a friend of mine, check him out!:
/ badamericansofficial
intro music:
bensound.com - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
" I myself have no special talent . Curiosity , obsession dogged endurance combined with self criticism have brought me to my goals." Words of Einstein. I see all these traits in you. Well done.
Dude, thank you.
This comment definitely made me feel things
Dude new favorite quote thank you
I think people mistake talent for being born with some skill innate to yourself. Nah. Ever wondered why autistic people seem to have very specific talents?
Realy all it is is caring about something enough to do it every day. Thats what talent is. And you definitely seem to have it.
The Einstein quote is "have no special talent. I am only passionately curious"
@@cranktowncity
Can I use gt2 6mm belt for x and y?
Because it is only available in my place!
All of your videos are insane. Love the effort you put into your DIY projects, dude. I’m super impressed.
That's a very brave attempt at building a precision optical system.
Great you're being careful,
Best of luck to you!
I love your presentation / delivery / style on these videos. Keep up The Great Work.
Very cool! Mirror adjustment is definitely a key part of such a laser, I’d consider installing one of those 2-axis adjustable mirrors like you see on laser tables. Perfectly isolating the water jacket from the electricity would also be very useful, and I hear JB weld is surprisingly good for vacuum systems.
It may also be worth trying to assemble the whole thing out of borosilicate, seeing as you already appear to have welding equipment.
The gap between the mirrors has to a resonant cavity.
This requires a mirror to be "Tuned" to the wavelength of the light emitted by the lasing medium.
The lasers I used to run were DC pumped, I think you're on the right track.
Didn't even finish the video and subscribed. So impressive
Dude! You named the vacuum chamber the “suckbox”😂 that was the last straw… I’m subscribed now! Great content man!
Saw your post about this on hackaday, and after watching your videos I immediately new I have found The source of great videos.
The most likeable youtuber I've ever come across. Awesome content!!
I'd align mirror perfect and use a improvised output mirror with a tiny hole in the 100% coating. Your vacuum hoses should be the internal mesh re-enforced kind, and fine valve adjustment is mandatory.
Lol - "Hope we don't get an implosion, or if we do, it looks cool." The bite marks in the chair comment was also gold.
Yours works much better than the one i built when i was 12. i mean, they both lit up but yours is actually lasing. Well done mister. can't wait to see how a DC supply changes things for you.
you did a nice job and did get a output from it. You may want to work on your power supply, most neon lights use a AC supply. So your laser has to trigger or light up on the very top and very bottom of the AC cycle. Like they said, use a DC supply with a current limit or bias resistor. This will have the high voltage to trigger the gas and then keep the laser run with out blowing the fuse on the varactor. Also, you do need very clean mirrors too.
Have fun and be safe. In 72, in high school, we built a neon laser. Shot it down the hall from the science room to the counselor office door, (50yds). It left a mark. 😎
Man o man! You would be a fun neighbor with these cool science projects! Thanks for the great video!
Love your work. Great video. Keep em coming mate 👍
just found this channel and 5 mins into this video you have already got my sub. love the little jokes and what not. keen to see where this goes
... And all this is with the benefit of the knowledge of those who went before - it makes you really respect the people who did it for the first time.
I love the high quality presentation.
Great new channel.....Just love those who take your approach to projects. When I built my laser cutter I just bought a 60w CO2 tube....lol. Never though of making one. Regards Kevin
would have loved to hear more about this build and how it works and so on but loved the vid. vary inspiring!
Thanks so much!
I didn't get too in detail as I'm just learning this myself. I posted a link to a forum in the dooblydoo that has a huge amount of info on these lasers.
Once I button down the design more I'll do a more in depth explanation in the next video!
@@cranktowncity sounds good man keep it up!
Awesome stuff man!
OK. Was NOT expecting this video. It was like watching Woody Harrelson with hair working as a mad scientist. I think that is what I just watched. Having said that, this was really cool. Can't wait to see it cut metal.
3 whatever you were doing was great to watch subbed can't wait see were this goes. First video Ive seen from you. 👍👍
I have some damaged tubes, you are a genius, I am a programmer and the operator of CNC machines from Morocco
This is dope man. Clean Beam indeed.
What a great video, hilarious, I loved it, can't believe you pulled this off, you're a genius, thank you.
Well done brother I'm watching you from Gabon, Africa 🇬🇦 keep going
Instead of trying to rectify and filter a 15Kv source (which might not like a high capacitance on it's output), you might want to consider a Cockcroft-Walton multiplier. It's basically just a ladder of diodes and capacitors. It's one of the simplest ways to design a step-up converter, but it turns AC into high voltage DC, and apparently powering lasers is one of it's main uses.
I'm super impressed. This is the kind of resourcefulness every loner with a survival bunker wishes they had. When the end-times comes and we're eating sawdust and dirt grubs, you'll be sittin' pretty on the skull throne.
I very rarely if ever subscribe partway through the first video I watch from a new creator, but you made me do it.
Well, in my physics studies, we used heavy tables with additional mechanic decoupling of the ground for laser experiments.
The most difficult part in your setup is IMHO is the alignment of reflectors, they must be exactly parallel, since an amplified photon ray should bounds back and forth infinitely, to get the full amplification effect.
So I would have expected some 3-point adjustable mounts in your build. Don't ask me how, I am a theorist, I don't know and would have to look it up too.
I know telescope some (cheap) telescope mounts use heavy springs with a washer and a bolt to implement an adjustable mount.
The tube is the missing link in diy co2 cnc. Great progress!
For me too...😀
Amazing work
I really like how you do things with what you have. No frills. Sort of Festuvus for the rest of us.
Killer project and video. Keep it up!
Oh, man, you gave me flashbacks. When you were shoving the glass tube into the aluminum with the O-ring, it made me remember when I was pushing a glass tube into a rubber stopper (chemistry class). Heard a "click", and thought, uh oh. Yup, the glass tube had broken and drove into my middle finger. 50 years later and I still have the scar, and the still-numb area due to the cut nerves. Just sayin', be careful applying force to glass with bare hands!
The number of chem students who do that is... staggering. (count me in)
Just found your channel - love the presentation style.
Hey that's like my science fair project from 30 years ago! I burned some stuff with that. I also concluded that DC was the way to go, but never actually got to that point before it broke.
master. many time wait for co2 laser. thanks
craziness. nice work!
I enjoyed the seemingly unintentional "rectify" pun in your summary at the end :D
way to go into the unknown! Never hesitate trying something new!
Thanks. Feel better. Found your channel attempting to be assured somebody wasn’t going to run down the road with a homemade laser
This is great. Thank you man!
think I found my new favorite channel
New sub. Love your curiosity!
Great ingenuity !
Work with co2 laser dayly and it always amazes me to look in the resonator. Are you planing on take it further to build a small cnc laser ? :)
New sub, looking forward to your progress on this.
Literally my favorite youtuber ever 5:56
nice!! leaks are major issues when dealing with low vaccuums in my experience.
Great video dude! Keep it up.
You are brilliant.
Are the two tubes glass or acrylic?
Impressive!
Bro it's so amazing 👏
Crazy amount of work to build an old pump. Wow.
Very, very cool! Didn't know it was possible to DIY a laser tube.
Thanks man!
It's definitely giving me a hard time but we'll get there!
its amazing, but how do you find out how many volts/amps the tube can handle?
To smooth power after a rectifier, a low pass filter that uses a coil, ground, and a capacitor is needed. If you just use a cap, it will not take out all of the noise on the DC. Ideally, you would rectify, filter, then connect a battery, but at these voltages that isn't possible. You are also going to need to use wiring and components that can take that high voltage or you will fry them, even the wiring. You might want to consider building a voltage multiplier using diodes and ultra capacitors and just make a pulsed laser. There are demos of this circuit type on other channels on TH-cam, but I must stress that if you are not trained to handle high voltage circuits safely, DO NOT build a voltage multiplier for high voltage.. It can easily kill you or start a fire.
You should try to tune by varying the length of the cavity . How ?? By placing mirrors outside the vacuum tube
good choice on the neon sign transformer. not lethal like the old microwave oven transformer...
great video have subscribed
A neon transformer at 30 mA will kill you just as fast as a MOT will.
great video, thanks
Bro i can't believe i haven't found you sooner
Necessary, useful device for household chores! I think everyone should make such a device. Only in this design, special water is needed for cooling, otherwise there will be a short electrical circuit!
Great video! One tip. When you tap aluminum, don't use oil, use alcohol like pure ethanol or isopropanol. Just put the tap in the alcohol and go to the town with that hole... This makes huge difference. Just give it a try next time.cheers.
Never heard of this before, I'll give it a shot!
Thanks man!
I used 99% denatured alcohol and isopropyl alcohol for years at a machine shop I worked at, I can confirm it works great for aluminum (it also works for brass or other nonferrous metals, but it will _not_ work for hard ferrous metals). I had an airbrush connected to a switched solenoid valve that I used as a coolant spray system, the airbrush was on an articulated arm and could aim wherever it was needed. The airbrush also drastically reduced the temperature of the alcohol by evaporation, the workpiece would get so cold that water would condense on its surface. There are some small size high-speed machining centers that only use alcohol as well, but they are rare and can create a serious fire hazard, most of them purge the enclosed machine with inert gas.
You are a genius.
First video ive seen from you and i subbed. Good shit
Most of youtube: I'll build a laser cutter, heres the co2 tube i bought
This man: hold my welder
very nice attempt dude and i look forward to seeing the improvements,, tell me did you have to study or make calculations to know the gas ratios and the power of hv you need or just basically slapped things together and hoped it worked? and what will give you more power output?
As with most projects I do, there was a small amount of studying and then promptly slapped the thing together haha. Hence the lack of output.
As I've been working further on this I've done much more research on the subject and I'm really trying to refine the output before putting out a follow-up video.
Thanks for the support!
@@cranktowncity "promptly slapped the thing together haha. Hence the lack of output." hahahahah that is how i usually end up as well bud ,i like doing projects in as much laymens term as possible lol and that is why they dont always work out :((( ,,ok well you let me know when you figure out what gives a laser like this more power out ,i hope to see more on this soon ,keep up the nice work, very nice having good tools at one's disposal to work with specially a lathe ,it's awesome what you can fabricate
I really like your approach, well made, no nonsense, enthralling video. New to your channel, can't wait to see your future endeavors! :)
Can the parts I machined in aluminum be replaced with nylon?
Coming to comments to look for statements regarding voltage not being deadly. Just amps
Edit for those curious:
Your average taser/stun gun runs at around 50,000 volts or 50 kilovolts. Compare that to his neon sign transformers that were 10 and 15 kilovolts respectively.
Now the difference is the 15 kV neon transformer is 60 mA. Which is in a range of amperage that can cause respiratory arrest, muscular contractions (inability to let go), and even death.
While the taser/stun gun is around 50 kV it is usually less than 5 mA. Around 5 mA you will get shocked, but still be able to let go of an object. Intense involuntary spasms are possible, however, death is very unlikely.
Jeff Lebowski's son does physics. Perhaps a nice rug would really tie the shop together.
Immediately subscribed. Make a CNC cutter to cut parts to make another CNC cutter and then slowly build a self building factory.
My guess is that you had not pulled enough of a vacuum initially. Gasses become much more electrically conductive as they approach a pure vacuum, and to generate plasma you typically only want a few tenths or less PSI. Tech Ingredient's video on plasma tubes is a good overview of the issue.
How did you align the mirrors to be perpendicular to the axis of the tube (and perfectly parallel to each other)?
also regarding the problems with the power output maybe its not related with the power you are supplying but with the alignment of the mirrors, the chance of a photon hitting an excited atom is quite low, for that to happen with a frequency high enough as to get stimulated emission you need the photons to go through the tube many thousands of times which means the mirrors must be really well aligned and the amount of atoms in an excited state should be enough, you are putting in 300w, idk for sure but that sounds like enough, the mirrors are aligned however with the accuracy that the lathe gives you for what i can see, that is most likely not good enough
Before I am off to part 2: Wow-factor 1x10^infinity 😍
Very crazy! And awesome!
Can it be used on CNC co2?
"Jealous of other people's machines"
Congrats man, jealous of your machines
Info i've seen from a few tube manufacturers is the mixture needs to be He:N2:CO2 ,8:1:1 +5% xenon. the gas pressure inside the tube should be 70-100 mbar (1-1.4 psi). Commercially available RECI power supplies are 35kV DC@ 23mA..
so the issue is you do not have an optical cavity because the mirrors are likely misaligned the mirrors have to be perfectly parallel to each other. few things: you might want to start with a dye pumped laser first, that will teach you the basics of what you need to achieve. Next you might want to get different o rings, the wrong type of plastic or sealant can introduce off gassing into the tube before the gas mixture can get into the system. You also might want to try to actually remove the mirrors entirely and instead put in a bit of glass that is transparent at the wavelength of light you are looking for this way you will be able to put the mirrors outside the tube and dial them in. Also look into getting some sort of optical table built.
Great videos, keep it up! Subbed
Will Harbor Freight please open a chain in the UK. Some of that stuff is just so expensive here.
This is a lot like the one i made back in high school. You can use plain old air as your nitrogen source if you like. The other gasses dont throw the lasing out by much.
This hits correct. Also, the rest is what, 20% oxygen and some trace gasses?. Simply use up the oxygen by putting it in a box with a candle or something. The resulting carbon dioxide can be calculated and factored into the mix.
146k views? TH-cam broke man. U deserve beyond that.
Very interesting process but this is all too dangerous for me so I was wondering if you could list me the items I would need to DIY my own CO2 laser? I already have the frames, all the mechanics. Thanks
great video! Thanks. Just a couple points. The first is that the helium you're using is likely a mix of helium and air. The company was concerned that too many people were using their party time helium to end their lives.... so now, the blended version has up to 15% air.... so... nitrogen and oxygen. If you want pure helium, run it through a liquid nitrogen dewar to condense the oxygen and nitrogen gases out... you'll have pure helium after that. The other question I have is to ask if you have tuned the resonant cavity or did you pick the length at random? Thanks Doug
Thanks man!
The tank I have is 95% helium, and I just count the rest as nitrogen.
When I posted this video, yes I picked the resonator length at random. I've since built three new iterations of this, in search of a better output, and I've been tuning the length based on the reflectivity of the OC I plan to use on it.
As soon as I get an output I'm happy with, I'll be posting a follow up video with more info on the updated build!
@@cranktowncity where did you get the partially reflective mirror? These optical bits are tough to source 🇨🇦
@@nitrousman8882 BMIsurplus/ebay. they're all used parts but I've had a few ebay scores on ZnSe!
Very cool!
Thats pretty awesome
The future is now mann!
very good effort. worth subscribing
lol this guy is like a character from a videogame. this is dope as hell. one day ill have plasma cutters and lathes and shit
Damn awesome channel glad I found it
Voltage doesn't kill. Amps do. FYI..
However. I like your video very much.. I think you should do another video explaining exactly what things are doing, and why, but overall great job... Thanks for the video.
variac fuse gets me every time hopefully auto zones open
Frigging awesome