Turn Your PC Into a Red Burning Laser
This laser can light matches and burn plastic.
Ever wanted to create your own eye-searing laser capable of burning through plastic or igniting matches? Now you can simply by using parts from your old, unused PC.
As seen in the video below, only three components are needed from the PC: the rig's power supply, a DVD Burner and the available heatsinks (the example had two). However additional items are needed to complete the project including an Aixiz module, a LM317 constant current driver with a 3 ohm resistor and more
After removing the three items from the PC, the instructions start with disassembling the DVD burner and removing the laser sled. If the optical drive writes slower than 16X (or the PC doesn't have a DVD burner, but rather just a reader), the LPC-815 sled is suggested, costing $15 including tax.
Either way, the actual laser diode is the only component needed, crammed into the Aixiz module and connected to a DIY LM317 driver using long leads. Once the actual laser is assembled, the modder then drills a 1/2-inch hole through the side of the CPU heatsink and shoves the laser module through, making sure it doesn't stick out and sits flush against the side.
The next step involves cutting the power supply wires and connecting the laser's LM317 driver. For this example, the black and green wires were clipped, stripped and tied together while the yellow wires served as positive and the red as negative. The resulting laser was shown cutting through black tape, lighting matches and burning a hole through plastic.
"If you don't use goggles, you're an idiot," the instructions state.
While building the project sounds like fun, naturally modders will need to take careful precaution while using the laser. The finished project will also need to be kept away from children and bitter spouses.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
-
SchizoFrog I think Tom's should be a little more responsible with advertising videos such as this. The potential for accidents and to cause real harm with this is extremely high. Just playing around with the PSU is bad enough.Reply -
jj463rd Well I already own a Class IV 10 Joule output (20,000 watt output in 1/2000 of a second pulse Neodymium Glass Laser that's perfect for vaporizing anything.Just a change of a ROD (Ruby) and the output coupler (transflective mirror) and mirror and it's red.The power supply is 3.6 megawatts of power (2,000 volts at 1,800 amperes)discharged in 1/2000th of a second.It also makes a nice coil gun and also a nice portable electocution machine too.Reply
However it was somewhat costly and the Laser shown here is much cheaper,much easier to acquire and easy to build, -
Parsian jj463rdWell I already own a Class IV 10 Joule output (20,000 watt output in 1/2000 of a second pulse Neodymium Glass Laser that's perfect for vaporizing anything.Just a change of a ROD (Ruby) and the output coupler (transflective mirror) and mirror and it's red.The power supply is 3.6 megawatts of power (2,000 volts at 1,800 amperes)discharged in 1/2000th of a second.It also makes a nice coil gun and also a nice portable electocution machine too.However it was somewhat costly and the Laser shown here is much cheaper,much easier to acquire and easy to build,Reply
its all useless unless you mount it onto a shark...
I just finished a lab in which we used 200mW lasers to trap bacteria (the setup is called Optical Tweezers)
-
burnley14 schizofrogI think Tom's should be a little more responsible with advertising videos such as this. The potential for accidents and to cause real harm with this is extremely high. Just playing around with the PSU is bad enough.Reply
And kids shouldn't be able to play dodgeball, and everyone should wear padded helmets and lifejackets just in case.
Toms isn't advertising this, they're merely showing us the interesting things people have done with their tech. If you choose to try and do the same thing, it's at your own risk. If you don't have the equipment/competence to do it correctly, then don't. -
Stryter schizofrogI think Tom's should be a little more responsible with advertising videos such as this. The potential for accidents and to cause real harm with this is extremely high. Just playing around with the PSU is bad enough.Reply
Are you Buzz Killington? -
nebun schizofrogI think Tom's should be a little more responsible with advertising videos such as this. The potential for accidents and to cause real harm with this is extremely high. Just playing around with the PSU is bad enough.that's why noobs don't usually visit this siteReply -
liveonc You have to sit perfectly still for an hour in order for this deadly laser to kill you. It's slower than digging a heart out with a spoon, so you'll have to be very patient when playing Star Wars...Reply