23 Mar
2009
23 Mar
'09
7:55 a.m.
On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 2:47 AM, Alexis <thrashbarg at kaput.homeunix.org> wrote:
Yes, but the bandwidth of an LED laser is still pretty
high. There are a few
laser projectors on the net, but this one goes into the detail of making your
own galvos.
http://elm-chan.org/works/vlp/report_e.html
I've looked at that project in the past - impressive. Unfortunately,
I don't come close to the right tools to build one. I can do all the
electronics and the mechanical support fabrication, but I don't have a
lathe to make the spindle and I don't have a water-cooled grinder to
shape the magnets.
I could probably find a friend locally to make the spindle - one
friend makes darts from billets, another makes table-top steam-engine
parts. Magnet grinding, though, sounds a little esoteric.
Personally, I already have the Scientific American volume that's a
collection of Amateur Scientist columns on light and lasers. Some of
the contents are obsolete for anything other than entertainment (how
to make a couple of gas lasers, a dye laser, etc), but there is also
an applications section for things to use your laser for - most
memorably is holograms and a laser projector.
The holograms bit is mostly about how to set up your own light bench
(mass and stability) and how to rig up a light path for the elements
for a monochrome laser-readback hologram. With a good bench, it seems
simple. The laser projector is the type made from speaker elements
and would be good for "Laser Floyd" type displays, not LaserMAME.
I almost made a laser projector last year, but I was having problems
sourcing mirror material at the South Pole. One thought was gutting a
laser printer or a copier (ISTR there's a front-surface mirror in
there somewhere that's as wide as the paper path), but there was
nothing suitable scrapped while I was down there. Now that I'm home,
I'm keeping an eye out for a cheap/free printer to scavenge. I
already have the semiconductor laser, naturally - the grocery store
was selling laser levels for less than the cost of lunch.
If anyone gets far deep enough into the idea of a laser projector to
start making galvanometer servos and wants to trade parts, let me
know. As I said, I can do the electronic bits and assembly but need
help with the shaping of the core parts.
-ethan