A story made the rounds on the Internet in late April 2012, about a “working” Star Trek phaser. It uses a blue diode inside a toy or replica phaser housing, and is shown in a video popping a balloon.

This is not the first time such a project has been done. In 2007, Kip Kedersha (“Kipkay”) posted a YouTube video showing how he bought a surplus Playstation 3 laser diode for $45 and a Star Trek toy for $30, in order to make a laser-emitting phaser.

A Huffington Post story has the 2012 video, as well as links to earlier videos and detailed build instructions.

From Reddit via the Huffington Post

Tags: US, Color: Blue, Harvesting, Hobbyist, Photo, Toy

A German laser enthusiast can fire a 1 watt, Class 4 laser beam from his palm. He fabricated the device in a weekend, using a laser diode similar to those harvested from Casio video projectors. (The same type of diode is used in the infamous Wicked Laser Spyder III Arctic handheld laser.)

Hobbyist Patrick Priebe’s inspiration was the comic book character “Iron Man”, who has “repulsor rays” in the palms of his armor’s gloves. Priebe’s device is self-contained, with the battery in a case that wraps around the back of the hand. Simply flexing his hand triggers the beam to fire.

Priebe’s 1 watt, 445 nm blue laser beam ignites a match


His inspiration: Iron Man’s repulsor ray glove, as seen here in the motion picture with Robert Downey, Jr.

Priebe made a number of versions. He is selling limited numbers (not mass-produced) of kits and assembled gloves on laser pointer forums for $200-500 depending on the version.

From Popular Science and many other sources. Details on the construction are at Hacked Gadgets. Videos of the device in action are here and here.

Tags: Germany, Patrick Priebe, Casio, Modding, Hobbyist, Photo

Homemade lasers, using diodes from DVD burners and video projectors such as the Casio Green Slim, are common among hobbyists. However, a new homemade laser is the first we have seen with a 1-megawatt pulse.

This differs from most pointers and handheld lasers, which use lasers that emit continuous light. This one emits a single, strong pulse each time the trigger is pulled. It is “enough to punch holes in plastic sheets, scorch wood, and pop balloons from several feet away” according to Dvice.com.

The maker, Patrick Priebe, posted a YouTube video showing the gun in action. He also was offering it for sale. According to Priebe, the gun uses a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. It takes four seconds to charge the capacitor; the gun then fires a 100 nanosecond, 1 megawatt burst of infrared 1064 nanometer light. The gun took Priebe about 70 hours to build. His YouTube page offers to help others wanting to build their own laser gun.

SAFETY NOTE: Because the laser emits an invisible pulse, it would not be a visual interference hazard to aircraft (e.g., it could not cause glare or flashblindness). At close range the Q-switched pulse would definitely be an eye hazard, causing an explosive steam “pop” on the retina rather than the relatively slow burn of a continuous-wave laser. LaserPointerSafety.com has not done an analysis to determine the “safe” distance, beyond which it would not pose an eye hazard to pilots or others.

From Dvice.com and Hacked Gadgets forum

Tags: Germany, Hobbyist, Gun, Photo, Casio, Patrick Priebe

Casio’s law firm sent a cease-and-desist letter to a laser hobbyist who was selling laser diodes harvested from a Casio video projector. The letter objected to the removal of the diodes (“disassembly is prohibited”) and to the use of Casio’s name in the eBay auction.

The hobbyist indicated “I will comply since the things don’t really bring me much money.”

A link to the hobbyist’s post and the text of the letter are after the break (click the “Read More...” link below). For background information on the Casio diode harvesting, see the June 2010 alert. Read More...

Tags: Casio, Hobbyist, Class: 4

A laser hobbyist reported injuring himself with a 630mW “keychain” laser emitting at 445 nm. He had a brief, accidental exposure when he lost his grip on the laser and it crossed a mirror. It hit directly in his left eye. He reported being flashblinded for 30 seconds and had an afterimage for 10 minutes, with the center “as black as black could be”. The black spot stayed for about 12 hours.

More than two weeks after the accident, he reports “... there are no identifiable irregularities. I am certain there is permanent damage in the spot, but it is so far out in [my] peripheral vision, that it is just not noticeable. So I have officially ceased worrying about it. Lesson learned.” Read More...

Tags: Hobbyist, Class: 4