My TN30 Laser Project

Off-topic Chatter
1

Hey BLF,

During my last semester of high school, I wanted to busy myself with a very interesting project.

Custom made lasers generally fell under two categories: 1. Cheap XXXFire bodies and custom made heatsinks, or 2. Custom made body as well as a custom machined heatsink.

I wanted to break that rule and use the ever so popular premium Thrunite TN30 light. My two goals were to get a very high quality body without paying a premium and to be able to take advantage of the magnetic control ring.

The Supbeam X40, K40, and the Thrunite TN31 were all good candidates but had issues of their own including price, driver voltage, and size.

The planning took a couple of weeks, including research, driver testing with a scope, and heatsink designing. Ordering laser diodes also took quite a lot of time.

During spring break, I was finally able to get some time to finish up the project and here it is!

The heatsink alone weighs just under 700 grams, or 25 oz. Gotta love copper!

The weight of the finished laser with 3x Samsung 18650’s is 1286 grams, or 45 oz.

That’s the polished heatsink and focus adapter.

The laser in action:

All six brightness levels work as well as the standby mode and the strobe mode, so I’m very happy with the results.

This one’s going to a lucky customer of mine, and if there’s enough interest, I’m willing to do a limited 10-set run of this laser. :slight_smile:

Thanks for reading!

Here are some beamshots I took yesterday night:

May seem a little bit like CG but these are not altered! :smiley:

2

In a scary kind of way though. LOL. How much power is that baby packing?

3

Hopefully just over 3.0W but I’ll need to get a laser power meter to be sure. :slight_smile:

4

Oh my, that is one serious looking laser. Bet it it capable of long run times with all that heat sinking and battery capacity. Very nice.

What 445nm diode and lens did you use? I figure the 9mm and maybe it's lens too.

You're a high school student that is about to graduate?

5

Aw, 3 watts. So it is the 9mm. Sweet.

6

Yup, it’s the 9mm diode with the included G9 lens driven at 2.40A.

Many are surprised by my age but I guess I just really really like flashlights and lasers. :slight_smile:

I’m going to graduate this summer and attend college in the US.

7

Wow, you are one impressive dude. Wish I had your smarts and maturity at your age. Hell, I wish I had it them now. Congrats on your upcoming graduation.

That's a real winner of laser there. If I wasn't such a DIY'er, I'd ask you to make me one.

8

Thanks mate! I feel privileged to have all sorts of electronics gear at my disposal. I’m also very glad to have found BLF too. :slight_smile:

9

Looks very nice.

I do not know much about high power lasers: this chunk of copper obviously can absorb quite some heat, but is this body able to dissipate to the air the energy from this laser continuously, when the heatsink is 'full' ?

pictures of the lathe-work, video's ? Do you have someone to make it for you?

(I want someone affordable in Amsterdam to do lathe-work for me )

10

That’s a very good point. The heatsink is designed to directly contact the bare aluminium of the TN30 where the LED PCB used to rest on. So the heat generated by the diode flows through the heatsink, into the TN30 body, and out via the fins on the side.

Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos or videos of the machining process because I totally forgot about it; I was so intent on having the heatsink the made. This machinist is the same one who made the C8 and HD2010 copper pills. :slight_smile:

11

woah!

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I think u already know it, nevertheless I will risk going repetitive. such high power level laser are very dangerous toys. I am very addicted to laser so I have read a lot about. anything above 20 mW I personally consider dangerous to human eyes. not direct contact with retina but reflected beam is dangerous too. higher the watage biger the damage. at high power the reflex of the eye to move just not is enough and in very short times the energy accumulated is more than enough to damge retina. only this fear have stopped me purchasing a strong laser. here u go, I just hope to not look like a party breaker.
apart from the above very nice work there :slight_smile:

13

Thank you for mentioning safety. High powered lasers, although very fun, can cause permanent eye damage at a blink of an eye and there have been many unfortunate incidents. Anything above 5mW in various countries including here are restricted, and for a good reason. I always wear safety goggles when working with lasers, and I hope anyone else working with 100mW lasers do too.

14

Impressive laser!

15

Fantastic machine work on the copper ryan. May I ask what coolant you are using?

16

What an impressive build! 3W must reach out far into the heavens. What are your ideas for making more for resale? Price?

17

Thanks! That machinist was using a white milky liquid and used a brush to apply it. Not too sure what it is though. :slight_smile:

I haven’t decided on a price yet, but once I do, I’ll put up a feeler thread on LPF and see how many people want it. 10 would be a good number for another run.

18

Where did you buy the diode?

19

What an awesome laser! Super nice job. I am guessing you used a custom driver to utilise the control ring. I'd love to see some pics of the electrical components running this puppy.

20

beamshots! beamshots! beamshots! I can only imagine how bright it must be unfocused. How well are the modes spaced?

job beautifully done BTW