Laser cut. As I searched for potassium titanyl phosphate and barium beta borate among aluminum filings

“Do you know what's inside the drum?” end of a sad joke

"Yes, even drown him in acid" shop laser pointers green-laser.ru

Recently, I caught the blue Jedi sword with a laser pointer of “normal” power. I will say that the laser beam is clearly visible on a sunny day, if you look at the beam in the evening, then for two hours, your eyes hurt, and when you turn on the laser in the room, the reflected light and the spot on the wall are so bright that they immediately blind.
Having bursted the balls and lit the matches, I wanted more, so I decided to say hello to the pilots to help our football team “turn into radioactive ashes” the neighbor cat to see what was inside this wonderful device.



Attention, under a cat of a scene of abuse with gadgets



Articles from Habr (I recommend to read to everyone before taking a laser pointer in hand):
“All about Lasers” (April 7, 2011)
habrahabr.ru/post/117008

“Ghetto-style spectroscopy: Exploring the spectrum and (without) the danger of lasers” (November 4, 2013)
habrahabr.ru/post/200786

“Be careful with Chinese lasers” (July 27, 2013)
habrahabr.ru/post/187988

For familiarization
habrahabr.ru/post/144495

Not with Habr, but also worth reading:
Security FAQ: How to protect yourself when working with lasers
lasers.org.ru/2012/05/ 04 / safety-faq

Safety when working with lasers and what will happen if it is not observed
lasers.org.ru/2008/06/20/laser-safety-and-why-you-should-stick-to-it

“ Dead pixel” on the screen it is tolerable, but the “broken pixel” in the eye is not very. be careful.

Laser parsing

The laser consists of a rather massive case, a heap of radiators and a diode driver board. It feeds on 1 large or 2 small batteries (the charger is included)


Does this thing remind me of one bug from the Matrix?

Glasses

Glasses at first glance are flimsy and do not inspire confidence, but if they are put on, the laser beam is not visible at all.
My first hypothesis was that the laser perforates them instantly. There it was.
After two minutes of glowing with a laser perpendicular to the plane of the lens, its surface did not even heat up.

Saw in Russian

"Inside, no user serviceable parts" V. Vinge, "Rainbow's End"
"... the needle in the egg, egg in a duck, a duck in a hare, hare in the chest ..." tale

And what is blue inside?



Inspired by foreign experience, I boldly took up the saw.


Hands slightly crooked


Two halves of an aluminum radiator


copper radiator ( UPD as the written comments - brass)


Interestingly, when cutting aluminum radiator it becomes very hot (burned fingers), and copper remained cool, though I sawed intense


finished copper heatsink ( UPD as they wrote in the comments - from brass)


Oops, we arrived. I couldn’t even take a picture of this small detail that was at the end of the wires on my lens. And this knockblind planes !? I was expecting (like foreign saws) to see crystals and nonlinear optical elements, a system of translucent mirrors, see indium gallium nitride (In _x Ga _1-x N) or barium borate (BaB ₂ O ₄ ) ... In general, me, like the hero of the novel by Vernor Vinge, there was a slight disappointment - “there are no user-serviceable parts inside” - but the process itself was interesting.

How to use such powerful pointers

(bright side):
As I found out, these lasers are often taken by hunters and fishermen in order to brush off tigers and bears, since the animals are also not very pleased to look at the blue ray. Plus, the beam is perfectly visible from a distance and helps out if you get lost. One comrade bought such a pointer and used it as a portable laser engraver to mark a working tool in production. Pointers are used by summer residents in the household, as a level, for example. There are several examples of using laser pointers for security systems and perimeter control.

Acknowledgments

I express gratitude to the company green-laser.ru for providing a laser for anti / pseudo / false about scientific experiments, as well as to Ivan and Seryozha from the “3D Printing Laboratory” for a vice and a hacksaw for metal

P.S.

Who knows what to do with what remains of the laser (for example, to saw it further), welcome to Hackspace.