Laser diode and driver for burning

[Mike13815]

I'm trying to build a burning laser for as low cost as possible. I've tried the whole "DVDR diodes" thing and 3 dvd drives later, I realize they simply cannot do the job at the distance I need.

I'm going to put it bluntly. At a bar nearby there's a vending machine game (BarBerCut Lite) where you control a robot arm with what you could call scissors at the tip. The point of the game is to cut the string enough for the prize to fall. I've seen a hundred bucks a night go into this machine (much of it mine) with no results.

I want to build a portable laser to cut the string, releasing the prize. The strings are about a foot from the front glass, and made of thin nylon. The bar owner doesn't like the machine as it distracts from buying beer, and for the first run actually pulled the machine forward for me to see if i could get a better angle from the side.

I'm pretty familiar with lasers and their required drivers. I also have an old 11.5v li-ion battery that still has a good ~20mWh capacity (i used for my first run, driving 3 diodes at once)

After reluctantly coming to the conclusion I simply haven't had enough experience to improvise my way through building high watt laser systems, I found this site.

Can someone help me or give me suggestions: ~1 Watt laser, focused enough to burn nylon at 1 Foot. Running off a battery. Could care less what color it is. Under $100. Maybe someone knows of a website where cheap components can be found?

 

[tcmtech]

So what is the prize that seems to be worth a hundred bucks to you?

 

[crutschow]

Besides being illegal, such a high power laser is very dangerous to be using in a public place with reflective glass and other surfaces. Do you have insurance to cover the lawsuit for blinding a patron (or yourself)?

 

[Reloadron]

Seriously aside from the legality and liability thing this just isn't practical. You would need a very expensive LASER as well as the portable means to power it and a means to focus the beam to burn a target at a given precise distance. There is just too much involved to make it worth the effort or make doing it practical. Now for the paultry sum of ten bucks, a bottle of cheap wine and a hooker I'll help you with your addiction to this machine.

Ron

 

[tcmtech]

Now for the paultry sum of ten bucks, a bottle of cheap wine and a hooker I'll help you with your addiction to this machine.

Give her $15 and she will make sure you cant remember anything about that machine for a few days! (But you might end up with a laser like burning sensation some where though.)

Or just buy one of these! **broken link removed**

Or these, **broken link removed**

Or These, **broken link removed**

Or these, **broken link removed**

 

[Sceadwian]

Mike if you're familiar with lasers and drivers in general then you should more than well know that a battery powered 1watt laser for less than 100 dollars is a bad joke. That 450 dollars 1watt that tcmtech linked is probably the cheapest solution you could come up with, and that's a VERY expensive mistake if you don't know how to properly drive it.

 

[HarveyH42]

The string is probably white, or very light colored, right? Much of the laser light is reflected, rather than absorbed. Would be tough with any diode laser, from what I've read. Can't imagine any thing in a bar game machine that would be worth the effort.

 

[Sceadwian]

You're thinking visible light Harvey, depends on the wavelength the string absorbs and the laser produces, the eye is a poor spectrum analyzer.

 

[ronv]

Might be easier to snake something up through the prize door to cut the string.