Is like making a computer processor using household materials!
Buy your laser pointer at any store, then select another project
Hi Menticol!
Oddly, I was going to say the exact opposite--that this is ridiculously simple, if you can find a suitable laser diode. One 5mW laser diode, three button cells, a resistor, and a little wire. Supposedly the internal resistance of the button cells means a current-limiting resistor is not needed, although I'd probably start out with one myself.
Problem is, I usually get my laser diodes by buying dollar-store laser pointers.
For $1 I get a laser diode, three button cells of unknown charge, an SMD resistor, and a microswitch.
Sadly, taking a laser pointer apart just to make a laser pointer seems like a waste of time, unless it's to make a
better pointer--which might be desirable since the dollar-store ones are badly built and the original batteries often outlive the actual unit.
If you're talking about building a laser pointer truly from scratch, then yeah--that's more serious stuff indeed. Building a laser at home can be done, but building a laser *diode* at home would probably be a bit extreme.
Torben