Homemade CO2 Laser Tube

Рет қаралды 361,331

3 жыл бұрын

As this video seems to be gaining traction, I feel I need to address a few things:
1) I didn't actually achieve an output here, I thought the camera picked up on some IR that I couldn't see, but on further research, there is no dang camera in this world (excluding IR cameras) that would pick up the 10.6 um that this tube should be producing.
2) I called what was happening here "lasing", it is not. What I achieved here was an electrical discharge, which is a big step in the right direction, but certainly not "lasing". (yet!)
I'm new to all of this and still learning! Just sharing my progress as I make it, and as with any learning process, there will be mistakes. I'm not trying to spread misinformation here!
I'll go over all of this and more in the next video! Thanks for watching!
Just trying to make my way into the future man
Excellent resource for homemade co2 lasers:
www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasercc...
outro music is by a friend of mine, check him out!:
/ badamericansofficial
intro music:
bensound.com

Пікірлер: 395

@omskariyazmaraikayer913 2 жыл бұрын

" I myself have no special talent . Curiosity , obsession dogged endurance combined with self criticism have brought me to my goals." Words of Einstein. I see all these traits in you. Well done.

@cranktowncity 2 жыл бұрын

Dude, thank you. This comment definitely made me feel things

@AA-gl1dr 2 жыл бұрын

Dude new favorite quote thank you

@melody3741 2 жыл бұрын

I think people mistake talent for being born with some skill innate to yourself. Nah. Ever wondered why autistic people seem to have very specific talents? Realy all it is is caring about something enough to do it every day. Thats what talent is. And you definitely seem to have it.

@SodiumInteresting Жыл бұрын

The Einstein quote is "have no special talent. I am only passionately curious"

@geminiman2831 Жыл бұрын

@@cranktowncity Can I use gt2 6mm belt for x and y? Because it is only available in my place!

@bigwendigo2253 Жыл бұрын

All of your videos are insane. Love the effort you put into your DIY projects, dude. I’m super impressed.

@dmitriymelnikov3704 3 жыл бұрын

That's a very brave attempt at building a precision optical system. Great you're being careful, Best of luck to you!

@edgeeffect 2 жыл бұрын

I love your presentation / delivery / style on these videos. Keep up The Great Work.

@Scrogan 2 жыл бұрын

Very cool! Mirror adjustment is definitely a key part of such a laser, I’d consider installing one of those 2-axis adjustable mirrors like you see on laser tables. Perfectly isolating the water jacket from the electricity would also be very useful, and I hear JB weld is surprisingly good for vacuum systems. It may also be worth trying to assemble the whole thing out of borosilicate, seeing as you already appear to have welding equipment.

@mikegLXIVMM Жыл бұрын

The gap between the mirrors has to a resonant cavity. This requires a mirror to be "Tuned" to the wavelength of the light emitted by the lasing medium.

@davegeorge7094 2 жыл бұрын

I'd align mirror perfect and use a improvised output mirror with a tiny hole in the 100% coating. Your vacuum hoses should be the internal mesh re-enforced kind, and fine valve adjustment is mandatory.

@Oddman1980 2 жыл бұрын

The lasers I used to run were DC pumped, I think you're on the right track.

@mattooi4322 3 жыл бұрын

Didn't even finish the video and subscribed. So impressive

@johndesgarennes 3 жыл бұрын

Saw your post about this on hackaday, and after watching your videos I immediately new I have found The source of great videos.

@rB-lm8mt 2 жыл бұрын

you did a nice job and did get a output from it. You may want to work on your power supply, most neon lights use a AC supply. So your laser has to trigger or light up on the very top and very bottom of the AC cycle. Like they said, use a DC supply with a current limit or bias resistor. This will have the high voltage to trigger the gas and then keep the laser run with out blowing the fuse on the varactor. Also, you do need very clean mirrors too. Have fun and be safe. In 72, in high school, we built a neon laser. Shot it down the hall from the science room to the counselor office door, (50yds). It left a mark. 😎

@Makenitso 3 жыл бұрын

Yours works much better than the one i built when i was 12. i mean, they both lit up but yours is actually lasing. Well done mister. can't wait to see how a DC supply changes things for you.

@growellyfilm 2 жыл бұрын

Love your work. Great video. Keep em coming mate 👍

@antiphlex Жыл бұрын

I love the high quality presentation.

@AppliedMathematician 2 жыл бұрын

Well, in my physics studies, we used heavy tables with additional mechanic decoupling of the ground for laser experiments. The most difficult part in your setup is IMHO is the alignment of reflectors, they must be exactly parallel, since an amplified photon ray should bounds back and forth infinitely, to get the full amplification effect. So I would have expected some 3-point adjustable mounts in your build. Don't ask me how, I am a theorist, I don't know and would have to look it up too.

@josephr5804 2 жыл бұрын

I know telescope some (cheap) telescope mounts use heavy springs with a washer and a bolt to implement an adjustable mount.

@danmarquez3971 Ай бұрын

Man o man! You would be a fun neighbor with these cool science projects! Thanks for the great video!

@rodneyjones7387 2 жыл бұрын

3 whatever you were doing was great to watch subbed can't wait see were this goes. First video Ive seen from you. 👍👍

@DownhillAllTheWay 2 жыл бұрын

... And all this is with the benefit of the knowledge of those who went before - it makes you really respect the people who did it for the first time.

@TheVideoGuardian 2 жыл бұрын

Instead of trying to rectify and filter a 15Kv source (which might not like a high capacitance on it's output), you might want to consider a Cockcroft-Walton multiplier. It's basically just a ladder of diodes and capacitors. It's one of the simplest ways to design a step-up converter, but it turns AC into high voltage DC, and apparently powering lasers is one of it's main uses.

@Machine_NZ 3 жыл бұрын

Great new channel.....Just love those who take your approach to projects. When I built my laser cutter I just bought a 60w CO2 tube....lol. Never though of making one. Regards Kevin

@Liam-ir6xm 2 жыл бұрын

just found this channel and 5 mins into this video you have already got my sub. love the little jokes and what not. keen to see where this goes

@divyajnana Жыл бұрын

What a great video, hilarious, I loved it, can't believe you pulled this off, you're a genius, thank you.

@daniellawson5127 9 ай бұрын

The most likeable youtuber I've ever come across. Awesome content!!

@rainman6272 2 жыл бұрын

I'm super impressed. This is the kind of resourcefulness every loner with a survival bunker wishes they had. When the end-times comes and we're eating sawdust and dirt grubs, you'll be sittin' pretty on the skull throne.

@ConsultingjoeOnline 3 жыл бұрын

Killer project and video. Keep it up!

@arabarab9033 3 жыл бұрын

I have some damaged tubes, you are a genius, I am a programmer and the operator of CNC machines from Morocco

@sdavis7916 2 жыл бұрын

I really like how you do things with what you have. No frills. Sort of Festuvus for the rest of us.

@letkemanfabworks619 3 жыл бұрын

would have loved to hear more about this build and how it works and so on but loved the vid. vary inspiring!

@cranktowncity 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! I didn't get too in detail as I'm just learning this myself. I posted a link to a forum in the dooblydoo that has a huge amount of info on these lasers. Once I button down the design more I'll do a more in depth explanation in the next video!

@letkemanfabworks619 3 жыл бұрын

@@cranktowncity sounds good man keep it up!

@patrikj 3 жыл бұрын

Hey that's like my science fair project from 30 years ago! I burned some stuff with that. I also concluded that DC was the way to go, but never actually got to that point before it broke.

@GlynWilliams1950 5 ай бұрын

Amazing work

@joshuamathis4179 2 жыл бұрын

Dude! You named the vacuum chamber the “suckbox”😂 that was the last straw… I’m subscribed now! Great content man!

@kelleysimonds5945 3 жыл бұрын

New sub, looking forward to your progress on this.

@henningklaveness7082 2 жыл бұрын

I very rarely if ever subscribe partway through the first video I watch from a new creator, but you made me do it.

@Momfasa 2 жыл бұрын

This is great. Thank you man!

@NACOTLANK 2 жыл бұрын

master. many time wait for co2 laser. thanks

@BobWilson84 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome stuff man!

@hassanw.3866 Жыл бұрын

Well done brother I'm watching you from Gabon, Africa 🇬🇦 keep going

@anthonym1998 11 ай бұрын

Just found your channel - love the presentation style.

@thecrazytexan5899 4 күн бұрын

The video editing is top notch

@kurtbilinski1723 3 жыл бұрын

Oh, man, you gave me flashbacks. When you were shoving the glass tube into the aluminum with the O-ring, it made me remember when I was pushing a glass tube into a rubber stopper (chemistry class). Heard a "click", and thought, uh oh. Yup, the glass tube had broken and drove into my middle finger. 50 years later and I still have the scar, and the still-numb area due to the cut nerves. Just sayin', be careful applying force to glass with bare hands!

@davidk7544 2 жыл бұрын

The number of chem students who do that is... staggering. (count me in)

@MikeFico998 Жыл бұрын

This is dope man. Clean Beam indeed.

@TheRainHarvester 3 жыл бұрын

The tube is the missing link in diy co2 cnc. Great progress!

@Santu7380 2 жыл бұрын

For me too...😀

@garyredeker5374 2 жыл бұрын

craziness. nice work!

@KnightsWithoutATable 2 жыл бұрын

To smooth power after a rectifier, a low pass filter that uses a coil, ground, and a capacitor is needed. If you just use a cap, it will not take out all of the noise on the DC. Ideally, you would rectify, filter, then connect a battery, but at these voltages that isn't possible. You are also going to need to use wiring and components that can take that high voltage or you will fry them, even the wiring. You might want to consider building a voltage multiplier using diodes and ultra capacitors and just make a pulsed laser. There are demos of this circuit type on other channels on KZfaq, but I must stress that if you are not trained to handle high voltage circuits safely, DO NOT build a voltage multiplier for high voltage.. It can easily kill you or start a fire.

@muuuuuud 2 жыл бұрын

I really like your approach, well made, no nonsense, enthralling video. New to your channel, can't wait to see your future endeavors! :)

@Mike_Costello 2 жыл бұрын

OK. Was NOT expecting this video. It was like watching Woody Harrelson with hair working as a mad scientist. I think that is what I just watched. Having said that, this was really cool. Can't wait to see it cut metal.

@dc7370 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks. Feel better. Found your channel attempting to be assured somebody wasn’t going to run down the road with a homemade laser

@GlassImpressions Жыл бұрын

New sub. Love your curiosity!

@PhG1961 2 жыл бұрын

Great ingenuity !

@MakingStuff 3 жыл бұрын

Very, very cool! Didn't know it was possible to DIY a laser tube.

@cranktowncity 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks man! It's definitely giving me a hard time but we'll get there!

@GarrettBShaw 29 күн бұрын

Coming to comments to look for statements regarding voltage not being deadly. Just amps Edit for those curious: Your average taser/stun gun runs at around 50,000 volts or 50 kilovolts. Compare that to his neon sign transformers that were 10 and 15 kilovolts respectively. Now the difference is the 15 kV neon transformer is 60 mA. Which is in a range of amperage that can cause respiratory arrest, muscular contractions (inability to let go), and even death. While the taser/stun gun is around 50 kV it is usually less than 5 mA. Around 5 mA you will get shocked, but still be able to let go of an object. Intense involuntary spasms are possible, however, death is very unlikely.

@miszcz310 3 жыл бұрын

Great video! One tip. When you tap aluminum, don't use oil, use alcohol like pure ethanol or isopropanol. Just put the tap in the alcohol and go to the town with that hole... This makes huge difference. Just give it a try next time.cheers.

@cranktowncity 3 жыл бұрын

Never heard of this before, I'll give it a shot! Thanks man!

@TheExplosiveGuy 2 жыл бұрын

I used 99% denatured alcohol and isopropyl alcohol for years at a machine shop I worked at, I can confirm it works great for aluminum (it also works for brass or other nonferrous metals, but it will _not_ work for hard ferrous metals). I had an airbrush connected to a switched solenoid valve that I used as a coolant spray system, the airbrush was on an articulated arm and could aim wherever it was needed. The airbrush also drastically reduced the temperature of the alcohol by evaporation, the workpiece would get so cold that water would condense on its surface. There are some small size high-speed machining centers that only use alcohol as well, but they are rare and can create a serious fire hazard, most of them purge the enclosed machine with inert gas.

@davidneedham6330 2 жыл бұрын

Great video dude! Keep it up.

@savvybuilds 7 ай бұрын

Impressive!

@EightUp000 2 жыл бұрын

First video ive seen from you and i subbed. Good shit

@phoschnizzle826 2 жыл бұрын

Lol - "Hope we don't get an implosion, or if we do, it looks cool." The bite marks in the chair comment was also gold.

@diegogmx2000 2 жыл бұрын

also regarding the problems with the power output maybe its not related with the power you are supplying but with the alignment of the mirrors, the chance of a photon hitting an excited atom is quite low, for that to happen with a frequency high enough as to get stimulated emission you need the photons to go through the tube many thousands of times which means the mirrors must be really well aligned and the amount of atoms in an excited state should be enough, you are putting in 300w, idk for sure but that sounds like enough, the mirrors are aligned however with the accuracy that the lathe gives you for what i can see, that is most likely not good enough

@FyaaahS Жыл бұрын

nice!! leaks are major issues when dealing with low vaccuums in my experience.

@mikevegeto1101 3 жыл бұрын

Great videos, keep it up! Subbed

@artem_nih Жыл бұрын

Bro it's so amazing 👏

@taciolps 7 ай бұрын

Can the parts I machined in aluminum be replaced with nylon?

@pufthemajicdragon 2 жыл бұрын

I enjoyed the seemingly unintentional "rectify" pun in your summary at the end :D

@halted_code 2 жыл бұрын

so the issue is you do not have an optical cavity because the mirrors are likely misaligned the mirrors have to be perfectly parallel to each other. few things: you might want to start with a dye pumped laser first, that will teach you the basics of what you need to achieve. Next you might want to get different o rings, the wrong type of plastic or sealant can introduce off gassing into the tube before the gas mixture can get into the system. You also might want to try to actually remove the mirrors entirely and instead put in a bit of glass that is transparent at the wavelength of light you are looking for this way you will be able to put the mirrors outside the tube and dial them in. Also look into getting some sort of optical table built.

@sigung01 5 ай бұрын

You are brilliant.

@taciolps 7 ай бұрын

Are the two tubes glass or acrylic?

@Sartek 2 жыл бұрын

Info i've seen from a few tube manufacturers is the mixture needs to be He:N2:CO2 ,8:1:1 +5% xenon. the gas pressure inside the tube should be 70-100 mbar (1-1.4 psi). Commercially available RECI power supplies are 35kV DC@ 23mA..

@user-hw9ui8pu9s 10 ай бұрын

Necessary, useful device for household chores! I think everyone should make such a device. Only in this design, special water is needed for cooling, otherwise there will be a short electrical circuit!

@NickPaulsen 2 жыл бұрын

Work with co2 laser dayly and it always amazes me to look in the resonator. Are you planing on take it further to build a small cnc laser ? :)

@truthtoad 2 жыл бұрын

way to go into the unknown! Never hesitate trying something new!

@taciolps 7 ай бұрын

Can it be used on CNC co2?

@howardbartlett3419 Жыл бұрын

My guess is that you had not pulled enough of a vacuum initially. Gasses become much more electrically conductive as they approach a pure vacuum, and to generate plasma you typically only want a few tenths or less PSI. Tech Ingredient's video on plasma tubes is a good overview of the issue.

@realpomagranite_titan4919 Жыл бұрын

great video, thanks

@naskuhl9618 Жыл бұрын

its amazing, but how do you find out how many volts/amps the tube can handle?

@jameswiz 2 жыл бұрын

Voltage doesn't kill. Amps do. FYI.. However. I like your video very much.. I think you should do another video explaining exactly what things are doing, and why, but overall great job... Thanks for the video.

@SodiumInteresting 2 жыл бұрын

good choice on the neon sign transformer. not lethal like the old microwave oven transformer... great video have subscribed

@2fathomsdeeper Жыл бұрын

A neon transformer at 30 mA will kill you just as fast as a MOT will.

@AA-gl1dr 2 жыл бұрын

Immediately subscribed. Make a CNC cutter to cut parts to make another CNC cutter and then slowly build a self building factory.

@thigtsquare950 Жыл бұрын

How did you align the mirrors to be perpendicular to the axis of the tube (and perfectly parallel to each other)?

@ronniebroyles422 2 жыл бұрын

You are a genius.

@mohammedjawadforelectronic9190 2 жыл бұрын

The reason is the alignment of the mirrors is so hard you have to put them on movable tilt with two direction to align the mirrors and movable laser He-Ne or red semiconductor laser and let the red laser beam come through the center of the two mirrors and you have to get multi reflection spot in one spot (center of the mirrors) and not scattered sopts .the scattered sopts means the two mirrors are not parallel .the maximum power you can obtain is about 270 watt at 30% efficiency Mohammed Jawad from Iraq .

@maurogen5293 4 ай бұрын

Hello, do you have the purchase link for the ZnSe partial reflector. thanks!!!!

@garymucher9590 3 жыл бұрын

If you are going to rectify the AC you will certainly need some very high voltage capable diodes. And if you need heavy amperage too, wow, that is going to get costly to buy high current and high voltage diodes. But it can be done. As for the capacitor to smooth the DC out, those too get pricey. I don't know what voltage or current you are presently using, but more DC power gets expensive... I'm in to watch for sure. Thumbs Up!

@ARCSTREAMS 3 жыл бұрын

very nice attempt dude and i look forward to seeing the improvements,, tell me did you have to study or make calculations to know the gas ratios and the power of hv you need or just basically slapped things together and hoped it worked? and what will give you more power output?

@cranktowncity 3 жыл бұрын

As with most projects I do, there was a small amount of studying and then promptly slapped the thing together haha. Hence the lack of output. As I've been working further on this I've done much more research on the subject and I'm really trying to refine the output before putting out a follow-up video. Thanks for the support!

@ARCSTREAMS 3 жыл бұрын

@@cranktowncity "promptly slapped the thing together haha. Hence the lack of output." hahahahah that is how i usually end up as well bud ,i like doing projects in as much laymens term as possible lol and that is why they dont always work out :((( ,,ok well you let me know when you figure out what gives a laser like this more power out ,i hope to see more on this soon ,keep up the nice work, very nice having good tools at one's disposal to work with specially a lathe ,it's awesome what you can fabricate

@theonlyTavetski 2 жыл бұрын

think I found my new favorite channel

@stefanvandijk7114 2 жыл бұрын

Great video! Me like a compleet noob in co2 lasers. Now because of your vids.. can now make my own one. The concept is actualy very simple. Thank you. Possible tip for you, from me. I see that you are using Helium for helium balloons at a local store. That kind of Helium is often mixed with some air to suppress some of the price and because people are using the balloons alot for the funny 'higher pitched' voice '. You should use medical grade Helium wich should be very pure. I do not know if it works better with helium 3, If you dont mind the price tag.

@scottbernetich4104 Жыл бұрын

Literally my favorite youtuber ever 5:56

@christopherleubner6633 Жыл бұрын

This is a lot like the one i made back in high school. You can use plain old air as your nitrogen source if you like. The other gasses dont throw the lasing out by much.

@makeitreality457 Жыл бұрын

This hits correct. Also, the rest is what, 20% oxygen and some trace gasses?. Simply use up the oxygen by putting it in a box with a candle or something. The resulting carbon dioxide can be calculated and factored into the mix.

@danielwinter441 2 жыл бұрын

very good effort. worth subscribing

@gustavokempe 3 жыл бұрын

buen video man

@SimonSozzi7258 2 жыл бұрын

Frigging awesome

@mfeldheim Жыл бұрын

Before I am off to part 2: Wow-factor 1x10^infinity 😍

@davegeorge7094 2 жыл бұрын

Output mirrors I can't find any source other than a working unit. What kind did you get???

@joeynovak07 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome work! So Cool! For helium, the helium sold for balloons is nt pure helium, that way teenagers don't get asphyxiated when they try to breath it. I think it's even less than 50%. (I didn't see anyone else say this, so I thought I'd chime in). Can't wait for video #2!

@cranktowncity 3 жыл бұрын

The one I found says it's 95% helium, although I do have my doubts haha. I'll be buying a bottle of the good stuff once I button this whole process down. thanks for the support!

@joeynovak07 3 жыл бұрын

@@cranktowncity 95% nice!

@matthewjason5330 2 жыл бұрын

Damn awesome channel glad I found it

@lukebriggs157 2 жыл бұрын

Hey, what sort of mirror did you have on the other end?

@henry-sk5rf Жыл бұрын

Hiya dude. What brand and type of vacume pump do you have?

@nitrousman8882 3 жыл бұрын

great video! Thanks. Just a couple points. The first is that the helium you're using is likely a mix of helium and air. The company was concerned that too many people were using their party time helium to end their lives.... so now, the blended version has up to 15% air.... so... nitrogen and oxygen. If you want pure helium, run it through a liquid nitrogen dewar to condense the oxygen and nitrogen gases out... you'll have pure helium after that. The other question I have is to ask if you have tuned the resonant cavity or did you pick the length at random? Thanks Doug

@cranktowncity 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks man! The tank I have is 95% helium, and I just count the rest as nitrogen. When I posted this video, yes I picked the resonator length at random. I've since built three new iterations of this, in search of a better output, and I've been tuning the length based on the reflectivity of the OC I plan to use on it. As soon as I get an output I'm happy with, I'll be posting a follow up video with more info on the updated build!

@nitrousman8882 3 жыл бұрын

@@cranktowncity where did you get the partially reflective mirror? These optical bits are tough to source 🇨🇦

@cranktowncity 3 жыл бұрын

@@nitrousman8882 BMIsurplus/ebay. they're all used parts but I've had a few ebay scores on ZnSe!

@redshiftcnc 3 жыл бұрын

Thats pretty awesome

@dekonfrost7 2 жыл бұрын

Crazy amount of work to build an old pump. Wow.

@camelrahmatullin1059 2 ай бұрын

Very crazy! And awesome!

@DeadJack57 Ай бұрын

Very cool!

@mambaman2007 Жыл бұрын

Very interesting process but this is all too dangerous for me so I was wondering if you could list me the items I would need to DIY my own CO2 laser? I already have the frames, all the mechanics. Thanks