Cheap 1W laser light saber

Can't come up with a good reason for wanting it, but boy, I do!

http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html

I've read rumors of less-than-stellar customer service and bad reviews on recent products from them. Could just be BS, but I also have zero use for a laser that powerful. Unless I like blinding oncoming idiots.

Edit: In what universe is $300 "Cheap"?

3 or 4 years ago I bought one of their "5 mW" green lasers. Sucker still works.

You can replicate this item for even less money by buying a diode, lens and current driver on ebay and modifying a flashlight to put it in. If you know how to solder, it'll be cheaper yet, unlike in my case where I fried the first circuit driver. Golly, those leads are tiny. But I figure it's far more grassroots to homebrew it even if it's more of a pita...

Yeah, it's pretty cool to see a visible beam in a daylight room. But you better be real careful, it'll burn through cardboard at a considerable distance easily. One stray reflection off a window in your eye and you might find yourself only seeing one side of the issues...

also.. do not use them around LCD projectors. The coherent light tends to burn out the LCDs if it goes into the lense

Wow! Squirrel Jedi!

What? you don't want the sith model?

The sith model is cool, but I like the power of the Artic.

While $300 isn't exactly a cheap number, considering what things like this cost just a few years ago, that's cheap.

Agree, I could make one for less, if I do the research and get better at soldering.

In any case, the only thing I could do with something like this is get into trouble. And I'm quite confident in myself, I would get into trouble with it.

from what they were a decade ago.. they are cheap, light, and MUCH smaller than they were. And I worked with 1 watt lasers

Considering the cheapest one I found on ebay complete was a grand, $300 isn't bad. Just thinking of all the trouble I could get into with that gives me goose bumps.

DoctorBlade wrote: Edit: In what universe is $300 "Cheap"?

It is the cheapest way to bring down a police helo that I can think of.

Local Man Sentenced For Shining Laser Light At Philadelphia Police Copter

Jay_W wrote: One stray reflection off a window in your eye and you might find yourself only seeing one side of the issues...

so that explains iggy?!?!

I keed I keed

Jay_W wrote: You can replicate this item for even less money by buying a diode, lens and current driver on ebay and modifying a flashlight to put it in. If you know how to solder, it'll be cheaper yet, unlike in my case where I fried the first circuit driver. Golly, those leads are tiny. But I figure it's far more grassroots to homebrew it even if it's more of a pita... Yeah, it's pretty cool to see a visible beam in a daylight room. But you better be *real* careful, it'll burn through cardboard at a considerable distance easily. One stray reflection off a window in your eye and you might find yourself only seeing one side of the issues...

Wrapping my head around this: It'll burn through cardboard, is hand held with self-contained power, and costs only $300. ??? Also, it can permanently blind you? What's the range on the potential eye damage or temporary blindness? This is true? I have marketing interests if so

You'll put your eye out!

4eyes wrote: You'll put your eye out!

You'll ZAP your eye out!

Joey

So just what does one do with a mini portable laser?

joey48442 wrote:

4eyes wrote: You'll put your eye out!

You'll ZAP your eye out! Joey

But it would be so much fun until you did.

I'd have wholes burned in everything.

On a semi-related note, my brother's friend makes his own lightsabers, kinda: http://www.youtube.com/clivegrey#p/u/0/x_GF0HJ74XU