Laser Engraver Project - Progress

I'm back to get started with the laser engraver project.  Full disclosure--I started writing this blog after starting the project.  Fortunately I didn't get too terribly far with the project before starting writing, but some of the work I've done lack proper progress photos.  With that I will do my best to stage things where needed.

All projects need a good starting point.  In a previous post I stated that my goals were to create a functional laser engraver, capable of engraving wood, from mostly reclaimed parts. I was able to search the internet and find build plans that matched those goals (3DPILE by TheZippyMan), I'll include a link to that build at the end of this post.

The parts I need to scavenge includes the stepper motors still attached to their sleds and the the burning laser.  The motors and their sleds will allow the workpiece and the burning laser to move along an XY axis so a workpiece can have a design burned into it.  I was able to acquire these parts using two different CD/DVD RW drives.

After some careful disassembly, you will probably end up with a pile of parts like so (I'll link to a disassembly guide at the end of this post):

The stepper motors still attached to the sleds are in the top left/top middle of the above photo.  For both, I have stripped the sleds of their components (IR laser, burning laser, lenses, etc).  My intention is to leave the sleds together with the stepper motors and attach any component I need to directly to them.  For one of them, this will include a stage which will hold the work piece.  The opposite sled will hold a modified laser diode and its housing.

Laser diode
My next area of focus was to start figuring out which laser from the lens assemblies I would use.  I carefully extracted lasers from both of the DVD/RW drives I had, and tested them using a AA battery and some wire.  It bears noting, lasers can be dangerous.  Be careful while handling them, avoid the eyes or any surface you don't want to see burned.

With the AA battery, there is not enough current to properly drive the laser, so a very dim red light is emitted when connected properly.  I made note of my positive and negative so when I wire up my laser later, there will be no guesswork.  I've also soldered longish lead wires onto the laser diode which can be trimmed to size later.


Housing for the laser diode
A major benefit to disassembling old electronics is the availability of spare parts you otherwise would not have had access to.  I'll cover how I assembled the diode housing in the next post.

Informational links:
Laser engraver plans:  3DPILE by TheZippyMan
DVD disassembly guide:  Robson Couto's Disassembly Guide