» MAKE: NOISE — Discuss this article

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• mini high powered laser
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  so I have gotten Make since it was first published and it has been great. I have done several projects and they have all worked because the parts are relatively easy to get.
  
  however I recently tried the mini high-powered laser from volume 10. It is impossible to get the lasers out of the DVD burner. they are epoxied in there. I tried to remove them and they were destroyed. I wasted 40 bucks on it. Thats completely ridiculous.
  
  If you write an article explaining how to do something, make sure you have actually done it before you tell someone how to do it.

  Posted by walker237720 on May 24, 2007 at 21:30:12 Pacific Time

• mini high powered laser
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  As described in the article:
  the diode in my LG drive was held in by glue and friction, so I scraped the glue away with a knife and gently pried the diode free with a jeweler's screwdriver.
  
  I've done this process 6 times now, 4 of which were glued in and 2 were soldered in. It is possible, it is actually not that hard, but you have to be patient and gentle. I wouldn't use a dremel myself for fear of accidently harming the diode, just slow careful picking and scraping with an x-acto style knife is all that you need.
  

  Posted by StephanieMaks on June 21, 2007 at 18:58:02 Pacific Time

• mini high powered laser
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  I got a 20X dvd burner, and I found the diode. It was in what looked like a large lead heatsink. It is the same looking as the picture (about halfway down the page)
  http://www.felesmagus.com/pages/lasers-howto.html When I removed it, (I had to desolder and then use me dremel) it didn't look like any of the other diodes I see. The bottom looked the same, but the top was missing the silver can. The beam now breaks into two parts...did I wreck it? Should I have left the lead part on? Or is it still possible to salvage it?

  Posted by BrendanDark on July 16, 2007 at 16:08:06 Pacific Time

• mini high powered laser
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  A mini 200mW laser pointer at http://www.laserto.com/ is just powerful enough to make a burning experiment in very short time.

  Posted by stellamian on October 14, 2012 at 19:49:02 Pacific Time

• mini high powered laser
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  so I have gotten Make since it was first published and it has been great. I have done several projects and they have all worked because the parts are relatively easy to get.
  
  however I recently tried the mini high-powered laser from volume 10. It is impossible to get the lasers out of the DVD burner. they are epoxied in there. I tried to remove them and they were destroyed. I wasted 40 bucks on it. Thats completely ridiculous.
  
  If you write an article explaining how to do something, make sure you have actually done it before you tell someone how to do it.

  Posted by walker237720 on May 24, 2007 at 21:30:40 Pacific Time

• epoxied laser diode
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  Well, I think different DVD burners probably have different attachment methods. Did you get the same exact burner as was discussed in the article?
  
  Regardless, it's entirely possible to remove an epoxied laser diode, you just have to be really careful. Cutting a large section around it out with a dremel might be a good start, then carefully removing the excess material, a little a time, with dental picks and such. I've done similar to remove epoxied PLCC chips, and managed to liberate the chips without damaging the socket or the chip.
  
  I am sorry that you had bad luck with this article.. I have yet to attempt it, but may do so ..!

  Posted by dculberson on June 19, 2007 at 07:06:37 Pacific Time

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  "Cutting a large section around it out with a dremel might be a good start, then carefully removing the excess material, a little a time, with dental picks and such."
  
  That's exactly how I did it, and it worked find. Patience, caution, and planning ahead worked (all traits that are normally foreign to me).

  Posted by DaveBarak on August 09, 2007 at 18:09:15 Pacific Time