DIY Micro Laser Cutter
via http://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_Micro_Laser_Cutter
Step by Step Instruction for building your DIY Laser Cutter
Step by step instructionon how to build a small DIY laser cutter from two CD or DVD drives and a blue-ray laser module. The laser can be found on ebay (1.5-2W 445nm Blue Diode in Module W/Leads & Aixiz Glass) for about 50$ or you can extract it from a blue-ray player yourself and put it into a housing with apropriate lens (Aixiz). The laser cutter is capable of cutting or graving thin material like paper or adhesive tape. The cutting area is about 45 mm x 45 mm. The drive is controled by two Pololu steper moter driver and an arduino with the teacup driver as described here: http://www.hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_Micro_Dispensing_and_Bio_Printing
Step by Step
Laser cut acrylic glass supports and two CD drives.
Support parts glued on a base plate.
Glue or screw sample holder base part on one drive.
Mount sample holder frame.
Screw the two drives cross wise on the supports.
Put the laser into a heat sink. Mount the whole unit on the other drive.
Connect everithing with the electronics.
And start burning.
