Laser Candle Table

by imitche3 in Circuits > Lasers

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Laser Candle Table

Laser_Candle1.jpeg

Laser Candle/Table - Super simple, really impressive Home Laser Light Show

Overall Build Process

Laser_Candle1.jpeg

Description

The 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville Tennessee was the first major public demonstration of what lasers then could do. It outlined the shapes of people, the fair logo, and puppies in the sky to the absolute amazement of the crowds. A friend of mine ran the show nightly for the duration of the fair and between sitting on the tower, lighting cigarettes on the beam, or understanding his experiments in his apartment on campus; the whole experience opened my eyes to STEM concepts and I’ve never been the same since.  (I have since quit smoking btw)

Rightly or wrongly, I wired 8 of the laser LEDs together in a circle, put a male USB plug on the end & plugged into a 5V ac adapter stolen from an apple ipad and I was off to the races.

The lasers I used are 6mm or 5.95 at an indent. I chose a smaller drill bit and used files to enlarge the hole just enough for the wood to self hold the lasers.

I drilled my holes in a circle. The only thing I would change is to put an additional laser in the center as the focus and surround the vaporizer with the ring of lasers.

This whole project and be dressed up with the addition of an Arduino Nano.

Detailed Build Process

Step 1. Find any table that suits you.

Step 2. Cut laser mounting board to fit bottom of the drawer casing. Cut around any leg spaces

Step 3. Cut/Drill holes for lasers. Use small files to fit snugly

Step 4. Collect all ground wires together, via pcb board or other wire organizer. Same with the positives. Essentially these are all wired in parallel

Setp 5. Attach a male USB end to the wires (Bing/Google searches have great wiring instructions)

Step 6; Place LEDs in prepared receptacle holes in board

Step 7. Attach board to base of drawer casing

Step 8. Plug into 5V power ( I use an old iPad power supply)

Step 9. Turn power on to lasers, plug in vaporizer , turn on and position for best results