Thread: Here's an easy way to increase the size of a green laser vortex cone - convex mirror

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A while back I was looking for a good way to increase the size of a green laser vortex cone. A easy way to do this is as follows:

1. Purchase a swiveling cosmetic mirror (I found one for around $6 at Walgreens).

2. Purchase a circular, convex stick-on rear view mirror at an auto parts store (~$3). Has to be convex, not flat. The convex mirror expands and spreads the green laser vortex cone. Go for the largest size of convex mirror that will fit into the space of the cosmetic mirror. I think the convex mirror I got was 3.75".

3. Attach convex stick-on mirror to the magnifying side of the swiveling mirror. These swiveling mirrors have a non-magnifying side and a magnifying side. The magnifying side seems rather useless for this effect. So it's a good place to attach the stick-on convex mirror.

4. Aim your laser very close to the convex mirror if you want to retain an "infinity" effect--but the cone will be smaller. You can move your laser further away from the mirror, projecting a cone the nearly fills the convex mirror, and get a far larger projected cone. But the cone won't look like it goes on to infinity (e.g. converge to a single point). And that may aesthetically alter the effect in a negative way.



Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the cone magnification or any measurements of how much larger the cone is. But it's considerably larger.

I'm still not deploying the green laser vortex effect toward an audience for Halloween due to potential or perceived safety issues. But bouncing the cone off a convex mirror does seem to reduce the brightness and intensity of the cone. And if the laser isn't pointed very close to the convex mirror, e.g. if you get the cone to mostly fill the convex mirror space--so that larger cone is what gets projected into the scene--maybe there would be less of a complaint like "there's a laser point directed at my eyes!"

I've still got to consider it dangerous due to my lack of knowledge of laser safety. I'm no expert. So don't point this thing at an audience. It would be interesting to know if any professional haunts use a green laser vortex projected into a scene. Has anyone the safety issue of the green laser vortex to any pro haunt forums?

But it's an easy way to increase the size / throw of the cone when you run out of "real world" space for expanding the cone. Maybe to project a large laser cone onto the confine of your own house (assuming all windows are shut, etc).

You could also use a flat mirror to bounce the cone off and increase the size of the cone. But again, with a flat mirror you're not going to get nearly the size increase that you would with a convex mirror. And you're surely going to lose the "going back to infinity" aspect of the cone.

That's what I'm worried about too--pointing a laser into somebody's eyes. No matter how safe it's supposed to be.

So you are aiming the the rotating laser vortex into the convex mirror to make it shine AWAY from the viewers?
Sounds interesting. I could go for something like that.

Originally Posted by DaveintheGrave

That's what I'm worried about too--pointing a laser into somebody's eyes. No matter how safe it's supposed to be. So you are aiming the the rotating laser vortex into the convex mirror to make it shine AWAY from the viewers? Sounds interesting. I could go for something like that.

The main use of the convex mirror is to enlarge the size of the projected cone beyond what mere distance from the laser source would provide. But you could also use it to redirect where the cone is projected. The 3.75" wide convex mirror likely wouldn't be large enough to project, say, from inside a house onto one of these mirrors, say, sitting on a front door overhang, onto the front of a house. But a much larger mirror probably would. The receiving mirror surface would need to be large enough to contain however large the projected laser cone is (that would vary depending on the distance from the source to the receiving mirror).

I've seen at least one YouTube video where the cone is pointed away from trick or treaters onto the front surface of a house. Don't recall where. It doesn't have the same impact because viewers aren't looking *into* a swirling vortex. But it's still different and makes a house stand out. I have nearly zero halloween competition in my neighborhood so anything new I do gets appreciated. So it's something I'm thinking about doing. Maybe in that case I'd "unhack" my $50 venue mini green laser unit and let it run through its preprogrammed laser light show. Would like to see or hear about other creative uses of this effect that don't shine directly at the audience.

Do no pro haunts use the green laser vortex? I bet some do, somewhere. And if so, I'd love to see how they've deployed it. Because the pro haunts, I'd imagine, typically have major liability insurance yet don't want to be sued by customers. I'm not on any pro haunt forums, and don't subscribe to any pro haunt magazines, so I've never seen any pro haunt discussion of the green laser vortex effect. I say let them figure it out. And then we home haunters can learn from what they do.