Thread: Laser Vortex DONE!!!! Turned out amazing. Videos inside

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VIDEOS AT THE END

Another prop finished and I have everything that I wanted to do this year completed. I just need to make one more of these because they are just to cool and amazing to not have more then one. The fog machine is a 400 watt Walwart but I will be using 1750 watt and 2 400 watt. Really simple to make all you need is:

Computer Power supply
Dental Mirror
Case Fan
5 MW laser
Some scrap 2x4's

You don't have to wire the laser to the power supply if you don't feel comfortable soldering just use batteries but have plenty on hand. You will get about 1 hour off of 2 AAA. The power depletes right away so you go from bright to dim pretty quickly. A power supply is really the way to go and works great so go this route if you can.

For those that don't know the laser positive is the spring solder this to the red wire on a molex connector. The metal around the spring that is threaded is the negative, solder this to the black wire of a molex connector. Throw out the battery compartment of the laser because you don't need it. Yes I know I'm running them at 5 volts instead of 3 but it's worked for 2-3 days straight(testing) without any problems. You could bump the voltage down but I'm out of time here. Radio Shack has what you need.

The case fan will run off of the power supply through a molex connector so you just plug it in.

Rip the dental mirror off of the arm and toss it. The angle of the mirror is 10 degrees but you can fiddle with this for different effects(oval, circle and in between round shapes). Mount the mirror and computer fan first then figure where to drill the hole to mount the laser. Angle the laser at around 35-40 degrees but this will change if the cut a different board for the mirror. It's really easy to do and should take around 1-2 hours to complete. Just follow the pics and if you have questions post them here.

Thanks for reading

Video #1 The introduction and workings

laservortex004.flv video by Industen - Photobucket

Video #2 (Test #1)Terrible 400 watt fogger and results (hard to capture a video with this fogger)

laservortex003.flv video by Industen - Photobucket

Video #3 (Test #2)The BIG BOY fogger...yes I did smoke up the entire house. Can we get some wind in here :COUGH COUGH: Results within

1750vortex001.flv video by Industen - Photobucket

I can hardly wait to see it. Gotta wait til I get home cuz firewall at work blocks all the good stuff.

absolutely amazing. I can't wait to build one. Thanks for the videos. Happy Halloween!!

looks great I can't wait to try one of these
what kind of laser did you use?

Just a 5MW normal laser pointer. I bought a bunch off of ebay. You might be able to find them at office supply stores.

It looks fantastic, but I wonder what you use it for? End of a hallway? Any issues with hitting peoples eyes with it?

Well it's really about placement to make it impossible to look directly into it. 5mw lasers are considered "eye safe" so it shouldn't be a problem. If I shoot it out of the top off my roof window the effect is still really cool looking like ghosts are flying around the graveyard. Or shooting it from a grave stone plot to the side of the house looking like it's moving toward it. Take a look at the video before I jump into it. I also have a drive way on the side of my house that goes about 20 feet back, next year I may people go this route through the vortex to the back of my house to give out the treats. The video looks good but it's much better in person.

VERY COOL!!! On my list for next year...

Dennis

We used to have a laser vortex hallway in a haunted house I worked in. The thing was AMAZING!! I was always in awe when I walked down it.

As for scares, it is SUPER easy in a dark halway for actors to hide outside the laser and the people walking down the middle won't see them. If they put a hand through the beam occasionally and then walk away, it really freaks people out.

I used to like to hide at the end of the hall and duck down below the laser. As the people neared the end of the hall where I was, I would slowly stand up and call people by name. It was like watching deer in headlights. They would freeze. The fun part is you can see them clearly because the light is shinging on them, but they can't see you at all. Fun to play with. Unlimited possibilities.

Great tutorial. Thanks!!

I'm impressed.

I'll take three please.