Thread: Laser vortex mirror mounting

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I'm attempting to duplicate the Laser Vortex from the Garage of Evil, but I can't seem to get the dime to solder to the motor shaft. It'll stick, but comes off within a minute or so. It's just not adhering to the dime. Any other mounting ideas for the mirror?

Try cutting a disc out of a copper clad pc board, or using one of the punch outs from an electrical junction box (like for a light switch).

Thanks, Mike. I'll give that a shot.

Solder will work on a penny as long as it's clean...wire brush...
I've found it easier to drill or punch a hole in a metal bottle cap and use 5 minute epoxy or some JB weld as the bottle cap holds the mirror much better. I have also used an old 5 volt CPU fan. I mount the mirror on the center of the fan and the fan helps keep things cool in the box.

Hot Glue Works like a charm too

Originally Posted by Deathly

Solder will work on a penny as long as it's clean...wire brush...
I've found it easier to drill or punch a hole in a metal bottle cap and use 5 minute epoxy or some JB weld as the bottle cap holds the mirror much better. I have also used an old 5 volt CPU fan. I mount the mirror on the center of the fan and the fan helps keep things cool in the box.

Nice idea I hadn't thought of using my old one with a broken heat sink.

The penny worked much better. Still playing with the angle on the vortex. I am surprised by how little fog is needed to get something useful. I had a little red laser that I was doing my test work with, but I'm afraid I burned it out by trying to run it out of a DC adapter. I thought I had it low, (they take 3v, right?) but those adjustable adapters aren't too reliable it seems. It just started burning much less brightly after a while. Anyway, the violet/blue laser I had ordered for the real deal showed up today and I just did a test. Let me tell you, it is awesome! Now, I just have to be careful about the voltage on it, as I will need to run it off of an adapter, and not batteries.

I couldn't get a dime soldered on well either. In the end, I found a gear that fit on the shaft of a motor just loose enough that I could tilt it and squirt a little hot glue into the socket. I then glued a mirror flat onto the gear. Both the motor and the gear came out of an old printer.

I know my Ebay violet laser pointer is pretty touchy on voltage. It likes 3.0 to 3.2 volts. Anything over about 3.4 volts and it started dimming. Also, it sucked a lot more power than my red or green. I can't remember off the top of my head, but it was pulling close to 350ma... (Be careful. Mine was labeled 5mw, but the output is MUCH higher than that. It drained batteries VERY fast.)

I agree on the violet making an awesome vortex. I played around with making a green vortex with the violet circle just inside the green circle. I had a hard time getting them aligned but once I did, it was amazing! Ten times better than either one alone.