[2K05GT]

I am working on a Liquid sky fog affect using a 10mw green laser and a Laser printer laser unit (using the mirror)
Using a fog machine I should be able to create a cool effect like this

So here is where I am at

I have an old HP Laserjet printer and I pulled the Laser unit, I knew the motor was bad (thats why the printer was broken)

I took an old PC Heatsink and drilled a hole in it to receive the Laser unit base to cool it down ( I plan on over driving it a bit.)

I am using a cooling fan in place of the motor to drive the hexagon Mirror. it's the right height to the laser and it's bright.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

 

[icemanfred]

always liked this effect
so how is the laser creating a straight line?

 

[2K05GT]

the Hexagon mirror will be spinning at 1000 rpm as the laser hits the mirror edge it's long enough to scan the laser left to right till the next mirror edge
and it repeats this sequence just like the Laser printer does when it creates the image on the drum.l

 

[2K05GT]

here is a video of my laser fog effect

 

[Texas_T]

That is COOOOL, wonder if I could get away with tearing up a printer at work. Nice job

 

[camsauce]

Wow! That is a really unique effect. Looks like the laser is just powered off an ATX power supply?

EDIT: Just saw where you've powered with cooling fan.

 

[2K05GT]

Actually you can build one without a Laser printer part...

All you need is a shoe box, a Computer Fan, a mirror or polished metal item, JB weld a 10 - 30 mW Green Laser module (From Ebay)
if you use a mirror and a 30-50mW if you use a polished surface. (Remember that any laser over 50 mW can damage the eye so if you use a 50mW or higher use laser protection glases and be sure to use a IR filter lens. These lasers have a visible beam without fog so use care when in use.

use the 5v leg from a PC Power supply (Red "+" and Black "-") to power the Laser and the 12v (Yellow "+" Black "-") to power the fan.



here is a good kit on EBAY with power supply and Laser


The laser just needs to do a fast sweep,

cut the polished metal to fit on the fan and use JB Weld to fasten it to a Fan motor to spin the mirrored surface.
mount the laser.
While the fan and laser are working inside the shoe box, mark the area on the side of the shoe box where the laser starts and stops
it's sweep and cut that area out of the side of the box.

Be sure to monitor the temperature of the laser, if it's very hot after a few minutes you may need to ad a heatsink to cool it down,
it's nest to use a heat sink from an old Computer CPU to mount the laser on inside the box to cool it.

You can use a Red or Blue laser but Green shows up the best and tend to be the brightest, A standard 5mW green laser pointer can produce
1200 lumens at one foot, a 50 can damage eyesite if the unscanned beam is directed towards the eye.

If you are planning to buy a laser, buy a green laser. Green lasers produce light at the 532 nanometer wavelength, which is squarely in the middle of our visible light spectrum of 400 to 670 nanometers. This means that our eyes are much more receptive to green light than red light. Red lasers operate around 650 nanometers, which is close to the infrared at 670 nanometers, and we cannot see this wavelength. A green laser is much more usable in all types of light, from daylight to dark, whereas a red laser only works in the dark or indoors.

 

[DaveintheGrave]

That look really cool! I like it!

 

[HalloweeenSis]

Great job! Thanks for sharing your know-how!

 

[icemanfred]

are you planning on using it across the floor?
the liquid sky effect across the floor might be a tripping hazard.

you could use this effect vertically behind a doorway to a closet or something small. someone extending their hand from behind the effect could startle an unsuspecting person.

 

[2K05GT]

are you planning on using it across the floor?
the liquid sky effect across the floor might be a tripping hazard.

you could use this effect vertically behind a doorway to a closet or something small. someone extending their hand from behind the effect could startle an unsuspecting person.

Actually I really like the ceiling look to hide the normal garage stuff up there, make a castle wolfenstein ceiling
. the Fogger will have to be setup high like about 7ft and use hot fog to stay high.

I also could use clear plastic sheeting making it tight across the ceiling at athe 7ft level allowing the fog to stay
up high and cut a hole at the front of the garage to allow the extra fog to poor out onto the driveway at the front of the facade
that would be a creepy effect. the laser would still be making the liquid sky (two for one effect)

I thought about doing somthing like this... (as you mention Vertically)

But then I thought since I am in the Flight path of Dulles Airport... that would not be a smart Idea shooting a 200mW Green Laser into the air at a 90 deg span.
these lasers have a 5 mile range...

Knock, Knock, Knock... Who is it.... BOOM the FBI ....

 

[2K05GT]

here is how this effect turned out..
I did it along the ceiling and used an old 400 watts fogger

 

[The Halloween Lady]

That's is really cool! I had never scene that particular effect before. It looks very surreal.

 

[ActionJax]

That looks really great! Love the effect. And the Jacobs Ladder. Always wanted to build one of those. Did you do that one yourself? I completely forgot about my lazer effect this year. Worked on it last year after the season. But it in a box and forgot to get it out. So, needless to say you've inspired me to find the darn thing and try again for 2014. LOL