DIY "James Bond" laser gun won't make you anything like James Bond
By Laura June 
posted December 7th 2008 6:13PM
posted December 7th 2008 6:13PM
Well this is a nice little project for a lazy Sunday. The folks over at Instructables have given us the step-by-step how-to on making a James Bond style "laser weapon" -- though it's not actually a gun for killing people (thankfully), and it's not really very much like 007's weapon, either. Using a CO2 pistol, a laser guide, an Xbox 360 HD DVD drive, a housing for the laser and a circuit board, you too can build a blue laser gun that'll do things like light matches and pop balloons. Like we said, it's not going to help you achieve your goal of taking out all those who've wronged you, and it probably won't get you a date with Strawberry Fields, but you might impress your friend(s). Incredibly smooth video of the project after the break.
what about polarized? (doubt it though)
"This laser here is from an Xbox 360 DH DVD drive and is powered by a total of 6 volts. You do realise the implications of that, don't you, Mr Bond?"
"What, do you expect me to work out the power of the laser by substituting complex quantum physics formulae and whether that will be sufficient to burn through my clothes, skin and flesh and damage my retinal cells while I am tied down to a bench?"
"No, Mr Bond, I expect you to go blind."
Thanks for the inspiration, xkcd.
[Borat voice]
That was so NOT funny.
[/Borat voice]
Wow, that is cool. You know who else would probably find it cool? Public figures like politicians. Whoever builds this should probably show it to them in public, but make sure to race up and wave it around as much as possible so they can see how cool it is.
"One more thing..."
Who cares... Jason Bourne would pwn James Bond if they ever "met". I've put quotes around met because Bond will be dead before he knew what hit him. \m/
That's Chuck Norris you are thinking of... :)
Poping kids balloons from far away is great great fun!
http://www.last.fm/music/Saturday+Lo-fi/Take+my+bike+I+can+glide
Take your finger off of the trigger and out of the trigger guard unless you are firing a weapon. Do not point a weapon at anything you are not willing to destroy.
Yes, I realize it's a fake weapon, but I do get somewhat anal about gun safety. Too many negligent discharges end in severe injury/ death.
/end rant
sigh... when I see project like this, and wonder how long before the builder does something stupid like accidentally hitting someone eye causing damage... hope they have a good lawyer when that happens.
I got a 50,000 mw laser, and even when I turn it on, reflections of only 1% off dull rock can hit your eye causing Permanent blindness. So I'm Very Very careful of how i use it.
>50,000 mw laser
what.
I think he added an extra zero. :-D
pew pew pew
This has little to do with a gun (though you could do it with that kinda thing).
It reminds me of chemistry when our teacher used a high powered laser pointer to ignite a helium filled balloon.
Epicness.
helium? did you mean hydrogen? As with helium nothing big other than a balloon popping would occur.
that must've been one helluva laser to ignite HELIUM.
">50,000 mw laser what."
The laser gun power in that project is likely rated at 150mw (miliwatts) or 0.15 Watts, which is really dangerous (normal laser pointer is like .03 watts.)
The one I use for my projects runs at 50 watts, and I'm not even present in the room when it's on, just for safety sake.
Time to get some laser goggles dude...
Might help to reply in the comment thread you are responding to. You can't reply to sub comments, but if you follow your target comment up to the nearest unindented one, you can reply there. It makes it much easier to figure out what you're reacting to.
Zeee goggles! Zey do nothing!
Correcting my self, when I said "normal laser pointer is like .03 watts." I meant to say "normal laser pointer is like .003 watts."
The laser from a HD DVD drive is definitely enough to cause eye damage.
Thus, when I read this article I am going to imagine it said "Pop eyeballs" instead of balloons.
Yay.
Why does every fucking engadget article turn into an Apple hate/love fest?
because it's engadget...
Bond doesn't need a pussy laser.
If you think you're going to use a laser to take me down... Guess again.
I work with 'em every day, and one thing you don't want is me bringing a CO2 or Nd:YAG laser down on you Mr. Professional. I promise.
Should I feel bad that I recognize Kip Kay's voice?
Ah, KipKay, is there nothing the man won't do to get money from metacafe?
"Don't laser me bro.. bro.. brooooo!"
What's the effective kill range of the Walther PPK? ~50 meters?
Would a blue laser be visible at 50m+ with only iron sights?
Oh my god. Please don´t you ever try this at home.
Even the reflections of this Laser are hitting you with roughly 4 times higher Energies than your "average" 1mW-Laser. If you point this Class IIIb Laser at your eye, you will cause IRREVERSIBLE eye damage, because it has a spot size of 580nm. This means looking directly into this spot is like exposing your eye to roughly 1000 times the energy of directly looking into the sun. Just imagine it. And don´t depend on your blink reflex, as exposure times of one second will suffice to hurt you.
Oh and you guys realize wearing Laser-protecting eyewear means not being able to see the Laser itself?! This way you won´t be able to see where you´re pointing it!
Whilst building a laser pointer out of the guts of a DVD drive that can pop balloons certainly sounds cool: bear in mind it *will* blind if it his your eye. Not *may* like the keyring pointers, it *will* damage your retina.
Now consider how many shiny things are in your house: windows, mirrors, metal door handles, etc. Specular reflection's quite likely to cause you or someone else harm.
I don't wanna be a killjoy but we did this to death on /. a while back and the possible harm is quite scary, scary enough to outweigh the "OMG-I-can-pop-balloons-and-burn-holes-in-garbage-sack" cool factor.
YMMV
Why go through all the hassle?
Just go and buy a laser from:
http://www.wickedlasers.com/
They can pop balloons and what not...
To bad it only works on black balloons...
1) As others have said, once you get over 10-15mw, you start to get into danger territory. 150mw laser can *EASILY BLIND SOMEONE PERMANENTLY* This is NOT for children, and must be used with as much respect as a loaded firearm. Please wear laser-specific professional eye protection when experimenting with ANY laser. specialized glasses/googles can be obtained online from many retailers.
2) Blue diodes are much more expensive than red/green. Instead of a blu-ray/HD-DVD player, you can use ANY DVD-R WRITER (not reader. They have ~150-250mw red diodes that are incredibly powerful. (not sure about the wavelength - look it up). You can find new DVD-R writers for approx $30-50 online.. or craigslist is also a great source for used/broken DVD-Rs with intact lasers.
@Othello
Yes. But does your shark have one too?