lasers for hollowing rigs

[allen thunem]

some of you may have seen my homemade articulating hollower i posted a couple weeks ago and noticed it had no laser guidance system. I would like to ask what and where some of you have gotten your lasers and why you happened to choose what you did?
I have searched amazon, ebay and other sites but the more i look the more confused i get.
thanks for the help

[Jon McElwain]

Bought mine with a hollowing rig from Oneway. It has not had the problems many have described with vibration making the laser go out. I checked out the Oneway site and the laser by itself is $15.

[Brian Kent]

I give up. What does the laser do? GPS guided?

I assume it shines through thin wood?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Brian the laser is to tell you when you have reached the desired thickness. The lase is mounted about 15" above the cutter. When it is turned on you set the beam say 1/8" or 1/4" or whatever thickness you want from the edge of the cutter. If I want 1/4" walls on my HF's I use a white business card and hold it under the cutter. I set the beam so it is 1/4" away from the tip. When cutting on the inside when the beam falls off the edge of the HF you are at 1/4". Here is a pic's of the laser mounted above my cutting arm.

[Jon Prouty]

Here is what I used:
Laser and battery pack...
Digi-Key (www.digikey.com (http://www.digikey.com))
Laser- P/N : VLM-650-03-LPT-ND (~$ 10.00)
Battery Holder with Switch-
P/N : SBH-321AS-ND (< $ 2.00)

I got this info a while ago and can't remember who posted it. Cheap and easy... works great.

Cheers!
Jon

[Jim Burr]

Brian the laser is to tell you when you have reached the desired thickness. The lase is mounted about 15" above the cutter. When it is turned on you set the beam say 1/8" or 1/4" or whatever thickness you want from the edge of the cutter. If I want 1/4" walls on my HF's I use a white business card and hold it under the cutter. I set the beam so it is 1/4" away from the tip. When cutting on the inside when the beam falls off the edge of the HF you are at 1/4". Here is a pic's of the laser mounted above my cutting arm.

To add to Bernie point, it also tells you where you are in the piece. It's really easy to get lost in some of the bigger forms!

[Tim Rinehart]

Here is what I used:
Laser and battery pack...
Digi-Key (www.digikey.com (http://www.digikey.com))
Laser- P/N : VLM-650-03-LPT-ND (~$ 10.00)
Battery Holder with Switch-
P/N : SBH-321AS-ND (< $ 2.00)

I got this info a while ago and can't remember who posted it. Cheap and easy... works great.

Cheers!
Jon

I'd recognize those part numbers anywhere!
I will suggest one thing that will extend the life of the laser diodes from Digi-key...and I think it was David D who pointed this out for keeping the wires in tact, but also helps keep dust out...apply a small amount of epoxy to pot the end of the laser diode body, just enough to seal the opening and the wires on the board, but not enough to get down to the emitter.
I've been using mine for a couple years now and haven't had one fail me yet. Nice thing about these, is they are so small (about 1/4" diam x 5/8" long), you can mount them in a very modest holder to keep overhung weight down, and subsequent bouncing of your laser holder arm.

[Brian Kent]

Wow. Looks good.

[Bill Bolen]

I bought mine from Stan at Elboe tools. Inexpensive and works quite well. My rig is also homemade and the rig comes with a clamp that allows you to simply clamp onto the 1" square bar the hollowing system uses.

[Steve Harder]

search ebay for red laser module - usually $5 with shipping - and then any cheap walwart 3v power supply

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Mine is from Advanced lathe tools, it has the laser mounted into a square tube. I really like having the laser mounted in a square tube rather than a round tube. This makes it much more accurate.

[Ken Glass]

Mine came with my Monster Rig from Randy. A Laser has saved me from ruining a HF more than once. A great addition to deep hollowing or any hollowing project.

[Steve Campbell]

223954223955

Allen here is my cheap laser. It is nothing more than a couple steel bars connected by hard maple blocks. The laser is a cheap one from the check out counter at Walmart. The laser is mounted to the wood block by a real high tech tape. There is a rubber band that holds the bottom of the laser. Just slide the rubber up a little and it holds the switch in the on position. hard maple will hold drilled and taped bolts fairly well.

Hope this helps.

Steve