styropyro

penny laser progress

Added 2025-04-03 18:25:38 +0000 UTC

I apologize for the lack of updates but there has been a lot of progress on the penny laser project and I'm almost ready for the first test run! For the power supply, I'm using the same "pole pig" distribution transformer as from the macrowave video, and I'm going to attempt to switch the laser with the angle grinder based rotary spark gap that I used in my "overclocked plasma globe" project years ago. Since quenching the spark gap may be an issue, I decided on adding some resistance between the supply and spark gap, so I made some coiled liquid resistors based on copper sulfate to impede the charging supply a bit while the laser fires. Hopefully the spark gap idea works, but if not, I have some huge old soviet thyratrons I can try running in the circuit instead. More updates coming soon!