CO2 Laser on a Budget?
Some people don’t ask for much: “I would like to construct a cheap CO2 laser that doesn’t require special components and glass blowing skills.” For those of us who are experienced scroungers and improvisors, the estimates given below are probably way excessive. However, where this is not the case, expect to spend a few bucks. Of course, that estimate of $100 might have been in 1971 dollars! The problem is that there are such a wide variation in what it will cost to obtain things like vacuum pumps that it is hard to put prices on a completed laser. Depending on your resourcefulness, scavenger ability, and luck, it could be less than $100 but it could also be a lot more. But, if you haven’t anything set up now, there will be serious additional overhead. An adequate vacuum pump could easily blow the budget right there. (From: Mark Wilson (wilson_mark@htc.honeywell.com).) I have built several lasers in my life including a CO2 laser. That is how I first got into glassblowing, building laser
