I suppose when building a laser, there are a few things you’re bound to not know. Electrical work, for instance. And maybe some soldering. With Radio Shack to the rescue, Jeff picked up this nifty little spinning LED wheel that, when connected and soldered correctly, makes the lights blink in a circle. 

Somewhere in the transition between raising hell in high school and graduating with honors from college, Jeff picked up an unquenchable need to put safety first. He’ll admit the mask is overkill, but when dealing with lead fumes, caution is king. And it’s the only mask he owns.

Lovely little solders.

With the LED spinner a success, he went on to the real deal. This is the brain of the laser attached to an Arduino Uno. Nerve wracking to DIY solder on a part that costs real money and has real consequences if done incorrectly. 

His next task was to understand the technical wiring diagrams associated with the laser. Doing his best to interpret, he built a layman’s guide (while the GeckoDrive Gecko looks on from under the monitor) to wiring a laser cutter and had it inspected by the rest of the Lasersaur group and electrical engineers who have done this kind of thing before. 

Approved and finished.

Now it’s just the waiting game for the rest of the parts to arrive.