compareeHub

YOU CAN BUILD A LASER YOU TUNE TO ANY COLOUR OUT OF TIN FOIL AND HIGHLIGHTER INK

A laser that changes colour when you turn a screw, pumped by 40,000 volts and household dyes.

by The Thought Emporium

FULL CAD BOM FIRMWARE DOCS

WorkshopScience

difficulty
●●●●●
time
a weekend-plus
license
GPL-3.0
repo
repo ACTIVE16 stars

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

  • 3D printer + filament — printable parts — files are in the repo

Partner

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Videos
1

COMPAREE VERDICT

This is a tunable dye laser built on a workbench, and it is exactly as hard as that sounds. The output is real — fluorescein from a highlighter pen lases yellow-green, rhodamine gives you pink, coumarin gives you blue, and a screw on the diffraction grating mount walks you across the range. The pump is a homemade TEA nitrogen laser: aluminium foil as capacitor plates, a doorknob capacitor, a pressurised spark gap, and a ZVS driver running at about 40,000 volts. The published files are eight STL parts for the optics and the cuvette holder. Everything else — the dimensions of the nitrogen laser, the high voltage supply, the spark gap pressure, the dye concentrations — lives in a 30-minute YouTube video, and you will be pausing and measuring. There is no bill of materials. The maker is candid about the danger: these voltages are lethal, and if you do not already know what a TEA laser is and why the spark gap has to be pressurised, this project will kill you. It is not a figure of speech. If you have built pulsed nitrogen lasers before, or you work in a university optics lab and this is a known quantity, the files will save you a CAD afternoon. If you are coming in cold because the reel looked cool, this is not the project. The one thing most likely to go wrong is touching a charged capacitor and not living to regret it.

NOT IN THE REPO

  • —Eight STL files for the optics mounts and dye cell are on GitHub under GPL-3.0, no restrictions on commercial use.
  • —There is no bill of materials. The nitrogen laser pump, high voltage supply, spark gap, capacitors and ZVS driver are described in the video only.
  • —No dimensional drawings or circuit schematics are published. You will be reverse-engineering from video timestamps.
  • —The dyes are named (fluorescein, rhodamine 6G, 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin, rhodamine B) but no vendor links or concentrations are given.
  • —The maker states repeatedly: the voltages involved are lethal. This is not a weekend electronics project with a safety footnote; it is a high voltage build where one mistake kills you.
  • —This is a demonstration build, not a kit. You are expected to know what a TEA nitrogen laser is and how a diffraction grating selects wavelength before you start.

Can I build this?

PrintEight parts: cuvette holder, cuvette insert, microscope slide jig, two mirror mounts, mirror slider, two swing mounts for the lens.
BuyDiffraction grating, laser mirrors, nitrogen laser optics, ZVS driver, high voltage components for 40kV supply, aluminium plate, aluminium foil, doorknob capacitor, spark gap hardware, pressurised nitrogen or air source, cuvettes, solvents (ethanol or methanol), dyes (fluorescein, rhodamine 6G, 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin, rhodamine B). No vendor links or part numbers are provided.
Tools3D printer, drill press or mill for the aluminium base plate, high voltage test equipment, laser safety goggles rated for the dye wavelengths, fume extraction, and the confidence to work around voltages that will stop your heart.
SkillsExpert. You need to understand pulsed nitrogen lasers, high voltage safety, optical cavity alignment, and diffraction grating tuning. If you have never built a TEA laser or worked with 40kV circuits, this is not your entry point.
TimeA weekend if you have built nitrogen lasers before and are ordering known parts. A month if you are learning as you go and reverse-engineering dimensions from the video.
Cost$$$. The diffraction grating, laser mirrors, and high voltage components will run you several hundred dollars. Dyes are cheap if you buy small quantities, but the supporting equipment is not. No hard currency figure is given because it depends entirely on what you already own.
SafetyLethal mains voltage and 40,000-volt capacitors. One mistake kills you. Pressurised spark gaps can explode if mishandled. Dye solvents are flammable. You need laser safety goggles rated for every wavelength the dyes emit, and you need to treat this as a high voltage lab build, not a weekend hobby.

Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.

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Videos

The nitrogen laser dimensions, high voltage supply, spark gap setup and dye concentrations are explained here. You will need to pause repeatedly and take notes.

Gallery

Start here

Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.

  1. 1.Watch the full YouTube video and take notes on the nitrogen laser dimensions, high voltage supply, and spark gap setup. The repository has no written documentation. (This is not optional. The video is the manual.)
  2. 2.Print the eight STL files from the repository: cuvette holder, insert, jig, two mirror mounts, slider, two swing mounts. (These are the only published mechanical files. Everything else you reverse-engineer.)
  3. 3.Source the diffraction grating, laser mirrors, and high voltage components. No part numbers or vendors are given. You are expected to know what to buy.(If you do not know what a TEA laser requires, stop here.)
  4. 4.Build the nitrogen laser pump first and test it in isolation before you add the dye cell. Do not charge capacitors until you have verified every connection.(High voltage test equipment is not optional. One mistake is fatal.)

Resources

Documentation, files and community threads for this build — we link straight to the original sources and never rehost the creator’s files.

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KNOWN ISSUES

  • The repository has no bill of materials, no circuit schematics, and no written build guide. If you were expecting a parts list and assembly instructions, they do not exist.
  • The voltages involved are lethal. The maker states this repeatedly. If you have never worked with high voltage before, this is not the project to learn on.
  • The nitrogen laser dimensions are in the video only, and you will be pausing and measuring from footage. If you need a dimensional drawing, you will be making it yourself.
  • Dye concentrations and solvents are not specified. You are expected to know typical fluorescein and rhodamine concentrations for laser applications.
  • The diffraction grating alignment is finicky. If you have never tuned a dye laser before, expect to spend an afternoon on it even after the optics are aligned.
  • The spark gap has to be pressurised. If you do not know why, or you skip that step, the nitrogen laser will not fire reliably.

Can I buy a nitrogen laser instead of building one?

Yes, but they are expensive and this project assumes you are making your own. The published files are for the dye laser optics and cell only.

How much does it cost to build?

No verified total is available. The diffraction grating, mirrors and high voltage components will run several hundred dollars. Dyes are cheap, but the supporting equipment is not.

Is there a step-by-step build guide?

No. The video explains the theory and shows the build, but you are expected to reverse-engineer dimensions and part selections yourself.

What safety equipment do I actually need?

Laser safety goggles rated for the dye wavelengths, high voltage test equipment, fume extraction for the solvents, and a workspace where a mistake will not kill someone else. This is not a kitchen-table build.

Community builds

No community builds yet — be the first, we feature the best ones.

Discussion1

FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM

Forty thousand volts, homemade capacitors, and a screw that sweeps the colour range — and the maker says plainly: one mistake is lethal. If you have built TEA lasers before, what was the hardest part to get right?

CompareeTEAM1h agoedited

Verification notes: the repository has eight STL files and a one-line README pointing to the video. There is no bill of materials, no circuit diagram, and no written build guide. The video is 30 minutes long and covers the nitrogen laser construction, high voltage supply, spark gap setup and dye selection, but you will be pausing and taking notes because there are no published schematics. The maker is explicit about the danger — this is one of the few projects where 'lethal' is not an exaggeration. If you have never worked with high voltage or built a pulsed nitrogen laser, this is not the weekend project the reel makes it look like. If you have, the STLs will save you a CAD session, and the video is a solid walkthrough of the theory.

The Thought Emporium

A YouTube channel known for ambitious DIY science builds, including gene editing, cell culture, and optics projects. The dye laser video is part of a series on homemade lasers.

GitHub

Star the project on GitHub

DISCLAIMER

  • Comparee is not the author of the projects featured here. All rights to each project belong to its creator — every page links to the original source, and we never host creators’ files.
  • Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
  • Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
GitHub repo