After waiting a while for a new diode to come in, I’ve finally completed my blu-ray laser. It burns beautifully and the beam is fairly visible in the dark. I try to limit the duty cycle to about 1min/1min. Blah blah blah blah… pics 
Edit: and a really quick orange beam:
One:
Seeing Randall Munroe’s comic for the MIT Class of 2013, I was inspired to create this meme.
Two:
I got my Blu-Ray diode and now my laser is finally working! Pics coming soon.
Three:
I went to test the power output of my lasers on Thursday, but the results were… well odd, to say the least.
I brought my 6 lasers with me: 1 50mW green pointer, a “5mW” green that was measured in October to be 55mW, an actual ~5mW green, a Blu-Ray driven at around 120-125mA, a $2 red pointer, and finally, my 300mW SKYlasers portable.
I started by testing the 55mW greenie. With a Scientech 362, the laser reported only around 20mW. This worried me, so I tried using a Scientech Astral calorimeter, also in the lab. Similar results.
That was perplexing, to say the least. I tried my 50mW pointer from LEDshoppe and got the same result. I then tried the 300mW SKYlasers laser and got only about 75-110mW.
Even my Blu-Ray, which, in theory should be lasing at around 80-90mW based on the current it is driven at, reported around 40-50mW.
The conclusion? Both meters were horribly inaccurate. Alone, the fact that a pointer that was rated in October to be 55mW was now reporting 20mW could suggest two things: the meter was in accurate or the diode was dying. However, there has been no appreciable drop in brightness or burning capability (yes, it can burn!). Furthermore, the fact that the Blu-Ray diode (without a lens, even) was reporting far less than it should be outputting given the current it is being driven at really is a strong indicator that these meters have been calibrated incorrectly.
I am currently talking with the original owner of these calorimeters to see what to do. I will also try to get access to other meters that are used more often. In the meantime, I apoligize for the delay.
Good news: I finally figured out how to squeeze the driver board and diode all into the heatsink without totally destroying everything like I did last time.
Bad news: I screwed up another diode.
It started with a perfect PHR extraction. For the first time, I actually got the PCB boards off of the diode with ease.
Then, I removed the metal heatsink surrounding the diode in the same way that I have always done: with two pairs of pliers. However, I think one pair slipped because when I turned the diode around, I saw one side of it slightly damaged and noticed the window had shattered. 
I decided to throw it into the module just for kicks. I found a clever way to assemble it (basically, I turned the driver so that the output pins were on the end nearest the battery and fed the wires from the diode under the driver).
To my surprise, the diode still lases, but only very weakly. Take look:
I finally finished the heatsink by using a milling machine to cut out a hole for the driver. I took the heatsink back to my dorm and fiddled with the module and the driver for a while until I managed to squeeze them all in. Then, I screwed the flashlight together, and it worked!… well, for about 30 seconds anyways… Unfortunately, there was a short or something and the diode died. So, I have to use yet another diode.
So, no awesome pics.
In other news, although I had made some progress a few months ago with making a blog theme to match my site, I have decided that I will modify the newest version of K2 instead. Thankfully, K2 is pretty customizable (supports custom themes and custom function overrides), so I have only needed to make small changes to the core theme (such as removing the page links). The current design is a start, but I have more planned.
Unfortunately, my original heatsink plans aren’t going to work out. DrLava claims that the driver is 12mmx12mm, but I discovered that it is really about 12.3mmx13.7mm. This actually makes a huge difference for the heatsink because it no longer will fit flush with the surface as I had originally planned. So, I created an alternate plan, detailed here:
I have also updated the schematic drawing.
The new design basically allows you to “slot-load” the driver. It should fit nicely. However, it will need some kind of spring thing on the end; I haven’t quite found something that will work yet. It would probably be a good idea to insulate the cavity as before.
I improved the heatsink a bit so that the AixiZ module would fit in completely. Then, I smothered the cavity with thermal grease and stuck the diode in. The results were spectacular.
Well, the heatsink is almost finished (I just need to do a little milling work), so here are two pics of the laser in action.
Unfortunately, these pictures are not of the same diode. The first diode installed fine, but its glass window partially shattered and then the whole diode died shortly afterwards. The second diode still seems to be holding up, though. The beam is visible from an almost-parallel angle, too, which is pretty cool.
Just a little more work and this project will be done.
So, I’m building two different types of Blu-Ray lasers. The first one is pretty simple. Here are my plans:
