Camera Laser Pointer

Another year, another Cruftmas. I continue to make decorative versions of cameras when I still have hardly any idea how they work.

This one is modeled after the Canon EOS Rebel DSLRs, but quickly devolved into a more boxy shape as time ran out. The original plan was to make this a tiny keychain using a dead laser casing, but then Peter (MITERS) pulled a tiny red laser from his coat pocket. So now it's a tiny camera laser pointer!

Turns out that the dead laser diode casing is made from brass, so I grab some brass stock (and a brass pen!) and sketch everything out. The diode casing still has both screw-close halves, so I can make it imitate a zooming camera lens.

Top and bottom half faced. Below I wrote out my intended order of pocket operations.

Stuffing everything inside, with gratuitous amounts of insulating masking tape and hot glue..

Kinda closes... there's a .1" gap between the top and bottom halves when closed, because otherwise pressure from the hot glue lumps would turn on the laser. A lock-nutted 2-56 screw serves as the real laser button.

Pressing the shutter turns on the laser!