The project illustrates a DVD burner turned into a high-powered laser with a visible red at about 650nm and a peak output measured at 225mW. The device can be used to light up matches, pop balloons, ...

[Jens] decided he wanted to try building his own laser cutter to see just how much you can actually cut with a fairly low power 300mW laser diode. He was inspired by a similar project from earlier ...