Homemade Laser

I have been playing around recently with the idea of creating a handheld laser that can actually do damage. Ex. popping balloons, igniting things, amazing people in general. I currently have the laser diode which I harvested from a cheap DVD burner, a laser diode housing, a threaded collimating lens, the associated heatsink for the diode, the 10-15mW laser diode that came with the assembly, and a battery housing for the completed construction along with basic schematics for wiring. In fact, the majority of this project was derived from the linked-to website. What remain to be purchased are the project box and switch and possibly a diode to help regulate power. Current images are below: