…okay, copypasting my commentary from the other thread that now seems to be dead…
Such diode array is good for pumping a laser crystal; it is routinely done for DPSS lasers.
However, parallel beams, even if focused with a lens to one dot, won’t really cut it. A better way would be using a proper beam combining technique.
http://www.rp-photonics.com/beam_combining.html11
Another possibility is getting a neodymium crystal and making a 1064nm Nd:YAG laser (optionally frequency doubled to 532 nm). For bonus points, it could be pulsed and Q-switched for way more oomph per pulse (less energy but more power, sometimes the tradeoff is worth it). Go for inorganic-glass q-switch if you can, the organic dye based ones degrade.
Yet another possibility, but requiring more power, is using a 40-watt CO2 laser tube built in a rifle body. Airplane model grade batteries can give hundreds of amps for the DC-DC converter for the tube (the 40 watts of the tube is quoted as the laser power, not as the power consumption).
Final verdict: pretty, cool, will brighten your day, should be redesigned from scratch into something way better.
