Cylindrical laser welder

Brass retainer rings are currently fastened to artillery shells by spinning each shell at a high rate and then jamming the ring on it so that it is fastened or welded by friction between the two objects. This is an energy-inefficient process which heats and weakens more material than is desirable. The shell spinning at a high rate is also potentially dangerous. A laser welder is provided that generates output energy focused on a circular or cylindrical shape for simultaneously welding around a 360 degs circumference without unnecessarily heating large amounts of material. The welder may be used to fasten cylindrical shaped objects, gears and shafts together, which is difficult to do by conventional means. The welder may also be used to fasten one cylinder to another. To accomplish the welding, a laser has an unstable optical cavity arranged with its feedback mirror centered to generate a circular output beam having an obscuration in the center. A circularly-symmetric, off-axis concave mirror focuses the output beam onto the objects being fastened and away from the center line or axis of the circular beam.