Nitrogen laser you can make from household scraps..

These are the pictures from the "Scientific American" article by C. L. Stong for June 1974, pages 122-127. The pictures are really all you need, but if you want the text, well, you'll have to ask your librarian! Not shown in the pictures are the microscope slides cemented over the holes in the end plates. Moving the spark gap to the rear outside corner of the assembly and replacing the rear slide with a first surface mirror increases the power output.

N2 laser part 1

N2 laser part 2

N2 laser part 3

N2 laser part 4

N2 laser part 5

N2 laser part 6

N2 laser part 7