1st laser build, help and advice.

Hi I'm looking in to building my 1st laser, mainly because I want to repent for my sin of having an Artic, but also because I fancy the challenge.
I have a host (on its way) and that's a wf-501b.
The things I'd like to achieve is the usual laser stuff, burn matches, pop balloons etc.
Also I would like to stick to using one 18650 battery, as I know this is what my host will take and it's what I have a lot of (12 so far).
I know a guy with a lathe who can make a heat sink, but any other places to get one can be considered.
The things I am not sure on are where to get a decent red diode. I have a stack of dvd burners so harvesting one should not be a problem. The thing that confuses me is what type of driver to use (ie what current to put through it without burning it out).
My other idea was to simply buy a new one with known values. Any advice on this front would be gratefully received.
If there are any parts crucial to my build that I have forgotten please advice on those too. I'd be gutted if i got down to my build and had one part missing and had to wait weeks more for it to arrive lol.