This is all HA III. I feel sorry for the folks that own the place. Super nice couple and do the best work I have ever had done. I guess the chiller unit was around $17K without being installed. Not a cheap fix. STUFF happens! TL
Wow. Must be a big unit. Are they all black?
True Type III Hard Anodize is always black.
Thanks TL. I did not realise that. :+1:
Or raw grey-brown
I have used these guy’s in the past, for my AR’s and weapon lights, top notch service, extremely professional, and they are local to my area. Look under Hard Coat Type III, they have a class 1&2 and color.
From your linked site…
“Hardcoat finishes are typically darker in appearance than standard anodizing depending on the coating, thickness and alloy. A variety of colors are available on thinner coatings. Heavier coatings can be dyed black and some darker shades of color.”
Military spec Type III Hardcoat is always in the thick anodize and this is always black. I did a lot of research on anodizing when I did some of my own parts and the explanation I gleaned had to do with the size of the honeycomb shaped tubes in the anodize layer and the drop size of the dye itself. Black is the smallest drop size, colors are larger drop size and won’t fit in the anodize tube on true military spec type III hard coat. The site that explained all this stated quite clearly that if it’s color it’s not milspec typeIII.
Don’t anyone place bets on my being 100% correct.
Must have missed where Type III HA Mil-Spec was specified? :person_facepalming:
I’m assuming, Scott, as Dan is producing these in large part for LEO and Fire and Rescue teams. Seems like Mil Spec Type III is 43microns thick or more? Not sure about that, me and memory regarding numbers can be a tricky thing.
I know that the Eagle Eye X6 has a remarkable finish on it, putting one of these in the lathe and cutting through the ano with a carbide bit produces smoke for a bit before it finally gives, you can hear the hard coat resisting the carbide in a scratching screeching protest.
That made me wonder how hard anodised aluminium - aluminium oxide, also known as corundum - actually is.
I’ve just discovered that various carbides are similarly hard to or only slightly harder than corundum (Wikipedia ). Wow. No wonder a carbide bit has to work at cutting the stuff.
On a related note, silicon carbide is also known as carborundum, which is close enough to corundum to do my head in when trying to remember which is which…
What a conundrum, remembering carborundum vs corundum.
We do a black black black. My guy tells me he can to a darkish gray in HA III but he explains as well that it is not as hard as it should be. The honeycomb that Dale explains seems to be correct from what I have experienced. I used to do my own anodizing but it is just too much of a process to suit me. Goes on forever!!! Wash, rinse, wash, de-smut, rinse…. GEEEEZE! I gave my entire setup to a gent that needed work. He did my work for years until he retired from it all. I miss that guy!
Thanks KawiBoy for the link. I’ll give it a look. Much appreciated.
Back at it here. Thanks to all. TL
Mine is on the truck for delivery today…can’t wait!!
dj, check it out… a moon so low on the SBT-70 that it doesn’t register in my light box. It won’t even reach the floor from chest high in the dark.
I think Nitro’s cousin, Lights-Out, may still have some of these left at a great price. 
She is gorgeous…that’s for sure but it takes so many amps to drive it to a decent output. That perfectly round die is fantastic though. I’ve never built a SBT-70 light…is it a 3v or 6v led?
What light do you have it in and what driver are you using that’s got it at such a low moonlight?
I put it in an early Sinner Ti 18650. Used a Qlite with 4 extra chips and Biscotti firmware. It’s a 3V emitter. Everybody thinks that because it’s so large it’s a 6V but it’s not, just 3V and with a low Vf at that.
Pulled the Qlite and built an A17DD-S08 utilizing the same ATTiny13A and with a PSMN 1R5-25Y FET, it now does 2 lumens on moon and 1256 on high. Pulls 11.75A from a 30Q. Couldn’t resist.
Gonna have to look at things for my full copper light from TL…
I’ll see if he has some more…I did order extra drop ins. What mcpcb do you use?
Noctigon for MT-G2.
The color is sort of between a high cri Nichia and a Cree 3D. Pretty smooth.
Wow, the machining on this host is exquisite!! If you didn’t know there was an actual tailcap on the light, you’d never think to unscrew it as there is no separation line between the body and tailcap. Thank you for the great host! I also purchased the copper triple shell to go with it…built a triple XP-L2 5000k with it.
Before build & polishing
After build & polishing
