[WITHDRAWN] tekwyzrd's entry for the 5th annual blf/old lumens scratch made light contest (handmade)

Due to lack of funds to complete I find much to my dismay I must withdraw. My friend and neighbor of 25+ years is still in MI being treated in an attempt to repair damage done by the Cleveland Clinic to treat colon cancer. For the last 3 months we’ve been sending funds to pay for her stay at a hotel near the hospital and a bit over a month ago new ownership caused the per-night cost to more than double. At $525/week I have to sacrifice something to keep providing support. These sacrifices includes this competition. Last year my entry was hindered by providing tpn bags medicare wouldn’t cover. Had we not, she wouldn’t be here. My conscience won’t allow me to ignore or stand idle as she suffers.

The Eleventy ’leven giveaway will happen as planned.

handmade light
alpha development designation: RPG-90

R = Recycling
P = Photon
G = Generator

90 = current estimate of diameter.

Final designation will be determined by lenses used. Current plan is for a 85mm final lens (scheduled for delivery tomorrow with the precollimator). Yes, it will be a multi-lens ‘zoomie’ using a wavien-like reflector.

reserved for build post links

looking forward to your build

+1 on that. Congrats on being the first starter. It sounds like its going to be a real blast. :slight_smile:

“RPG-90” huh? :smiley:

I know someone who could point your build in the right direction….

Parts list post. This will be updated periodically as the components are received or changes are made.

Reflector: 74mm HID xenon reflector. The opening will require adjustment to the correct angle so I will be ordering a spare. The shape is mostly hemispherical but with the sides flattened. The curvature covers the critical angle range for recycling. I have one on-hand and have gotten pretty good at trimming reflectors (thanks in part to an excellent high-carbon hook-bill knife blade - a Don Carlos 4379 made in Solingen) but to be prepared for any mishaps I am awaiting delivery of a matching reflector from the same seller. The finish is excellent with no apparent flaws. Photo is from seller’s listing.

emitter: Shaved MT-G2. Two ordered, awaiting delivery. I’ve never shaved a dome before so I’m hoping one will turn out ok. Also awaiting delivery of some Polsilver double edge and Hyde single edge blades. I’ll compare their cutting on a hot melt glue stick and use the one providing the best results to cut the dome.

driver: spare D01 driver from Lexel’s second batch. It will be modded to 2s. Not enough time for a design and firmware from scratch. Maybe one day I’ll build a driver and firmware combining the selectable current from the ld series, ramping adjustable levels from the lucidrv, ramping and bi-directional level switching and thermal step down from narsil, and an ability to switch between input voltages and higher/lower vf emitters using jumpers. That will require a refresher on circuit design that would take longer than available for the contest but fortunately I did find my notebook with all of the materials from the 35H (metrology) course. Maybe next year the challenge for me will be the driver/firmware.

body: a method never used before that will minimize cost and time

I see your going for a practical EDC Light.

If your idea of edc involves carrying a light that weighs several pounds then yes. :smiley:

:+1:

Several pounds? Yeah, hang it on your belt, right next to the BLF GT! :stuck_out_tongue:

Currently waiting for delivery of an additional reflector and lenses from another member. Still debating the emitter. Conventional logic is the smallest die but I want to do something different and am seriously considering a mt-g2 to produce something more useful than a pincil point beam at long range. In a single lens light such an idea might be foolish but with multiple lenses and recycling…

part of post deleted - after thinking about it I decided it was inappropriate

Theres nothing wrong building a light around the MTG2.

All the best looking after your mate. Its a cruel horrible disease.

Ordered another lens from surplusshed that may or may not be used for this project. If not, it might work well for a S2 or similar as an aspheric or zoomie. PCX 19.8mm with a 17mm fl which results in a f number of .85858585858586 rounded at 15 decimal places. If I use a calculator with even higher accuracy I suspect the string of 85 will continue. I wonder what this lens was originally intended for.

I received the spare reflector today and am extremely disappointed. Unlike the previous this one’s inner surface is hazy with obvious rings. A total disappointment and I will be contacting the seller to express this.

Still waiting for mt-g2s from intl-outdoor. Paid for tracking number but it was not provided and no reply to email asking for it.

85mm 78mm fl lens from surplusshed had a big shell (a bit over 1/2”) at the edge and included a note ‘if you can’t use it let me know’. I’ve been debating this and though the beam won’t hit this point it’s still disappointing to buy a lens and find after delivery it was damaged but they sent it rather than contacting me to describe the problem or offering a discount - $16.50 shipped is a bit much for a damaged lens. Hoping the 19.8mm 17mm fl lens will be ok.

Sorry to hear about the bad reflector. :frowning:

Looking at the reflector again today it’s not bad after all. I’m trying to understand why it looked so bad yesterday but today with the exception of a couple of flecks of dust or other debris it looks nice and smooth. The only thing I can think of is yesterday I didn’t remove it from the plastic wrapping and might have been seeing light through the wrapping in the reflector.

Thats terrific news tekwyzrd. Onward the build goes. :slight_smile:

The 19.8mm 17mm fl lens was delivered today. Still waiting for the emitters. When they arrive I will shave the dome on one and start testing the reflector and lens combinations.

Progress delayed awaiting torx head set for dis-assembly of hard drives to be used as source material.

Torx set received and I disassembled a few drives. On my second attempt I was able to solder a lap joint between two hard drive platters using 73-27 paste solder to create a surprisingly strong joint. I plan another test with lead free solder. Thanks to this my concept has changed and will use a group of platters from now past their prime hard drives for cooling fins. Scrapping covers, housings, and boards will provide funds needed for additional materials like copper tubing and additional solder. Photos coming soon.