I didn’t take any pics during machining. It’s not finished yet but soon. I need to remake the bezel and finish installing the driver. Driver is this one Reflector and lens are stolen from an old uf2100. Led is xhp-70, hopefully the donut hole won’t be too bad because the reflector is op. Total length of the light is pretty long but otherwise I like the size.
….and the really funny part is…. I don’t even have a 21700 cell..!!!! 
Looks beautiful!
Is the body stainless steel?
If so, I don't know if that's a great idea using an XHP70...
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No it’s only aluminium. Thanks racoon
Hotrod Headlamp , Titanium Build , Hunting Light , 21700 Tube Light , Stripey mtg2 Light , UV Light , Colour V4A Light , Copper 26650 Light , Quad xhp35 Light , Finger Sizzler , Mechanical Mod Light
Okay, good.
Very classy looking.
[31 knives for sale=USA only] Minimum order size slashed!
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A shiny shiner
I have a 18650 and 26650 light and would like to try a 21700 as EDC. Looks like an ideal format.
Pity it’s long (how long is long) but the diameter is great. I like lights with a minimum diameter head and body.
Chargers: 1xBasen BD01 5/5,1xDodge Charger, LiitoKala: 3x100 4/5, 2x202 5/5, 1x402 3/5., MiBoxer C4-12 3/5
Flashlights: BLF Q8 4/5, Convoy BD04 5/5, DQG Tiny III, FiTorch MR35 3/5, Haikelite SC26 HD, Zebralight H600Fc 3/5.
Powerbanks: EasyAcc 26800 mAh 3/5, Xtar PB2 4/5
Waiting for: 21700 EDCs to hit the market.
A shiny shiner
I have a 18650 and 26650 light and would like to try a 21700 as EDC. Looks like an ideal format.
Pity it’s long (how long is long) but the diameter is great. I like lights with a minimum diameter head and body.
Chargers: 1xBasen BD01 5/5,1xDodge Charger, LiitoKala: 3x100 4/5, 2x202 5/5, 1x402 3/5., MiBoxer C4-12 3/5
Flashlights: BLF Q8 4/5, Convoy BD04 5/5, DQG Tiny III, FiTorch MR35 3/5, Haikelite SC26 HD, Zebralight H600Fc 3/5.
Powerbanks: EasyAcc 26800 mAh 3/5, Xtar PB2 4/5
Waiting for: 21700 EDCs to hit the market.
Nice one! Are you going to test it with 18650 or wait until you get a 21700? I’d like to see the beam shots!
Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone.
-Ayn Rand
Hotrod Headlamp , Titanium Build , Hunting Light , 21700 Tube Light , Stripey mtg2 Light , UV Light , Colour V4A Light , Copper 26650 Light , Quad xhp35 Light , Finger Sizzler , Mechanical Mod Light
In that shot, it looks a little like a SF (or BLF) 348.
Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone.
-Ayn Rand
Nice ! Now drill some tiny holes in the fins, you will be able to insert some tritium tubes ! Practical and awesome…
Very nice though
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Nice! And great to see someone building 21700 lights
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Very nice.
“I’d buy that for a dollar”
Chris
Nice job pinkpanda3310, time well spent. I would be interested in how the driver performs.
What can I say but Wow. That is some sweet machining. What pitch threads did you use and how is the driver held in?
My current and or voltage measurements are only relevent to anything that I measure.
Budget light hobby proudly sponsored by my Mastercard and unknowingly paid for by a hard working wife.
djozz said "it came with chinese lettering that is chinese to me".
old4570 said "I'm not an expert , so don't suffer from any such technical restrictions".
Old-Lumens. Highly admired and cherished member of Budget Light Forum. 11.5.2011 - 20.12.16. RIP.
Thanks guys
The thread is only 1mm. I previously said to myself that I’ll try larger threads but when I started this build I already had some tube to use for the body. I was thinking the smaller thread was probably better on the thin wall but now you made me think about it I could’ve used courser threads in a shallow square cut profile. That’ll be a lesson in itself (learning to cut square threads
).
At this stage the driver is planned to be a press fit. If that doesn’t work out there is enough space to cut some threads and use a retaining ring.
I might get time tonight or tomorrow to fit the driver and wire it up for testing.
Hotrod Headlamp , Titanium Build , Hunting Light , 21700 Tube Light , Stripey mtg2 Light , UV Light , Colour V4A Light , Copper 26650 Light , Quad xhp35 Light , Finger Sizzler , Mechanical Mod Light
My current and or voltage measurements are only relevent to anything that I measure.
Budget light hobby proudly sponsored by my Mastercard and unknowingly paid for by a hard working wife.
djozz said "it came with chinese lettering that is chinese to me".
old4570 said "I'm not an expert , so don't suffer from any such technical restrictions".
Old-Lumens. Highly admired and cherished member of Budget Light Forum. 11.5.2011 - 20.12.16. RIP.
I got this thing up and running today and time to celebrate it worked first go
The press fit driver seems to work fine.
Some quick beam shots with my phone. It did some auto correcting as indicated by the fading sky in the background. The beam does have a donut hole but only if you’re looking for it. Pics from low to high
I like the mode spacings too. The pics above indicate they are close together but in person they more evenly spaced. I took some tail cap measurements with a 30Q. I think it measured just under 4v when I started the test. Just bare in mind my DMM is a cheapy
Very low – 0.01a
Low – 0.48a
Med – 2.05a
High – 6.70a
I noticed it got warm pretty quick so I did another highly scientific test
Ambient bench temperature was 27 celcius. Adding some black tape to the head increased the temp reading by about 3 degrees. The light already had some use so the starting temp is higher than ambient (I’m far too lazy/impatient to wait).
Starting temp – 31C
10 seconds – 36C
30 seconds – 44C
50 seconds – 52C
60 seconds – 56C
I’m not aware of the driver having turbo timer so this light is definitely not for muggle use
One other point that is a minor negative is the driver changes modes from off position. I’m not sure how to explain it properly but it’s like the opposite of next mode memory. If the light is on – 2 taps are needed to change to next mode. A quick double tap will put it in strobe. On the upside it does have mode memory.
Overall I’m pretty happy with it
Hotrod Headlamp , Titanium Build , Hunting Light , 21700 Tube Light , Stripey mtg2 Light , UV Light , Colour V4A Light , Copper 26650 Light , Quad xhp35 Light , Finger Sizzler , Mechanical Mod Light
What I have done a few times to get the driver a good ground connection is machine a thin ring of brass or cooper to press fit down in the heat sink. Cutting a small shelf for the driver to fit down in flush with the top of the ring. That way the driver can be soldered directly to the ring. Looks like you might have been tight on room but might still work if a little was filed off the driver ring. Maybe yours will work fine the way it is.
This is similar but it needs to be cooper or brass, I made this one out of delrin so that there wasn’t a connection back to ground besides the light tube contacting the driver ring, its a twisty light. Head has to be twisted all the way down to contact to turn on.
.
Takes a lot of work to make your own light, Great job!
So I guess this ones a keeper.
Whats next on the build list?
My current and or voltage measurements are only relevent to anything that I measure.
Budget light hobby proudly sponsored by my Mastercard and unknowingly paid for by a hard working wife.
djozz said "it came with chinese lettering that is chinese to me".
old4570 said "I'm not an expert , so don't suffer from any such technical restrictions".
Old-Lumens. Highly admired and cherished member of Budget Light Forum. 11.5.2011 - 20.12.16. RIP.
Lol, like many people on this forum there’s always something rattling around in my noggin. Don’t know which one will make it to fruition.
007 I considered a press fit retaining ring but thought it has limited benefits over the current set up. As it is the driver is a firm fit so ground contact is good. If I make a retaining ring I’ll definitely go for threaded.
Hotrod Headlamp , Titanium Build , Hunting Light , 21700 Tube Light , Stripey mtg2 Light , UV Light , Colour V4A Light , Copper 26650 Light , Quad xhp35 Light , Finger Sizzler , Mechanical Mod Light
The reason I mentioned it, is I have Had a few drivers that didn’t make good contact to ground. The light would flicker, not light up unless bumped or change modes on its own. The driver your using looks to have a way better ground ring than any I have used. It may work fine, but if you use something like a amc7135 105c driver it may give you problems. At least it’s a simple fix.