FW3A, a TLF/BLF EDC flashlight - SST-20 available, coupon codes public

Aah, that makes sense.

I’m not really fazed about the colour. So long as it insulates the sleeve where it’s supposed to. The pictured light must be proto 3 ?

I’m very happy that we’re getting some communication now.

Amen!! :+1:

Thank you TK for picking up the communication sharing roll on this ‘Group Buy’!!

I can only imagine how difficult that has been for you since you were virtually receiving no information to share with us until recently.

Your efforts are noted & appreciated.

For without your efforts I imagine most of us mortals would be completely ‘in the dark’ concerning the FW3A.

Hopefully there is a cold blue steel tone to the original, similar to what is seen on my old Nokia 830 dumb phone.
If so, would some call it ‘gun metal’ ?

Did they mention whether the dark lines/overlap are now gone or perhaps hidden? If so, I’d call it a successfull compromise and move forward.

Well, it’s still a nice looker, despite it not being clear or light grey dyed.

Right you are Jerommel, it IS a nice looking light, just not the light we signed up for in the beginning.

IMO other than the electronic switch I honestly don’t see watt all the hoopla is about this flash vs watts already out there.

Outwardly IMO it’s an average design with essentially a TI patina. Ok. Woo hoo.

Now if it had a rotary mechanical sideswitch dimmer that was hidden behind a sliding cover that could give me some “hardness”. Or if heads with different led configurations were swappable by just unscrewing then yeah definely woo hoo. Basically a glorified P60. Or magnetic charging, woo hoo.

For this amount of effort and angst I almost expect Bluetooth, a wireless remote, and a camera. Oh, and of course a talking free battery. :laughing:

Ya know watt? I guess I’m prolly unenLIGHTened.

Yeah, its a big deal to me.

Ok I can see that. For me though I’m just kinda too old KISS fashioned on certain things.

To wit, a good precise uber reliable momentary switch (forward clicky) IS my electronic switch. :laughing:

Man, I’m dating myself. Wait that doesn’t sound right. :open_mouth:

What a wonderful offer tatasal! I can’t accept it though, you hold onto that beauty and enjoy it please.

PM sent….

Nottawhackjob, the size and the firmware are elite for an edc. That is what does it for me. I suppose you are correct in that it is not a giant leap ahead, because of the Emisar, which is similar in some ways. I like them both, but have been holding off, waiting for this one.

The more I look at this the nicer this looks. I like the quad better than triple. Perhaps Lumintop should make a FW4A since there isn’t a rear clicky quad in existence and it will be more efficient. Perhaps use 21700 batteries instead of 18650.

That would be great, after this one.

+1 :+1:

It’s alive …. and twitching!
I want one.

Thanks mate, now there is a copper version :wink:

Yes, lets not distract them :smiley:

+1 . :wink:

Prototype 3 was sent to Germany, unfortunately not to Toykeeper.

I wouldn’t call this a prototype, only anodisation samples to deside the color.

Good call. And thank you TK so much for confirming it with Neal.

Not sure why doing a nice anodise should be proving so tricky, isn’t that what anodisers should just know how to do, it’s their job after all ? Perhaps it’s to do with the alloy used. ISTR that it also took Convoy a while to develop their clear anodise to their satisfaction.

A clear anodise on a “raw” machined finish is also merciless in exposing the slightest defects in workmanship, when the machining marks are to be a design feature, not something to be covered up. Just handling the pieces, moving them around, keeping them almost surgically clean before processing, etc. needs care, individual bubble wrap etc. if you don’t want them dinged up, then a good hard anodise to then protect them. Unlikely to be real mil-spec HA3 stuff, but still something good, semi-hard.

It was probably unrealistic to hope for anything like that at this price-point.

Bead blast, a quick dunk in the tanks, then just chuck them all in a bin together is the production-engineering easy way out.

The solo artisan perfectionist, toiling at their lathe, can make things much more beautiful, and go from concept to execution in a few hours, but that doesn’t easily scale, as I think we are discovering.

Sitting behind a CAD screen, rendering, then perhaps coding for CNC (that’s usually a different, more practical, and dare I say more skilled discipline), is not quite the same thing as making swarf, and sometimes pieces don’t turn out quite the way it was hoped, or are simply un-manufacturable, and another iteration is required, and things can become delayed interminably. The skill is not to let that happen. And to use a team to review, accept constructive criticism, involve the production people as early as possible, and not just live in an ivory tower.

It looks as if they have got a nice looking bland result.

For those interested, you could take a look at e.g http://www.metroplating.co.uk and study their “services” options. Each provides a succinct summary of each process. Specialist finishers like these are crucial to the UK’s manufacturing competitiveness, particularly in motorsport, aerospace and defence, and metroplating one of the best and most nimble IME. There are hundreds more though to choose from, just Google e.g. “anodising uk”.

Or have a go yourself. It’s not difficult. Research it, or just buy a kit from e.g. http://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/index.php?route=common/home or https://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/Anodising_Kits.html

Something for modders to experiment with, and a bit more creative than e.g. just baking your torches.

Start with something cheap, strip off the old with sodium hydroxide (e.g. some drain cleaners), maybe buff it up a bit, and get practicing. Some battery acid, inkjet printer ink, some sort of DC power supply, a cathode, some Al wire, and you’r good to go. Perhaps in time for the 2019 Old-Lumens challenge. Use titanium instead, and apply by brush, use masking, and you could make a really unique work of art.

They did not mention. I did ask though.

All I have is a couple of pictures, and the pictures don’t show any seams.