I am very much like you, I like the creation of stuff. I took the plunge a few years back. I screwed up a wad of cash and threw it at a lathe. Then spent lots of time learning hands on and internet searching. I even asked here on blf .
Machining is a wide subject with lots to learn and there is usually more than one way to achieve something. There are numerous other guys here on blf with lathes and even 1-2 with CNC machines. I am just a hobbyist.
I guess you could think of it as a beefed up Q8, though this reflector might have a bit more throw. Thanks mate
The reflector is bigger than srk. It’s from kaidomain and the lens is from banggood . I’m glad I stepped up in lathe size. This one suits me better Thanks mate
Milling out a flat spot for the switch was a challenge.
It looks good in the pics above but in reality I didn’t have the setup done perfect and didn’t realize because I couldn’t see well enough. The next 2 pics are the actual view angles I had.
As a result the milling was not central. I don’t think the part slipped (which was possible because of the way I set it up) , I think it was the initial alignment of the setup.
I tried to make it right but again I couldn’t see much so it’s still not perfect I moved onto cutting out a hole for the switch. That also didn’t turn out as good as I hoped. I went a fraction too deep and cut into the internal threads This is not such a big deal since it will be covered but I still didn’t like making the mistake. People make mistakes but when they come one after the other…
I didn’t fit the switch assembly until I was pretty much done with the rest of it. When I did fit it… yup I had issue with it
This looks amazing. Please consider making more and selling for profit if it’s successful. Btw the Imalent DX80 and the Olight X9R can sustain those lumens and are not actively cooled. But they are much larger.
Thanks for the positive comment though. For some reason I thought both of those lights were actively cooled. However they do both have thermal ramping. I wonder what lumens they can actually hold after thermal has kicked in?
One of the requests was a tripod moutning point. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this as I figured I would be machining it from scratch (denoted by the green plate at the base of the 3D pic in OP ). After some head scratching I got an idea. I have a couple of gopro style action cams. They come with more accessories than I need /use. I picked out the one with the deepest hole. In the new host it is a press fit with some epoxy to help hold it.
With the head pretty much finished I pressed the switch into place but had to remove it because it seized up when i pressed it in. The switch is made of titanium but the tolerances between the 2 parts were tight enough that the pressure of being pressed into the aluminium compressed the outer ring and gripped the button. It took me ages to work out which part was actually rubbing and I fitted and refitted too many times. Needless to say it was a real PITA
Centering rings. As noted above i don’t have the size needed and figured it would be faster to make some than wait for a delivery which would be a minimum 2 weeks.
This resin was not strong enough
This plastic was not heat resistant enough
I didn’t get many pictures but this circiut board was mounted to the lathe with double sided tape which wasn’t up to the task.
I tried a piece of carbon rod but the direction the fibre runs makes it very weak for this application. To the point it could not be machined.
I made a bar of 2 part epoxy putty. I was able to shape this stuff but it feels kinda fragile.
Not satisfied I revisited the circiut board idea with a better way to mount it. I had to trim the screw head to get the shape i needed on the board.
I’ll send David both sets. They’re not pretty but they’re functional