Why Foybezel ?

Stainles Steel Ultrafire C1 defensive bezel ground down .. [ still needs cleaning up ] , but just for reference .

To the subject at hand ..

Why Foybezel ..

1st is obvious , not everyone wants a aggressive bezel , 2nd , they can be graby and damage pockets and clothing .

3rd , the larger bezels block output ... How much ?

Pictured is my Ultrafire L2 SST 50 , with the SS Bezel it did 520 OTF , less the bezel [ bezel removed and lens in place ] , it did 620 lumen .. A full 100L blocked ..

With the bezel moded [ FoyStyle ] output is 580 , a gain of some 60Lumen .

So if you want a flashlight thats going to be easier on your clothes , your eyes [ looks better ] , and gives you free Lumens [ more ] , then you may consider Foybezel .

Don't you like the shortened name Foyzel?

I agree those look way better than the original and have a nice set of new features as well. also the flashlight does look more sophisticated and "professional"...

If someone comes with a way of making those for cheap im in market for a dozen. For what solarforce charges for special edition slim ones is a robbery. A 10 pack should be no more than 10usd...

Following your good jobs lately. So you only sand these down ? How do you hold the bezel level? Secure the light in a vice and use the machine on it? I have a Dremel tool. Is there any chance I can do this by a Dremel multitool?

Could also buy something like 5 for some of my hosts if they were cheaper than SF ones.

I use a bench grinder myself , which is why mine is a little rough ..

But will clean it up ...

Does anyone here ever want bezels like the L2 comes with?

I had a thought yesterday, I suspect that the L2 isn't actually legal to carry in the UK with it's default bezel. While you could argue it's not for hitting people with, I suspect it would be considered a weapon if it were looked at.

I mostly use it with buffing wheels. I own a C1 with a very aggresive bezel. My question is this, How to make the grind even?

Foymakesafoybezeltutorial?

Hmm , I just grind slowly and by eye , rotating the bezel [ attached to body less lens - in case it gets scratched ] slowly and keeping things even by eye .

Stainless steel is hard , so accidents are hard ..

And Aluminum grinds poorly , so again hard to make mistakes ..

Rule no 1 , always go slowly .. If you want use some tape to create a grind line ..

Or just use a file , and then some wet and dry , and just go slowly ..

As far as the legal issues are concerned, well, that depends.

Just too many aspects; we could debate on that topic splendidly for hours, and yet not come to any substantial results. There had been discussions before, from the day on when someone thought it might be a good idea to use a 4D m@glite as a bludgeoning tool. It's still a torch, after all, a device primarily intended for providing illumination of dark areas, and not for hitting people.

I guess you'll be fine, though - just don't go bragging about how well that stock solarforce bezel is suited to mess up an opponent's face.

I sincerely hope no Hollywood production will ever show some flashlight combat in their action flics. Misguided folks will go out and stab each other with their weaponized flashlights - monkey see, monkey do. It has always been like that. I can imagine this could bring some restrictions of sorts to our hobby (torches, that is, not clubbing people).

I ground the bezel off a uniquefire s10. Its a good idea to remove everything inside first and have a glass of water handy. I used a bench mounted disc sander. It got hot and I melted the o'rings. yeah - I was sanding hard. It still needs some final polishing. Pic to come.

The L2 bezels are pretty easy to grind down and you are just grinding to below the bottom of the crenelation so those tell you if you've done one side more than another. It helps to have a big flat sanding surface like you would get with an orbital sander. I used a belt sander and it worked fine, but I had to smooth it out with a finer grit. I just held it in my hand while I did it which meant I wasn't going to crush the head in a vise or let it get too hot. I was surprised how fast it went, though not so fast that I worried about over doing it.

I 've never done that but i suspect the aluminium one should be fairly easy but the steel one would probably be much harder to do, right?

I don't think anybody here really wants spikes or aggressive crenelations, it just seems to be a little trick that Solarforce uses to get a few more dollars/euros out of you to buy the sane bezel. Thanks guys for acting in true BLF spirit and evading that little ploy! ;)

+1

I'm glad others see it that way too. For the price they ask should send you both bezels. If not, at least with the L2P.

I am humbled, really. Kind of funny how I was just messing around and now . . . And, like old said, some of those strike bezels can restrict output but that was not my original motivation. I own several Solarforce lights and when I was first getting into this I thought those strike bezels were the bomb. In fact, that's how I ended up with the two stainless units I began with; I ordered them, one from Solarforce and one from Lighthound. When I actually tried using my new hot-looking, weapon/bezel equipped flashlight at work as, you know, a flashlight, I found the only reason for buying/installing a high priced crenulated bezel was to take pictures and show off on flashlight forums.

Don't get me wrong; I have a couple of shelf queens and as we all know, I'm not above struttin' the bling. However, like Budgeteer and SB said, I have come to recognize the sharp, useless original Solarforce bezels for the gimmick they are and it's not just bezels and Solarforce is far from being the only manufacturer guilty of this. My recently reviewed Ultra Fire 503 came with a fluorescent o-ring behind the lens. Why? The same reason Solarforce ships thier fine product with a sharp, useless bezel. It embarrasses me to admit but, for a few seconds when I opened the package and saw that pretty ring glowing . . . well, not a big deal I guess.

As far as making money: never gonna happen. The ones I like best started as $5-$8 stainless crenulated bezels that subsequently took me about an hour to "modify." I'd have to charge $15-$20 US to make it worthwhile. How many are on-board at that price? I don't see the aluminum bezel that comes with say, an L2, sold separately and even though the softer metal takes only 15 minutes or so to do and as good as they turned out (if I do say so myself) they are hardly worth the required price to make selling them feasible.

I recommend not using something high speed and/or overly hard to do this mod. A grinder may speed things up but the heat might discolor stainless. It gets hot enough just using an orbital. My best success is when I sand them down on the orbital starting with 100 grit. Then lightly sanding (with the orbital) with 220 grit, very lightly. Then, and this is key I believe, I use padded 150 grit and spin the bezel without sliding/moving it in any other direction, just spinning. Finally, I repeat the spinning/sanding on 320 grit padded sand paper. I believe the padded sand paper makes the bezel outside edge look more finished/professional. With regular sand paper you get a sharp edge and it would be more difficult to to smooth it evenly. All this sanding/spinning is why I use an L2r; its long body is a perfect hand-hold. I end by lightly rotating the finished bezel on very fine steel wool. I tried this because of a suggestion from someone here and it works quite well. (can't remember who)

Sorry for the long post. I would do a video but I don't consider my appearance/voice to be camera friendly.

atleastmywifelovesmeFoy

So far I have managed to avoid the attack bezel issue by not buying any light that comes with such. I guess this strategy might be called the walletbezel, but I'm happy with my L2Ps and haven't felt the need for an L2i/r/?

I kind of like a GITD o-ring behind the lens. It makes more sense than a GITD tailcap which doesn't get any light (I've tried, I can't move the light fast enough!) and therefore won't glow unless maybe in a power outage, assuming your flashlight was in bright light before the power went out.

I think my favorite thing about the foybezel (not that foy invented grinding attack bezels down, just pointed it out to us again and showed that it could look good) is that it means we don't have to buy a separate bezel. Even the cheap $2.50 bezel adds 30% to the price of a L2i? 20% to a L2? And the cheap bezel doesn't actually protect the head of the light since it goes on the inside.

LOL!

GITD stuff is, very much like crenelated bezels, merely a fashion craze.

it's like zoomie pipes on a gasser drag car, or dual quads and 4.11s on Detroit iron.

Or an ACOG scope on a shotgun (yus, seen that in person!).

but, I don't even have a TV, I still dress like Steve McQueen or Telly Savalas did back in the day- and at one point or the other, we need to give in and get completely useless stuff, not just because it's fancy, but because we simply want it - for no other reason.

My friends are quite fond of the stock solarforce "weaponized" bezels, while I have ground down mine halfways. And already, I am thinking about grinding it down even further, to 1/3 of its original height. The bezels that come with the L2P seem to be just right - a design clue which will also allow you to monitor whether or not the light is turned on when placed bezel-down, still not tearing up pockets or posing any risk for haematoma, cuts or bruises. I think it's alright. Wouldn't blame anyone though for grinding it down. Those flashlights are blank canvas after all, ready to be personalized by YOU all, in every way YOU see fit!

Have fun,

the sixfink

Six is right; we don't have to justify our flashlight bling to noooobody. It's the one indulgence I can almost afford.

bringontheklingonbezelsFoy

6f - you got it! What does it matter what others think. If you like it that is plenty good enough. We aren't all the same, and our tastes vary a lot. If you like it - do it.