Another almost finished project

This project actually started from practicing some knurling. You might be able the see in the first 1-2 pics just to the right of the knurling is a faint marking of knurling. One diagonal lined up but not the other. I fiddled around until I got it right and thought it looked so good I should keep going and make a complete light. I had issues with one of the knurling wheels not lining up again when I did the head. To correct it I marked one diagonal then wrapped the head with a little tape then knurled over the tape with the other wheel. Making this has been quite an experience and there are definitely things I will do in a different order or differently next time. I cheated with the bezel as it’s off a DQG26650. I could babble on about all the things I dislike about it but I suppose pics are more interesting…

I was hoping I could get away with keeping the tube/tail as a one piece but it’s a fraction short for my needs so I will need to make a tail cap. One day….

Is there a reason you machined the outside first en then the inside?
I would say inside first then outside would be easier?

Also is that ring around the drill to support it just a piece of random left over? (I.e. self made) never seen that before.

Nice pictures of a nice project. I think the shape is elegant, worth finishing at some point :slight_smile:

Nice work! I agree with djozz, it needs to be finished.

That is a fantastic effort working with Copper. For those that dont know copper is like butter and can be a real pain to machine.
Thanks for showing warts and all. :+1:

I’m not an expert but I always thought that DQG missed the boat on design when they knowingly made the light too short to accept a variety of cells. seems like flashlight mfg 101 to me.

ceo/marketing to engineering “make sure the (fill in the blank cell size here) fits 3 standard devations of (same fill in the balnk cell size) cell sizes.

Or am I not getting somthing?

When I started the tube I wasn’t intending on making a host. For the head, yes there are some things I would do differently next time.

The ring is to help reduce vibration until the drill bit gets started. I’m not sure I went about this the right way. As you might tell I’m still in the thick of this learning curve on how to use a lathe. Anyone with suggestions on betters ways are welcome.

Don’t worry. I didn’t come this far just to leave it, I do intend on finishing it. I was kinda referring to my other project which is still as yet unfinished.

Aaah, someone who understands :sunglasses: It’s been doubley hard working with copper AND making the screw ups from inexperience. I always appreciate your comments Moose.

Yep, you’re pretty much right. I think V3 could’ve easily accommodated this by having a little extra un-anodized thread at the tail. When I get a chance I’ll check what cells do fit in my V3. I don’t know if it was suggested to George already?

I managed to align the knurling tool and extend the knurling all the way on the battery tube. After doing so I bored the hole a little deeper and cut the tube to length. The inner base of the tube looks kinda ugly now. I also managed to mount the head in the lathe again and re-knurled the head as well but there is a strip near the bezel that I couldn’t reach (the knurling tool would crash with the chuck).

That looks so good pp. The knurling on the battery tube looks really nice. If you clean the head up with thinners and a wire brush being careful not to scratch the copper or something similar it will possibly look a lot better as well. :+1:

Yeah, that’s kinda how I got it to that point. Thinners and a tooth brush, of course, the thinners ate the tooth brush :person_facepalming: :laughing: . Was a bit of a pita but with a bit more clean-up I hope it comes up like the tube.

I bought three brushes like tooth brushes from the $2.00 shop. Same thing sold in SuperCheap and Repco for $15.00 to $25.00. Theres a nylon, copper, brass and I think stainless one. The stainless one works well on knurling.

Nice saves. If you didn’t think of things you’d do differently you weren’t learning. Half the pleasure is figuring stuff out and seeing positive results.

Working with copper is never easy. Nice work, pinkpanda3310!

Hi, it looks really awesome! And the knurling is amazing.

Just a tip for working with copper, make sure the cutting tool is always wet with lubricant. You really have to drown it. You’ll need a lot of lubricant and the cheapest and best solution I found was rapeseed oil applied with a syringe. If you haven’t used lots of lubricant already, you should really try it! It’s a difference like day and night.

Cool, thanks for the tip :disguised_face:

Yeh, figuring stuff is good. I hope I can retain the info for next time I do similar things on the lathe.

Thanks freeme

Yeh, I have noticed how lube makes a difference. I’ll give rapeseed a go, thanks. I recently ran out of the stuff I’ve been using (Trefolex CDT) and used CRC since that’s what I had. I also have a bottle of Rocol RTD but I find it easier to use a spray so I can direct the oil where it’s needed. I can understand the use of a syringe for the same reason. Maybe one day I’ll set up a gravity drip feed and drip tray for the RTD.

Nice work.

Some copper is gummy and will grab the tool edge when drilling, same thing happens with acrylic plastics. i dull the cutting edge with a stone to solve this. Here are some additional tips for machining copper: copper tips

Dull bits and wax…!!??? Oh I will never get off this steep learning curve :person_facepalming:

I read some of the suggestions and balked at the milk suggestion :open_mouth: but hey, I might just try it one day :student:

The dulling of the tool bits only really come into play when using carbide inserts or carbide tipped tools. It won’t help with a HSS tool. And it’s not really dulling it so to speak just take a stone and barely break the sharp edge.

Thanks for explaining further bluechips :+1: I’m finding even the smallest of variables can change the way a piece will cut.