I started off with this: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/aurora-k2u-cree-r2-wc-ha-iii-250-lumen-led-flashlight-2-cr123a-1-18650-22570
It has many advantages as a host for an aspheric thrower. It has a slightly larger head than a P60 and it has a fixed pill. So more throw potential, not reflector required to be used as a space and with the screw-in pill it has better heat transfer.
It also already has a XR-E R2 driven at 1A (1.5A would be better and easy enough for those of you with soldering skills). It also already has a forward clickie (although a little musky) and it’s one mode.
It’s also pretty well made and doesn’t have a lot of unnecessary fins, oversized tail caps, etc.
Next I sacrified my Smallsun zoom:http://www.dealextreme.com/p/smallsun-zy-c10-s-cree-q5-wc-230lm-3-mode-focus-adjustable-white-led-flashlight-1-x-18650-108290
The Smallsun is a nice looking zoom and it has the best aspheric beam in throw mode of the aspherics I’ve played around with but it’s a zoom and I’m not really into those. However it’s cheap so I’m using it for its lens, bezel and tail cap.
I already had an extra forward clicky (Rominsen from Shiningbeam).
The tail cap on the Aurora is smaller (better) but the forward clicky is a little musky. I’ll probably stay with that due to the smaller size but I also noticed that the Smallsun tailcap fits as well so I converted that tailcap to a forward clicky so now I have a choice of two tailcaps.
The main use for the Smallsun parts is that all you have to do to convert the Aurora to an aspheric is to take out the reflector, put the Sumallsun aspheric on the head (remove the Aurora bezel…not needed) and then use the Smallsun bezel.
THe Aurora bezel is too small for the Smallsun aspheric. You aren’t able to take full advantage of all of the effective area of the aspheric so it won’t throw as far on the Aurora as on the Smallsun but it’s a good aspheric and it will throw further than a P60 mode (which was my whole point for this).
I wanted a reasonably compact thrower that was better than the typical P60 mod.
The Smallsun bezel actually stays on the Aurora but isn’t really screwed on. When I get the chance I’m going to get some epoxy putty. I hear it’s easier to work with than regular epoxy and I’ll just permanently affix the bezel.
The thread on the Aurora are few long and tight so you can unscrew the head quite a bit to bring the emitter into focus and the head still stays tight with no wobble.
I had an old glass aspheric that I ground a few years ago and was using it it this light (Aurora) until last night when I did this mod and I was getting about 23k cd. I would expect this (Smallsun aspheric) to be the same or better. I’ll measure it outside tonight.
The only way to make this mod better would be to increase the pill to 1.5A. Otherwise it’s nice looking, much better than a P0 mode and still smallish and the only thing it’s lacking is a side switch 
Battery (Trustfire 2500ah)tested at 4.1V, tail cap reading .9A, light meter reading taken at 10 meters and factored back to 1 meter 36.7k cd. Now if it was only a constant current driver!
looking forward to the picture.
how does the small sun bezel fit but not screw on?
If it is larger, you could use epoxy to make new threads on the head of the aurora, ie apply epoxy to the head and release agent to bezel then screw it on and let it set.
I've repaired lots of threads this way w/ jb weld or devcon aluminum putty. Beware...it took some practice - the key is applying just the right amount (or slightly less and doing it twice) - and making sure you fill any spots that could prevent it from unscrewing w/ something to keep the epoxy out (I use play-doh).
It is larger as you say. It fits in the sense that there is no excess space but the Smallsun is a larger light than the Aurora.
I may try what you are describing. Where do you get release agent? Is it sold in the same area (of a hardware store) as the epoxy?
I may just permanently epoxy it on. I don’t really need to be able to take it off. I can still get to the emitter. I just wouldn’t be able to replace the aspheric.
You can often use cooking spray as a release agent.
yup, that's really the best thing to use.
purpose made release agent is marginally better in applications where dimensional tolerances are very important but I've never seen it in a b&m store.
I just bought something called PC Fix. It’s epoxy putty. I guess you knead the putty until the color changes (1 min) and then you have 3 min. for the project and it’s fully hardened in 60 min.
It cost about $6 and I only need a small amount of it. The rest will be waste as it looks like once you break the seal the timer starts
Edit: OK, that was a learning experience! I hope it works. I got out the latex gloves but they just got in my way so halfway though the project I took them off. You have to break open the putty but it’s wrapped in plastic so getting the plastic off with latex gloves was not going well.
I didn’t want the 3 minutes to be up before I used it and it is pretty thick stuff and I need a thin bead so after rolling it in my hand I just put some on the head and jammed it in the bezel and scrapped off the excess.
I now see I was supposed to knead it until it turned a color. I don’t think that happened so I don’t know if it will harden. I’ll know in an hour I guess. I tossed the rest in the garbage.
I now think that maybe I could have kept it (unkneaded) in the tube but maybe not.
If it hardens and keeps the bezel on that’s all I care about. Only time will tell
that description brought back a lot of memories 
it takes some patience to get good w/ adhesives - or at least it did for me lol
people ask me all the time why my hands have stuff on them. now you know why. if the gloves aren't getting in the way, then they're melting from some solvent 
you can grab the rest out of the garbage - even though opened, if not mixed thoroughly it will not set up. but, it will eventually just dry out so much that you can't knead/mix it anymore, so put it in a pill bottle or something and wrap the lid w/ vinyl tape ;)
another alternative for you - hot glue. it will stay on there until you decide to heat it up enough to remove it.
Thanks! I did pull it out of the garbage. I the bezel didn’t set up either although I had to pull it a bit.
I’ll just redo it and all should be fine. I’ll consider a hot glue gun and hot glue for the next project (if there is one).
Good ideas!
Edit: I redid it and it changed to a darker color this time and was starting to get stiffer as well as I worked with it.
I was still able to save half of it for another use as well.
i'll eventually be trying to make a similar setup for a weapon light, although I'll probably just get another c10 and epoxy or set screw it at full focus :)
I thought about doing that initially but I wanted to get the size down a bit. I already had this (Aurora) and I just wanted to improve it a bit.
I like still being able to fine turn the focus as well. I also like having it as a 1 mode only.