Very beautiful!
Thanks guys, appreciate it.
What I’ve learned here is to think ahead, the Ti tube has 1.1mm thick walls which don’t allow much room for threads, o-ring grooves, or fancy work on the tube. So while it was cheaper, it isn’t necessarily easier. I bought it not looking forward to boring out a battery tube from solid bar stock. In retrospect, it may have actually been less trouble to go through all that stock removal and have plenty of material to work with for the design process. Live and learn.
What a beautiful light Dale !
Thank you Giorgoskok.
I’m a Titanium fanatic from way back, so doing this one was special for me, and I’ve really grown to love the copper in a light… tying the two together is really cool and it’s all about ergonomics and functionality. Gotta feel good in the hand, as much as it just has to work, ya know?
When I go to inset the switch clicky so it can tail stand, it just seems natural to step it down, like an ampitheater. It guides the thumb (or finger) down into the boot and gives full tail standing support while have an aesthetic that pleases, I see lights with a big open flat surface around the button and then a thin wall around the outside, yuck! lol So it’s just all about the hands on functionality.
I haven’t done much knurling, forget all I read on the subject, so while I did manage to get the two wheels lined up vertically, I forgot to fine tune the horizontal… the knurling runs out on the back end while it’s more robust towards the battery tube. Oh well, pretty sure I’d royally screw up (again!) if I tried to realign the knurling tool and recut it. Learning curves and all that. I like it okay for the 4th light I’ve built, maybe I’ll get better, or I’ll always forget everything I’ve learned and be a perpetual beginner. 
What I hope sticks is not to shortcut. Tubes can be nice, but it’s important to also consider the limitations they bring with em. A welded tube is not perfectly round, has to be turned to be true, and the thin walls get even thinner…. and now I’m told not to use oil when machining Titanium, a specific coolant works best but it has to be mixed just right or it can ruin the lathe. Buzzzzzzzzzzz, right over my head! lol
That looks good Dale. Danged nice light.
I tried tubing some years back and just never found any that didn’t create the exact problems you describe. I think you will find that boring from solid stock is the way to go. By the time you find a close ID… the wall is thin, making threading tough if not impossible…. just a mess. I even had a company extrude some special sizes for me but just wasn’t satisfied.
Do I need to send diapers??? Sorry, just had to. Your doing great. Hang in there, fall is on the way. TL
Wow! Great Job on this!!
+1
When life sends you lemons, make… wait a minute, who get’s sugar with their lemons anyway!?
At least I can always procure a bar of Gr2 Ti and make a new battery tube for this one. Got to messing with it again and just wasn’t liking the copper tail cap. Too bulky, the light is overall too small to have that much tail cap and so I shaved it down, got rid of the extra flange on the very end and cut a few offset descending width grooves. Works, restores proportions, let’s see how it grows on me… lol
Each time I make changes to the light, I also have to adapt the Holstex carrier to fit it. I’m finding the hot air re-flow station to be a plus here, I can heat a specific area and conform it to the light without altering the entire carrier. 
This light is getting nicer with every new version, love it!
Probably the final version, slimmed down the tail cap about as far as it can go so unless I change the battery tube there’s not much room for change now.
Couple of things I wanted to show on this new version, the copper pill fully supports the Khatod optic, going all the way to the top of the bezel and having both an o-ring at the base of the bezel as well as one at the lens/bezel junction.
This allows for the most copper possible and with the 18350 doing ~8 Amps it works pretty well. It will get hot but the cell is falling fast enough it doesn’t get dangerously hot, I’ve been able to hold it but maybe some would drop it, my hands are pretty accustomed to handling the hot metal from machining and what not.
The other thing, I was really impressed with how well the threads cut in this Grade 2 Titanium. I’ve only used 6Al4V before or the next step up, Grade 23 (6Al4V Eli) and it’s somewhat more difficult to work. Since this isn’t an aerospace application, I figure Grade 2 works just fine.
Thanks Dale, I got drool all over the keyboard... 
Nice Dale.
Yes… with the right tool, the harder the metal, the nicer the threads will come out. You have learned fast and sure have the right touch with that lathe. Congrats!! Looks super! More! More!!
TL
Yes! That new tailcap fits the design so perfectly! What a beauty. :heart_eyes:
Any chance you might try knurling that tailcap again? I think it looks better with knurling. Not that I matter at all.
Well, I haven’t been really pleased with how the copper tail cap turned out. So, today I changed it…. again! lol
Now it has a solid Titanium tail cap to go with the tube and bezel. I had some of the bar left over that I cut the bezel from so I used it up. Quite a bit of work to get it bored out, at 3 diameters, threaded at 2 diameters and shaped externally. 105º on the thermometer behind the lathe. I drank 1/2 gallon of water in the process and came in at 8 PM with my clothes drenched.
I see that I will have to bite the bullet and procure a piece of bar stock in Grade 2 Ti to make a new battery tube so it will all tie in and match. The tube is just to thin to do anything with and it’s larger internal diameter than it needs to be, I could use that extra space to shape it more radically and have it with more grip. Always something…
Well, the new Titanium tailcap is nicer than the way you had the Copper tailcap last. But, I’m still a bigger fan of the copper tailcap with knurling over the new Titanium tailcap. It was a nice look having copper in two places of the light. Still, a very nice light, though! I wouldn’t mind winning it in a GAW. 
Who wouldn’t want this light David ?
I will have to agree once again with David , Dale . The first tailcap with the knurling was the best for me too .
I ordered a piece of Titanium in 1.25” diameter to make a new battery tube. The plan is to recreate the “twin spool” effect this light originally had. Instead of a single wide/deep V in the raised central section I’ll do 3 smaller matching V’s like in the tail cap, thinking about also doing the V’s in the bezel to match, or a series…. not the entire bezel.
I also got lucky and got a shipping discount for free shipping! Woohoo! By also purchasing some more Tellurium Copper for heat sinks the total of the cart qualified it for the free shipping, so I got 2 Day Air shipping for free! I should buy lottery tickets today, the shipping from this place is usually the deal breaker so this truly was a stroke of luck!
(I got an inch longer piece of Titanium than I need, to make it easy to chuck in the lathe. I’ll make myself a new wedding band from the left over piece. )