I asked in the interest list but the discussion is probably better suited here. I personally like bead blasted titanium, whatās the difference between stonewashed and bead blasted finishes?
I havenāt heard anything about either one recently. Neal at least looked through off-the-shelf diffusers to try to find a compatible one, but failed. I tried to tell him in advance that they donāt exist and would need to be manufactured, but maybe thatās enough of a hurdle to keep it from happening.
I donāt have access to the numbers, but if it helps at all, Iāve heard the BLF-A6 has sold well into the five digit rangeā¦ and Iām guessing the FW3A may end up being more popular than that in the long run.
I donāt think Iāve tried a new one yet. I hope itās not as bad as it sounds.
It was an old prototype from 2018. It doesnāt really represent how the production version will be.
The differences Iām aware of are:
2018 proto was bead-blasted, production is smooth polished.
2018 proto parts didnāt fit together right, so itās hard to get the thing to turn on at all, and the clip doesnāt fit.
Otherwise though, I guess it should be pretty similar. Itās just like the aluminum FW3A, except made from copper and polished to make it shine. And itāll be heavier when empty than the aluminum version is with a cell installed.
I named my prototype Wilbert Stinkyhands, in case that helps with using the search function.
Nope, that one was apparently solid copper and the photo was taken with a really misleading white balance.
I hope my experience will be the same, if I ever get a SST-20 model. I think the purple one is supposed to use those, maybe.
If I understand correctly, the items currently shipping use the 05-22 firmware, which was one revision before manual memory was added. They made the drivers like half a week before the firmware got updated.
But it should be in the next batch of drivers, whenever that is. Maybe in another couple months?
It looks like, for that to happen, there would need to be two shorts ā one where the outer tube makes contact with the switch contact ring, and one where the spring scratches through the solder mask to contact the trace shown in your photo.
If both of those happened, it could bypass the usual BAT- path and send all that current through a single small trace instead, which could cause it to burn. But itās pretty strange that the spring would make contact with the trace. Itās generally held up a bit by solder, and the trace is underneath an insulating mask. Basically, it sounds like very bad luck.
Making contact between the outer tube and the switch ring is much more common though. With the tailcap parts so loose, the PCB can get off-center and touch the wrong parts. But normally this only makes it think the button is being pressed. The bulk of the current still flows through the correct path in that case.
This material always seems divisive. On the one hand, it gives a soft velvety feel with slightly better grip than a smooth metal. On the other hand, it gets visible scratches (or āsnail trailsā) really easily so the surface doesnāt look new for very long.
Iām fairly happy with the bead-blasted copper prototype though, after forcing a patina and polishing it. Most of the blasted texture is gone now, so it mostly just feels like regular non-blasted copper.
Itās not back luck, itās bad soldering that lumintop is doing. Mine had the pointy bit of the spring almost touching the trace. It was also an awful soldering job, with the spring way off center and only held on in one spot. I resoldered things to make it safer, after reading about the incident.
I suggest everybody check their spring soldering. Most are probably fine, but itās random.
Itās not back luck, itās bad soldering that lumintop is doing.
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I donāt mean bad luck in the sense of what happened when it fell. I mean bad luck in the sense of getting an item which was assembled badly ā being the unlucky person who got a dud.
If this was happening frequently, that wouldnāt be luckā¦ itād be a broken manufacturing process. But thereās only one known case of this happening, and one (yours) which looks like it could have been a near miss. So unless more people run into the same issue, Iād consider it a āask vendor to send new hardwareā sort of issue instead of a āask manufacturer to fix their processā sort of issue.
The new button is so much nicer than the old one. Lighter to press but with a more positive click. Much quieter and has less wobble in the action too, like a proper E-switch should.
The SST-20 emitters are the best Iāve seen yet. Theyāre rosy on maximum output, but unfortunately seem to still be the tiniest bit green on lower levels. Still, theyāre not bad at all and Iāll definitely be happy using these. A big upgrade over all previous SST-20s I have used.
The new optic is okay. I bought a clear Carclo and Iām going to swap it out for some extra throw though.
It appears to be running a new-ish version of AndĆŗril. It has the fancy two stage lockout moonlight mode, however when not locked it still comes on in moonlight as soon as you hold down the button. Shame itās not totally up to date, but itās newer than the version on the first run of FW3As.
I sent an email and a message to Neal about my choices regarding the optic dilemma, but it seems that neither got read as I was sent the light with the plastic optic immediately anyway. No worries, I can swap a new optic in myself, but I feel bad for the guy if he has been that snowed under that he canāt manage to read a message even with several weeks to do so.
TL;DR Itās good!
Edit:
Okay, I canāt use the Carclo that was included with my order because Neal hasnāt included the glass lens he promised! Now what?
One of mine was in the o ring bag and one was between the box and the outer sleeve, it just fell out when I was trying to get those damn things separated.
Also, side observation. One of mine had a clear āall in oneā plastic optic and one was frosted. I guess they made a few versions to try out.
Iām with teacher on this one, I personally love stonewashed Ti. Not everything needs to be a perfect shiny material, some dings, scratches, marks, patina is what makes it unique. CRK along with Zero Tolerance, Spyderco and numerous others use stonewashed Ti on their knives and it looks amazing imo.
No one yet, there is a thread about the stonewashed version to gain interest.
Aha, so is mine! I didnāt even see it in there. Thanks for the tip!
Iām not sure if itās just my imagination or not, but the beam looks a little bit more green when Iām running it with a Carclo + glass instead of just the plastic optic. Possible side effect of AR coating? I might keep running the plastic optic if this is the case.
I have a bead-blasted titanium Olight S1 and I do not like the finish. It feels like holding a stick of chalk. Similar to the rough finish of my white or blue anodized aluminum Emisar D4s.
I find these rough textures only feel good in the hands if I just rubbed them with moisturizer. But if my hands are dry, it feels unpleasant.
Bead blasted titanium also doesnāt look special. It looks very similar to grey anodized aluminum.
For titanium, I much prefer polished. It feels good in the hands, is durable, and looks classy.
Ah yes, thanks for the great chart. Thatās quite a difference.
As this light will probably spend most of its time being used around the house, Iāll keep the plastic optic installed. The flood is better than having extra throw in this case, and I would very much like to take the slight tint improvement this optic offers.
Yes, but you can probably eliminate the tint difference by polishing off the AR coating. Thatās what Iāve been doing with all of mine, and it seems to help.
As quite a few different finishes were and are tested and are proposed : aluminum with different anodization colors, sand/bead blasted copper, polished copper, stonewashed titanium, could it be possible to have a version with machining marks like it was supposed to looks like :
Here Iām speaking for myself, Iām not very demanding concerning the material used, I will be happy with aluminum or copper or brass (preferably) or titanium+copper but could we have at least and at last THE version with machining marks, please ?
I would be eternally grateful for a brass with machining marks and SST-20 4000K, or aluminum with maching marks and clear anodization, iām pretty sure they can make clear anodization right.