You definitely need to cook when the wife is not home and have a good exhaust fan - make no mistake it stinks. Using the broiler speeds up the process or as some did, use a gas torch. As I understand it, the heat treatment only works on HAI or HAII, no effect on HAIII. As far as how it ends up, you won't know what you get until you try. There has been a big variety in how they turn out. I did two - one came out copper, the other more of a gunmetal brown. Something to try using an old junker light.
Interesting thread. I recently recieved my G10 (finally!) from DX. Cost 16 bucks, but I would gladly pay at least double that price if it had:
Ability to run on 14500 li-ions as well as AA
Effective but not too obtrusive anti-roll collar
Decent pocket clip (removable)
Side-switch
Removable head for candle mode and wide flood options
Hidden - but easily accessible - blinkies
More aggressive knurling
Some very good suggestions. Hopefully the mfg's will pay some attention if they read this. I was very impressed with the option of choosing modes and tint with the XIN TD, hopefully the rest of the light will be of high quality as well. At $30, I think that is a decent price point to get a light that has good throw and doesn't annoy you with strobes and bluish beam.
Regulation choices. For example; one thing I like about my E1320 lights is that I am asked specifically how many amps I want for each mode.
Machine quality is a big deal to me as well.
Foy