and I'm glad your here. So don't stop teaching about custom lights.
Here's my reply to the CPF'ers and here's a transcript in case CPF is down again, as usual.
As of now, I stand by my reply. Maybe later I will feel different. I'm not angry at them, I'm angry for decieving myself that I am good at component mods. (not cosmetic, but component). Cosmetics, I do ok on.
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After the initial shock of seeing my light up here, I have taken some time to evaluate everything.
First off, I still believe that it was wrong to not let me know it was going to be put up for everyone too see, but that's my opinion only.
Being Objective is best and easiest when it's someone else's work you are evaluating, not when it's your own.
After seeing this, I decided that my work is a "hack job". Plain and simple. Oh, I would say that the "cosmetics" are done very well. I will say that's an objective statement. The bezel, tailcap and other cosmetic treatments are fine.
The treatment of the components is where the hack job is. It stinks, plain and simple. Now, if I look at it as constructive criticism, then I should look to improve it. Did I do my best? Can I do better? Answer is, Yes and No. I cannot do better than what is there, Considering the use of only hand tools such as a hacksaw and files.
The only way to improve is to use machined parts. The Correct way to do it is machined parts. When it comes to heatsinks, emitters and drivers, it requires machine parts to do it RIGHT. Plain and simple truth, we all know it.
I do not have the tools to do that, so I cobble stock parts that don't fit and make them fit. Is that OK?? For myself Only, yes it is. For my OWN use, yes it's ok. Is it OK to go and sell something like that to someone else? Well, we get to what a person believes don't we. The Truth? NO, Hell NO. It shouldn't ever be sold to someone else that way! That is the stark reality of the situation. I never should have sold stuff like this to anyone else. For my own use, that's fine, but not for resale.
I could have purchased components for anywhere from $35 - to $55, but the part of me that you don't know is that I am a BLF'er to begin with and Budget is budget. I tried to do it where I could afford to make it in the first place and sell it where someone else could afford to buy it.
That was a mistake and I see it clearly now.
So, what's the answer, now that I see what I already knew deep down? Stop doing component mods. That's the simple truth of it. If I cannot (and I cannot), do the mods correctly, with proper results that are reliable and that last, then I (neither I nor anyone else), should be doing mods. That is the real answer. We don't want to face the truth, but it bites us in the butt when we ignore it.
It's possible that I may finish the "cosmetics" on several hosts I have, but at this point, none of them will recieve any components. I may sell the empty hosts which I have done cosmetic mods to, but I will not be selling finished lights here, unless I can make them properly, with reliability. I cannot buy the proper tools (lathe, drill press, grinder, etc), to do proper mods and I am not willing to buy components like machined heatsinks and raise the price to where the vendors here already sell them for. First of all, they are experienced and they know how to and secondly it does not fit in my "budget".
Thanks for listening and hopefully understanding,
Justin
So I read the cpf thread and watched the vid, and a few things jump out at me...
It sounds like the light got dropped (it obviously had a couple of transit legs), which may have caused some problems (grounding, bezel). Not your fault, unless you sent it in a ziplock bag. (Which I know you didn't.)
Dude who bought it wanted to drive it harder, so heat sink/spacing etc, also not your problem.
Nothing wrong with your work there.
Lots of complimentary talk on the video about the design. Definitely your fault.
The only thing I'd take away from the affair is the feedback about epoxying the switch in (makes it hard for future repairs), and maybe making sure that your ground wire will survive knocks as well as possible.
I always dig seeing your work here, so I'd really hope you keep on keeping on.
Please don´t stop your good work, you have encouraged me to (soon) cut down my ancient 4D Mag to a 1 or 2x18650 and mod it with a XM-L.
I have like you no lathe so I´ll have a go for it "Old-Lumens"-style! :-)
I read the comments at the CPF-thread and I think both Techjunkie and jaybiz32 meant no disrespect, so please keep up the good work here, you have inspired a lot of people here.
Best regards, Mikael
I love watching your mods, please keep doing them!!
And yes, it should have been told to you first, they were not evaluating a commercial light that many other users might be advised.
The radiophonic voice on your videos explainining all the process is also a nice extra :)
I think you are reacting a little out of shock Old-Lumens... give it some more time. You have been very upfront of what the people should expect from you and what not. (blogs and videos) If you still feel like that after a week or two, you can consider to just sell your remaining parts and future projects as pre-modded hosts, where people can implement their own internals. Or sell them optionally as kits.... this way the potential customers sees the inner parts upfront and can decide whether they want to upgrade some parts with machined ones or not. To stop modding altogether is not an option... the flashlight community would be loosing too much useful information.
Never give up - never surrender!
we've gotta find a way to get you a lathe.
Old-Lumens + lathe = truly awesome
Shock? For about 10 minutes, after that I took quite a bit of time to look at things completely. Finding solutions on the fly is the way I have always been. Look at the situation from a different perspective. I also use my wife sometimes. She is probably the most analytical person I have ever met and she asks the right questions. It all boils down to this. If I, as a customer, were buying one of my lights, would I buy it, knowing how it was put together. The answer was a firm No. It’s cobbled up and if I were to spend hard earned money, I would want a light that would last and be dependable day in/day out. My homemade lights do not fit that need, so I looked at what can I do? The answer is machined parts and that answer led me to the fact that I will never be doing machined arts. I will never have enough money to buy expensive tools and I will never take the hit and buy pre-machined parts, so the options lead straight to the answer. I’m not going to cobble heatsinks, drivers and emitters any more, so I am not going to build any more. It’s fairly simple and while it hurts, the truth usually hurts when you have been living in a dream world.
Thanks to ALL of you for your comments and support, but my decision seems logical to me and that is all that matters in the long run. I tend to be hard on myself and that is how I am. I do not ever intend to change that. It has served me well all these years, so it is what it is.
Will I do any mods for myself, possibly. Will I make "cosmetically altered hosts" such as 1Ds, I probably will, but they will be bare bones. You get the bare host, you make the decisions on the mods and do them. That's my feelings and that's my decision.
Justin
I'm sorry to hear that. Many of us do or have done far worse than you have. Myself most certainly included.
Wishing you all the best and I'm sorry you feel that way.
I second this, it is a loss for sure.
PLEASE Old-Lumens, don't give up!
Despite things getting cleared up over on CPF (I really think they didn't mean anything negative by all of this), I can understand your reaction. I never, ever want to sell something that I misrepresented, and later have someone come back and criticize it. Again, I think the buyer knew exactly what they were getting, and given the price that you sold your other 1D for before, I wouldn't even care if none of the guts worked.
I think you do excellent work given your resources, and should continue to improve on your designs if you're concerned about what people think of it. But again, short of placing a dog turd in the body, we'd be impressed.
For me, on every build I try to do something that is repeatable for future builds (not just finding spare parts sitting around), but that usually costs me more money and more time thinking about how to build it. While I don't have a lathe or any special equipment, I would feel confident in selling my stuff (which I should do one of these days). But unlike you, I don't do anything unique! C'mon, I'm pleading with you now...
How about this - I will order a bunch of H22A mag heatsinks, use AMC7135 drivers that I will flash with whatever program you want, then we can toss whatever XM-L you want on there. I'll sell it to you at cost, you install it in your awesome hosts, and make some profit on this :)
@Old-Lumen:
I still think you are being too hard on yourself... pretty much everyone says so (BLF & CPF) ... even the parties involved. You are one of the few modders who made affordable mods in the past. But I respect your decision.
Thank you, that’s all I ask.
JonnyC - Thank you, but really, only a small handfull of people would pay the added money. Believe me, been there done that. It’s great to hear how everyone wants one, but when the sales thread goes up, the silence commences. Seen it too many times. Good intentions are very nice, but the reality is money can be tied up for quite some time waiting for someone to actually buy. I do not want to be there right now.
Thank you again, it is appreciated.
I wish you all the best.
Your work has been at least educational, if nothing else. And at the moment, I'm being the king of understatements.
I love your videos. I hope you won't stop doing them, for whatever type of mod you eventually decide to do.
Thanks.
Viktor
Don't give it away Old Lumens. I like your "old school" approach to modding lights. You do amazing work with hand tools.
I recently bought one of your custom maglites and I am very, very happy with the workmanship. I also have no problem recommending your custom made flashlights to anyone and everyone.
All that guy (the buyer) had to do was send you a pm and I know for a fact that you would have fixed the problem. How do I know that? Because I had a tiny problem with my maglite and you immediately pm'ed me asking me to send it back so you could fix it. Now that's what I call customer service!!! 
So don't give up Old-Lumens!
He is just one bad apple.
Old-Lumens,
I've been resisting posting in this thread for a multitude of reasons, but I just can't resist any more.
You probably don't know me, but I've been around here a bit, and have one of my own builds being progressively documented in a thread here. I will tell you that I read your posts with enthusiasm because you strike me as creative, intelligent and truthful - all rare commodities these days.
I read the thread over at CPF, and truthfully, it's a difficult thread to argue with. The inner workmanship was not fantastic - I'm not beating on you here, just being as truthful as you've been both in this thread and in every other post I've ever read of yours.
Here's my only suggestion, and of course, you're free to do as you wish, and I don't think a single person will fault you for whatever decision you make - or have already made.. I don't think you should stop modding and building. I think you should take a step back and think about your market. There are a lot of people who want a custom torch, designed and built for their particular use and to their particular style. With or without fancy machines, however, most folks don't have the understanding, patience and skill required to make one! What you're offering is a baby-step into the world of custom torches - and you're giving people an affordable way to test those waters. Will your torch be 'perfect' and the ultimate in long-lasting durability? Maybe.. Probably not - but that's not what people are buying from you! Their buying what you're selling, and the vast majority of them are very happy with what they're buying.
I truly think that you are short-changing yourself. You provide a valuable commodity. As long as you're honest with everyone - especially your customers (and to my knowledge, you appear to have always been just that), then you're doing great! BLF is a free-market, and no-one would be buying your lights if the consensus wasn't that you provide good lights and good prices with great customer service. There is nothing wrong with being the entry point for people. Maybe they decide to go on and purchase one of the expensive lights from one of the sellers with fancy machines and custom heat-sinks, but would they have ever considered it without a budget option to try out?
Something to think about.. And either way, I look forward to your continued posts here.
Best Wishes,
PPtk