I had a pretty crummy day today. Took the family dog to the vet to be euthanized. I tried to get some machining done in the afternoon but my head wasn’t in the game plus I was getting a number of interruptions from the family.
I ‘did’ get a bit done but the body is far from finished. I still need to shape and thread the tail as well as bore it out to the right size.
I worked some more on the body today. Sorry no video to go with it. I found a number of flaws with the body and I’m not really happy with it but I don’t have any bar stock on hand to do it again. Nearly all the flaws are a result of the work I did yesterday. Another thing that came to mind is I don’t have a pocket clip to put on it. I’ll see if I can order one in time to finish before the due date.
Flaw #1 - seams in the knurling, plus it should’ve been knurled a little closer to the tail end. BTW I used the same knurling wheel, I just didn’t keep rolling until the lattice pattern showed and got dots instead.
Flaw #2 - I used a rounded cutting bit to get that nice rounded shape at each end of the knurling. At the tail end there is a ridge where I didn’t complete the cut properly.
Flaw #3 - I don’t know if it was in the chuck set up or the drill bit wandered but the boring didn’t turn out concentric at the tail end (tail end has a lot of problems doesn’t it).
It looks like the final length (when I get the tail done) will be longer than an AT40 but hopefully not quite as long as an E14
I think that’s not bad considering the fat driver and long’ish set up of a reflector.
Just the tail to make now. Then I can assemble it.
I don’t think I’m up to making any more videos. Even I have to admit they’re not that interesting.
I have a tail now … If you look back at the very first pic of all the parts you’ll see the bar stock has knurling at each end. This is one of those ends. I nearly ran out of stock I seem to have produced a fair amount of waste.
Some of the threads look dirty because I used some metal polish to work the threads and smooth out the gritty feel. There’s also a few things to clean up like cutting the tail to exact size and a recess for the o-ring etc… Once it’s all cleaned up then I can start assembling and soldering. Nearly there
Wonder what the scrap value is? I save copper cutoffs from all the solar system wiring I do. If I strip the insulation the last batch brought almost $2.50 a pound.
Mostly done with this light now. Lathe work is all done. Driver has a little heatsink plaster to hold it in place. Led is soldered. Tail is finished.
It turned out longer than I was expecting but at least it can take protected cells as well as tail stand. The UI of this driver (FX-35) is not so good (H-L-S), if it was just H-L I would be happy with that.
Quick beam shot with the phone. Sorry I didn’t notice the reflection of light in the glass door until I looked on the pc. It has a smaller spill and hotspot than the E14 and AT40
E14
AT40
The only thing left is a pocket clip. I found one on hand but I’m not sure if this one will be strong enough for a light this size.