Brass parts from the hardware store (Lowe’s, if it matters).
Probably going with the TIR. It looks like it basically fits. This is a 45 degree TIR from fasttech - I got a 5-pack to try in my Boruit D10.
Here you can see it with the hose adapter closed over the top. It has some sort of rubber sealer o-ring thing, too. Sweet.
As you can see below, it looks like the reflector would require a bit of sanding:
Some mock-up pictures of things screwed together mostly. There’s no internals - just the TIR sitting in one end and a switch boot in the other.
And a size comparison to some well-known lights (Convoy S2+ and Emisar D4):
Now I wait for parts! Currently I don’t have the driver, MCPCB (though I have all the LED options I mentioned), or switch. When they come in, I’ll try to figure out how to get them mounted in the host!
Tools I expect to use:
Soldering iron, clearly. My hotplate maybe if it’s allowed - if not, I won’t use it except to reflow my LEDs.
Hacksaw maybe.
Drill maybe.
I will document what and how I modify things, and photograph to the best of my ability!
Another challenge: I’ve noticed that, since I didn’t actually use a 3/4” pipe but instead a threaded nipple adapter, the internal diameter of the main tube is larger than I’d hoped for. Since I considering using an existing battery adapter tube cheating (even if someone says its not), I’ll at some point find something to improve the fit, but it won’t be from a flashlight.
Yeah - so my backup plan is just to cut a rectangle of cardboard. But I’m hoping to figure something out with a sleeve of some sort - maybe pipe or tubing, hopefully. I mean I’ve heard of people wrapping tape around cells to eliminate rattle, so it shouldn’t be a big issue. I’m just not going to use the plastic battery sleeve I have for 18650 to 21700 (came with my C8F) because that feels like cheating, even if somebody said it technically wasn’t.
Copper and brass is easy to solder with electronics solder just use your hot plate to preheat. Joint has to be shiny clean, a small dob of solder on the tip helps heat tranfer much quicker.
Just a tip
tube is measured outside diameter
pipe is measured inside diameter
Y’all gonna have to wait a bit on this one. While the mountain order should arrive this week, my daughter should be arriving (being born, that is) today (27th).
So if I don’t circle back around to finishing this one in time, it’s for a good reason
Congratulations :partying_face:
Seems like you’ll have bigger “mods” to do from now on: modding life
Wish her and the rest of the family health and a good life
This is looking great so far, can’t wait to see the end product.
As for the battery rattle, maybe put a cell in a plastic bag and spray foam it in place, then when the spray foam sets, the baggie can be trimmed with the foam on the ends and will create a sleeve for the battery. The baggie should let you slide the battery out as well, maybe put some petroleum jelly on the battery inside the baggie first.
Congrats on the birth of your daughter! amazing news! Also, that “mockup” looks sick man, makes me consider heading to lowes and trying this one myself. Very inspiring! Im new to this, so I am trying to take it all in, especially the electronics aspect. The only part I have a little understanding of is the fabricobbling…
Congrats Scallywag! Daughters are very special. Mine went away to college this year and I miss her dearly. But she’s doing well and I’m happy for her. And she remembered to bring her flashlight: Father Daughter Flashlight.
Just checking in. I haven’t had any chance to work on mods at all - I’ve barely been on BLF lately. But I haven’t forgotten about this and hope to set aside some time in December to get it finished.
Cool build . I had considered something similar because this quick connect fitting was sitting next to this flashlight and I don’t know how many times I grabbed the wrong one .
Congrats on the daughter . Hope all are healthy and happy !
I took a shot at the tail switch. At first, I was really focused on using a 16mm switch board. However, the board was just too small and wouldn’t be held captive. I was considering using a brass washer to retain the switch board, but the standard sizes for washers weren’t going to be suitable, and I didn’t want to try to enlarge the hole in one (especially since I needed something larger than the 3/8” chuck size on my drill).
My size requirements vs a list of washer sizes
Good thing I have a 20mm switch board. It was populated with a large forward-clicky, but I solved that.
To hopefully give a good idea of the switch stack:
The end cap with rubber boot and the rubber gasket that came in the hose adapter
The switch sitting in the end
The old vs. new switch on the board
This shows the switch board sitting on the end of the body tube, which is why I needed the larger board
The body tube attached and a cell sitting in there.
And a shot down the tube! The fit isn’t perfect but it’s good enough
In this configuration, the switch board is nearly flush with the inside of the end cap. So basically the entire omten 1288 is sitting inside the rubber boot, and I had to completely cut out the “nub” on the inside of the rubber boot to get that to fit properly. However, as long as I don’t fully tighten the end cap (it can get close and begins to offer a ton of resistance), it fits fine and the switch actuation has a great feel. If I over-tighten then the rubber boot pops out the end!
The head end of this light is going to be more interesting. I measured how deep into the head the planned TIR sits, and compared that to the height the LED will be at with my “pill” (improvised from one of the fittings from post #1), and there’s a few millimeters of distance I need to bridge before that’s going to work out. I’ll post pictures of that when I come up with a solution.
