MtnDon's Hand Made Class, 8th Annual BLF/OL contest entry

I’ve given this light a name; MD4W

MD = MtnDon
4 = 4 emitters
W = wood

Just like the FW3A, which was the inspiration for the name, the tailcap is not really meant to be removed, but can be. :wink:

Very nice MD. what do you do with your creations?

I have used last years as a walking light, as it was intended. It will see more use as the daytime hours shorten through fall and winter.

The Shoji lantern from the 6th annual contest was gifted to my son. It fits right into hos decor as he has a set of bookshelving with sliding Shoji style panels for doors.

The entry for the 5th annual contest was gifted to a sister.

The 4th annual contest entry has a place on my “special things” shelf.

All very nice.

I am not a wood expert but i think that if you plan to open these screws often, threaded insertions will be more robust than tapping the wood.

I agree. However the problem is two-fold in this application. The outer diameter of the insert is too large for the thickness of the wood and that type of insert cuts its own threads as it is screwed into the wood. The force would almost certainly cause this wood to split. I have used those inserts before. They can be a real problem to install in wood other than the softer varieties like pine and spruce.

I never intended the tailcap to be removable in ordinary everyday use. The bayonet copper coupling at the head allows for cell change, so very much like an FW3A there will be no reason to remove the tailcap assembly for daily use. I could have made a second bayonet system at the tail, but it did not seem to be necessary.

I appreciate the thought, comment and link. I hope that it works out okay. If there was to be a second one made I would use a different wood species or come up with some other solution…. maybe a little thicker body wall and use the epoxied into place aluminum inserts. Those are a smaller diameter than the threaded inserts.

I have used some other woods that are about as hard and dense but do not split as easily as this bloodwood. I would be better off with it. It’s a nice enough brown with darker streaks in the grain. However, I do like the color of the bloodwood a lot. I never used bloodwood before this.

Looking good Don. :slight_smile:

I am by no means adept at making things from wood but did find these when I made a wood, aluminium and brass torch.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Cap+Head+Wood+Screws&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj9ievVg6vsAhXw7HMBHY3LD6IQ_AUoAnoECBYQBA&biw=1278&bih=959

I like the looks of these from that search link , but need a smaller size package. :wink: The point with the notch cuts the wood fibers as the screw is turned.

They are used when installing cabinets (as in kitchen…) and I never thought of them at all. I do have some here someplace.

I should try one in a scrap of the bloodwood and see what happens. Thanks.

I hope they are not attaching kitchen cabinets with finish head screws. :frowning:

They’re used to secure the face frames to the adjacent cabinet. The screws pull the cabibet face frames tightly together and bury the head in the wood. Tighten just enough to make the head flush with the side surface of the face frame. The face frames are clamped together tightly first, then the screws installed. The doors hide the edges of the face frames too.

I think even though they are self drilling I will still pre drill hard woods. They make good sense for attaching things to the wall though with a washer head into 2x. I’m old school when it comes to things like that.

A little longer than those. 2, 2 1/2 inch

Woo-Hoo!!! The switches and a few other things arrived today!!

Here are three of them along with the frp mounting blocks I previously made.

What sets these switches apart is that the tabs are not meant to be soldered like other switches. One tab is bent up and over the top of the switch with a hole that fits around the button. The other tab bends under the switch bottom. In my design the upper contact fits against the inside of the copper sleeve/pill. The frp blocks provide insulation. The bottom contact touches the brass center screw which will contact the negative end of the 18650 cell.

The rear switch pill is a press fit into the main copper body tube. The two small screws through the copper pill end squeeze the bottom frp block to the center block which holds the switch.

I tested the switch operation with the actuator rod. It needed a little sanding to provide a small amount of clearance between the plunger and the switch button. Then I shortened the actuator rod so it does not protrude past the end of the rear cap. The light can tailstand. And the light works when tested with a cell. Woo-Hoo!!!

I applied a dab of paint to the actuator rod end. (Using touchup paint for my Toyota Tacoma). When dry I’ll reassemble the light and post some more images; a short video too showing the light on and how the ramping works.

Thanks for looking.

Nice finish of the button :slight_smile:

I remember that switch, has been around for ages, i.e. it is in the Xeno E03 as well and in a few other lights.

I like the way it’s looking, nice work :+1:

Very clever MD. :+1:

This post has nothing to do with this contest entry, but has everything to do with having some fun. :slight_smile:

While I was waiting for the switch to arrive, my light had a baby.

Remember the BLF-348? For those who are not familiar with the several years old BLF-348 here is one of mine, along with the baby. (The BLF-348 uses a single AAA cell and has one mode.)

I had this weird thought and measured the BLF-348 dimeter and sure enough, its 0.47-inch diameter was a near-perfect size. After gluing up some scraps of woods I bored a 31/64 inch hole through the block. A few minutes on the table saw and I had roughed out a near-octagon cylinder shape. I finished it off using the bench belt sander. A short piece of brass tube was press-fitted at one end and hit with a little cyanoacrylate glue. The brass ring serves as a stop for the ligght. After a final sanding with 400 grit, I sprayed it with clear lacquer. The 348 slides in with a mild friction fit. It will not slip out on its own. I use a rubber-tipped pencil to push it out far enough to be able to grasp it.

The woods used include; bocote, osage orange, bloodwood, walnut and padauk.

I’ll return to the regularly scheduled program for the next installment, which will be images of the more or less completed project light.

:+1: Nice idea.

The bocote around the switch looks especially nice.

Thanks, I like that wood a lot too. I have only scraps left and it is not cheap; 3/4” x 3” x 24” is about US$28 plus shipping in some cases as nobody within my local area stocks it.

Here I have the luxury of the Amsterdamse Fijnhouthandel, a shop near my work in the Amsterdam port area so I can go there in a lunch break. They sell almost every type of special wood, and still have stock leftover (although often just small scraps) from times when chopping ancient trees from primeval tropical forests was no issue. Their new supplies (they say) follow the newest guidelines for sustainability of forests. But in any case they serve such a small niche market that their turnover will not be the reason that the planet looses their primeval forest.