CNCman's entry to the 8th annual BLF/O-L contest [ Handmade - FINISHED - ]

Excellent concept, great work. I love it!

Next to make is the tail cap. But the tail cap switch spring is too weak so it will get replaced with a Beryllium/copper spring purchased in a group buy from BlueSwordM. Also replacing the driver spring so the pressure is equal at both ends and spring bypasses too. These mods need to be done prior to molding the tail cap so it can be dimension correctly in relation to the battery tube and eventually the head pieces.
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I prefer to add or remove springs from drivers with the components side up so the risk of some pieces falling off is lower.

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Finished with spring and 20ga wire replacements. More work needs to be done to the driver later.

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Next up is the tail cap switch, the spring is very soft with braided bypass. New spring and 20ga bypass and a connecting spring will get added.


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Stripped and prepped.

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Solder the bypass first.


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Next solder the connecting spring.

This spring is cone shaped to allow room for the battery negative end to pass by.

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Next episode will be molding the tail cap and its parts.

P60 dropin spring?

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It was straight or cylindrical until i stretched it on one end and compressed the other end. I had purchased a variety of springs from Aliexpress last year. Only had one like this and i’m trying to find another substitute for the head end. :beer:

Oh yeah, a P60 is not conical. They are straight, 21mm x 13mm long. I measured one.

Nice work. :beer:

So here we have the body of the tail cap cut off. The battery tube measured .970 to 1.0 diameter, so PI x diameter = circumference + .1 per inch added for shrinkage. 3.1415 x .985 = 3.094 + .31 = 3.404 long x 1.5 wide.
Of course these are ball park figures used to rough it in shape.
It has to be pretty hot to mold by hand, you have to prepare and plan everything before beginning, the doing is trial and error. LOL
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Just a tad too long, so it needed a trim, about .050 inch.

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Some filing to finish.

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It is necessary to make things longer and trim to length afterwards, the plastic gets distorted on the edges.
Of course rough and finish filing is always a must.

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The small gap will not exist when finished.

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Rough cut pieces for the switch and cap.

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Dremel tools are priceless :heart_eyes:

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Two clearance pockets were needed for the electrical connections.

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No parts are perfectly round, so tiny notches were made to orientate everything and the finish filing was done to match.

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Here it is, but not fastened together just yet. I had some trouble with the 2 x .4 mm tap, that fix tomorrow. :wink:

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So far so good, I was concerned it would be impossible to make, but just one piece at a time is working. :beer:
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Great work! I’m really enjoying seeing this come together.

:+1: :beer: What more can I say?

Great work

This is shaping up really nicely!
Looking forward to seeing all the pieces come together.

That’s awesome work—i love to see it come together. How is the gap gonna be eliminated? Guess that big-ass hacksaw got carried away with the plastic…

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Screws and some glue. I may need access to fix something later so its getting some 2 x .4 mm screws.
The gap is a result of not being able to close it while molding it. It will be pulled together with screws. :wink:
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The fun stuff is yet to do. Getting the head made is going to make or break this project. :slight_smile:
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Coming along nicely

Great work. :+1:

Very interesting to see how the plastic can be formed. With a transparent flashlight, everyone can see how the internals of a flashlight work. You will need some batteries with a good looking cover.

This is looking epic

Coming along nicely! :+1:

Thanks everyone :smiley: It’s fun to be here with you guys. :beer:
To O’l Lumens and many BLF members who started this forum, THANK YOU !!

awesome work! I love projects like these.

Here we finish the tail cap complete and mate it to the battery tube.
The gap had to be closed to maintain correct fit. Using JB Weld and closing it in a vice for 24 hrs worked.




Gluing the switch to it’s mounting plate.

Cutting the spring shorter for the 3rd time.

Gluing the switch inside the body.

Hand drilling 4 x .041 diameter holes unequally spaced for 4 x .040 diameter x .25 long pins.
I was concerned the glue would fail under the spring pressure after batteries were installed.



Glued and pined in place.


Mating the tail cap to the battery tube.
Drilling 3 holes with .063 diameter drill for tapping with a 2mm x .4mm tap.





Finished :+1: Learning as you go is a result doing projects like this.
You can only plan a path, doing it requires flexibility.



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