RC-Lights - a history of my custom-lights so far

I’m loving this thread :heart_eyes:

Nice to hear that, than lets go on.

I would like to present my most complex project so far.

i mod two Led Lenser X21 from 7x Cree XR-E Led to 7x Cree XM-L LEDs to reach 6000 Lumen.

therefor i needed a complete new Heatsink:

from the backside: to protect the heatsink from overheating, i added a temperature sensor.

but one of the big issues at that project was the transfer of power and sensor information from the Head to the driver. For the power i used a rotatable connector and for the sensor i built 3 sliding contacts:

the carrier for dimmer and driver was also a challange, but i made it:

and the beamshot compare before:

and after:

i have tons of pictures, so if you have questions or want to see more details, so you´re welcome

cheers

Michael

great photos,

thats a very nice looking light

thanks for sharing your history and design evolution

Please keep posting. This is amazing. :beer:

Function and form. Love the way you are transforming from functional to functional art. Fit and finish looks flawless.

Fantastic looking lights, looking forward to seeing more.

This is the kind of topic thread that I like to see in the forum. Thank you for sharing your life's love of custom flashlights!

thank you for the nice comments. so i will go on.

in 2013 i built my second Bike-Lamp. unfortunaly i dont have some pictures from the first one.

this one is with 3x XM-L LEDs with around 2500 lumens. a big battery storage ( 8x18650 in parallel arrangement ) and an illuminated external switch. everything made on conventional machines, no CNC:

here a Beamshot:

regards

Michael

the next light was a mule flashlight without a reflector. 26650 battery with some tritium slots:

Very nice machining. I love the sleek lines.

You guys with lathes are in the right hobby. :heart_eyes:

Nice thread, keep going! Apart from how well everything is executed, I really like your goodlooking designs

hi all, thanks for your words.

lets go on with on of my favorite design so far. i call it "Knubby", a real compact and for that time (2013) bright flashlight.

32650 Battery, 6x Nichia 219AT LEDs with CRI 90+, really great beam.

cheers

Michael

What drivers were you using back then?

hi Pinkpanda,

in the most lights i used modified nanjg 105c drivers. i added 7135 modules and reflashed the firmware with my own code - but i will introduce you in that later. the possibilities were very limited, no compare to the FET Drivers and so on, which are available now.

Some nice lights you have made. Knubby is very well done.

Thank you grin.

let me show you the next light in the collection:

a Aluminium and Chopper Bi-Color light with Cree MT-G LED with 2x18350 batteries or 2x18650 batteries, i built two different battery tubes.

i used a C8 Reflector and also used the same thread size, so i can mix up the parts:

the Cree MT-G LED:

cheers Michael

Wow, Michael, these are really great!! All of them are aesthetically beautiful. Once you said conventional machining, I am especially impressed with the head on your 2013 bike light…wow. I’m not a machinist but have a decent understanding of most operations and tooling - how did you accomplish the fluting/grooves on the round head?

hi, thanks a lot for your words.

You are right, all of the parts are machined conventional without CNC. the bike light was a relative complex design for machining it, but i have fun doing unnormal things. Unfortunately i don´t have a picture of machining exact that part - but i found a picture from a similar condition:

on my milling machine i have a rotary table, which i use for almost all milling operations on the flashlights. in that case, i tilted the head of the milling machine in the angle of the chamfer to have a symmetrical groove.

cheers,

Michael

Aha…of course, a chuck on the table! I hadn’t seen that setup before, just regular rotary tables and indexers. I was trying to figure out how one would bring the mill over the the lathe. Ha. :slight_smile:

Just saw your other threads, too…really nice work, good stuff!