What to do with another plain black 2AA Maglite? I've been thinking that myself and I always wanted to make an angled head light. It just seemed too hard to do, so I never did try it.
Aw, the hell with it... Here goes...
So, I take an unsuspecting Maglite 2AA and render it harmless, so it can't try to bit me when it realizes what the heck I'm going to do with it.
Oh, the Screams! I had to wear earplugs, but I did make the cut. I cut the body at a 45 degree angle. Two 45's make a 90 don't they? Then I figured out that it was going to be very hard to hold this thing together. I held up the two pieces and they just fell apart, Hmmmm.
I got out my trusty copper box, but nothing fits. It's either too big or too small around to go inside the Maglite. I had to cut up some copper pipe, split it and cut some off, so it would go small enough to fit. Then I had to fit it into each end of the body and hold the whole derned thing together with some different kinds of vise grips, till I could hold it still long enough to dribble some solder in the hole. What a mess.
Now, that's not a nice solder job, but up inside, there's a bunch of solder, so hopefully it will hold till I get to the point of making it permanent. Then I thought, well Duh, how do I make the positive terminal at both ends? I have to contact the battery and then I have to contact the pill with the XM-L T6 on it.
I found some plastic bushings that just fit the bill to a "T". I will use them inside the copper and finagle some contacts.
On the end that the head screws on, I have to make something with a spring, so that as the head screws to make and break the negative contact, the positive stays touching. Well, the spring should do that, once I get it to stay in place and center it.
On the battery side, a simple copper contact should work. A wire will be soldered to it and to the spring at the other end.
So, what is this thing going to look like?
I already know it's going to work, or I wouldn't post it.
Well, famous last words, but I'm fairly confident with how it's gone so far...
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Well, let's try to finish this crazy light up, shall we?
The pill is similar to any other one I have done, but it has an XM-L on it and the positive terminal is much shorter since I am using a spring in the body.
Just a plastic washer and a copper contact work for the + terminal.
The TIR is a 15 degree one, from CNQG.
Here's the spring showing, in the body. The top of the body has been opened up a little and the ano is removed, so it will make contact with the copper pill. So you have the negative ring and the positive spring.
I did use some JB Weld between the two body halves and the copper insert, but I don't believe that will hold, so I pinned them with 1/8" brass rod, right thru the body, copper and plastic inserts. One is under the "O" ring, so the head will cover it, but the other will show.
Here it is. A Maglite 1x14500, 90 degree light. Notice the copper ring in front of the tail cap. I have issues getting the right length for the 14500, since the dimensions seem to be different from Mfg to Mfg and protected to unprotected. I used a Saft 14500 Lithium battery to test fit this and I needed the copper ring so that the tail cap would not crush the battery. Hopefully, with the ring taken off, a 14500 unprotected will fit better and will only need a thin magnet to fit.
Now, this is a great light and it's very bright, but how the hell can you tail stand it? You can't...
Not without this...
Now the light can tail stand on the shelf, with the rest of the collection!
I really like how this light came out and the foot base really sets it apart from the others. It's a one of a kind.