New Build/Mod. Can A Humble Defiant 3C Trounce The Mighty TN31?

Greased lightning is basically a sodium hydroxide solution (aka lye, drain cleaner). I use drain cleaner for stripping anodization.

Gday mate absolutely gorgeous onya mate

Thanks texaspyro. It looks like a visit to the supermarket.

I use the crystalline version of drain cleaner. The only parts that I have done are fairly small. I cover the bottom of a 24 oz drinking cup with about 1/4” of lye and fill the cup with COLD water. Stir to dissolve (be careful to not splash it on sensitive parts of your house or body). Cold water is important since it releases a lot of heat when it dissolves. Hot water can cause it to splatter.

I suspend the part to be treated in the cup using a couple of largeish zip ties. One is full length, the other is a piece cut off of one and slid into the head of the long one. They are arranged in an inverted T shape. Jiggle the part every few minutes. It takes around an hour to strip most parts.

Well now . That light just has to be fairly heavy , so a paracord handle would need to be fairly wide to be comfortable . It would be nice to know which battery configuration would be the most used if the lanyard was to be attached to the tailcap . If the lanyard /handle was made to noose over both ends , however , the light could be used in any configuration and the padded section of the lanyard would be at the point of balance ...

Let me think about it some more when I haven't had several beers tomorrow .

And by the way, incredible mod to the Defiant.

A worthwhile testament and incredible work. I would say you have out done yourself but I think you have been over modest in the past. All the best to Peter.

Wow. A really fantastic mod.

excellent work.

Thanks Rufusbduck.

The balance point is 50mm from the fins with four batteries. That is about half my hand width which will be why it's so easy to carry. I have added a picture in the first post.

I’ve just been handed the kitchen scales that were never calibrated 15 years ago and the official all up weight with four King Kongs is 1.25 kilograms which is 9.25 pounds.

So you'll be needing a shoulder strap then ?

Uhhh, unless we are being dragged into a black hole, 1kg = 2.20 lbs -> 2.75 lbs

Gee’s. Buggered that up. Your right. I suppose you get that trying to scoff breaky down and out the door to work. I never did trust calculators. it’s another conspiracy I bet. Sorry about that.

Excellent build! What a beast, and a perfectly balanced one at that.
I would probably ano the new parts for heat dissipation purposes, but it would look really amazing if it was all polished aluminum.

I’ve got camera lenses that weigh more than that, and then there’s the camera body, flash unit, flash brackets….Try holding that for 14hours on wedding day!

Steve, that work looks factory man! Excellent detail work and great pics! Love how your daughters fancy fingernail polish let’s her hold up “10 lbs” with one finger! :wink:

I may have to weigh it again. It maybe closer to 20 pounds not. :wink: . As far as the factory look goes there are a couple of members here who have taught the rest off us to do trick photography. It makes nearly anything look good to the right eyes. :slight_smile:

that’s some stunning machining work, really really beautiful. I’d be hard pressed to tell that from a professional’s work! Now all you need to do is get yourself set up for annodising :slight_smile: If you need any tips, there’s an Aussie called brad72 on mtbr.com who does a lot of machining and annodising, I’m sure he’d be happy to help.

One word of caution about using sodium hydroxide to remove annodising - do it outside or somewhere very well ventilated. I don’t know what it gives off, but the fumes are pretty unpleasant. Rinse with lots of water before handling too. It’s no coincidence that swallowing drain cleaner is disturbingly popular as a method of committing suicide (shudder).

Danged Nice Machining MRsDNF!! You are a master..... knurler...(is that a word?) Well, whatever...this is beautiful work!! You make me want to build a big light now!! Post us another image when you get the black stripped off... that will be awesome!

NICE NICE NICE!!!! Dan.