The Contest is Done! I will have the winners results in a few days. Once the judges all contact me, I will tabulate the results and let you all know.

Here are the Winners in the 2013 DIY Contest:

Rufusbduck for Single Emitter Hand Made

relic38 for Multiple Emitter Hand Made

MRsDNF for Single Emitter Machine Made

vestureofblood for Multiple Emitter Machine Made

Rufusbduck is also the Overall Contest Winner. Best in Contest!

Here is what the contestants win:

Rufusbduck walks away with $100 USD

relic38, vestureofblood and MrsDNF each get $50 USD

There's more - I can't tell you how hard it was for the judges to choose winners, so for the rest of you guys? You are all winners and it was so close that you need to be rewarded too.

DBCstm - $25 Gift Certificate from LightsCastle + $15 Gift Certificate from Illumination Supply

RaceR86 - $25 Gift Certificate from LightsCastle + $10 Gift Certificate from Illumination Supply

FmC - $25 Gift Certificate from LightsCastle

JA7 - $25 Gift Certificate from LightsCastle

dave_ - $25 Gift Certificate from LightsCastle

texaspyro - $25 Gift Certificate from LightsCastle

ruffles - $15 Gift Certificate from Illumination Supply

nickelflipper - $10 Gift Certificate from Illumination Supply

Pulsar - $10 Gift Certificate from Illumination Supply

Hopback - $10 Gift Certificate from Illumination Supply

Contestants - I will PM you in a day or two and let you know how to redeem your prizes.

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I sincerely want to thank the contestants for making their builds. I know sometimes it's hard to reach out and try something new and also it can be hard to be in the limelight sometimes, for risk of failure. None of you failed. You all exceeded any expectations with the fabulous builds and the great threads you made. I am deeply indebted to you all for making this such a great contest!

To the sponsors, (both BLF members and sellers), I thank you for giving me the ability to give prizes out to our contestants.

The the rest of the forum, I thank you for supporting our contestants during the competition.

YEEHAW!!!

I think that about sums up how I feel.

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The BLF DIY Forum First Annual Scratch made light contest

Contest Entry – Sign up here, to enter the contest. When you post that you want to enter, make sure you state if you are entering in the Machine Made category or the Hand Made category. You can enter only one of the two. Entries will be accepted until 06/08/2013 at Midnight UTC.

EDITED 6/7/13:  The Contest begins on Midnight UTC 06/08/2013 and runs until Midnight UTC 06/30/2013 07/15/2013 (hope that helps).  Do not start your build before the contest starts.

Here is a World Map of Time Zones showing the current time, with UTC time at the bottom of the chart.

Here is a UTC converter,  which may help.

Contest rules are described below. (This is an honors system contest, please honor the rules so we can all have a fun and honest contest).

Requirements for the Machine Made category:
 No modding of an existing light. It Must be made from scratch. No pre-made heat sink, or flashlight head, body, tail cap, etc.
Lights must be constructed out of at least 75% metal. The other 25% may be of some other material.
Exceptions: You may use a pre-made switch, driver/contact board, spring, led, star, reflector, lens, “O” rings. EDIT: I will add a P60-Drop-in (bare/empty drop in), to the list of acceptable.
The light has to fit into One of two sub-categories: Edited

• Single emitter light
• Multi-emitter light

It must be a hand held light, not stationary.

It has to work and you must be able to show a beam shot of it working.

In order to participate and be judged, you must be able to photograph the build as it progresses. Actually, that will help the judges determine how well you have made your light, so photos of the build, as it is being done, are mandatory. Use anything that can take clear and detailed photos for your build thread.

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Requirements for the Hand Made category:
No power tools. Nothing that is powered by AC or DC, such as a lathe, end mill, drill press, saw, sander, buffer, etc.
No coatings that would need electricity, such as Anodizing, Plating, etc. Nothing sent to outside shops to have work done or coatings done. Painting with a spray can is allowed.
Exceptions: An electric hand held drill or a Dremel/Rotary Tool. A soldering gun for soldering wires.

No modding an existing light. It Must be made from scratch out of non-flashlight parts. No pre-made heat sink, or flashlight head, body, tail cap, etc.
Lights must be constructed out of at least 25% metal. The other 75% may be of some other material.
Exceptions: You may use a pre-made switch, driver/contact board, spring, led, star, reflector, lens, “O” rings. EDIT: I will add a P60-Drop-in (bare/empty drop in), to the list of acceptable.

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The light has to fit into One of two sub-categories:

• Single emitter light
• Multi-emitter light

It must be a hand held light, not stationary.

It has to work and you must be able to show a beam shot of it working.

In order to participate and be judged, you must be able to photograph the build as it progresses. Actually, that will help the judges determine how well you have made your light, so photos of the build, as it is being done, are mandatory. Use anything that can take clear and detailed photos for your build thread.

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You may enter in only One Category, Machine made OR Hand Made

Judges, made up of BLF members, will judge for:

• Most original
• Best constructed

in each category, with an “Overall Best of Contest”.

All Contestants: You must make your own build thread in the DIY Forum and PM me with the Link. I will Link ALL your threads in One Post here, where everyone can get to it easily. So make your thread when you are ready and PM me with the link. Wait till the contest starts before making your thread please.

Prizes:
$50 for Most Original and Best constructed, in each category
And another $50 to whoever is “Overall Best in Contest”.

All builds and build threads must be completed by the end of the contest. No late entries. I think it would be good if you make your thread as you work on the light, to build a little suspense and give the judges more time to view your work. I just think it’s better to have the thread up there for members to see during the 3 weeks.

There are several member judges for this contest. I am one and I will not be participating as a contestant.

Once the Contest ends, the judges will have 3 days to select their choices for each category and for best of contest. I will notify the winners and post the results here.

This is hopefully, the first of many Annual modding contests. If it goes over well, I hope to have other contests of this type.

Above all, have fun with this. It’s just a way to let you get more involved in the forums and have some fun with flashlights.