Section 3 updated.
Hmmmm. What tools/machines do you use to make these?
Especially the Ag torch.
You are one amazing guy Tofty. Those 3D printed lights are outstanding. Do you 3D print the threads as well? Also the silver, can this be 3D printed also?
Sorry Guy's i should have explained how it's all done in Section 3 (which i'll do in a bit).
ChibiM, i have a lathe and a milling machine which i use to make the machined torches.
The 3D printed torches are made in a variety of different ways, just not by me (see below).
MRsDNF, thanks a lot.
All the 3D printed torches require no further finishing whatsoever, just assembly, so the threads are fully useable when they're posted to me.
The silver is not technically printed, it's cast using the lost wax method. It's the wax model that's printed.
Shapeways is a company which manufactures objects by 3D printing from a customer's upload 3D model.
I don't have to do anything except create a 3D model that conforms to the desired materials physical limitations, upload it, pay for one to be made then sit back and wait for it to be delivered. It's the future and i'm all for it being that simple.
The plastic torches are either glued or laser sintered together from layered powder, then polished in a ceramic tumbler which also helps remove excess powder from voids and cavities.
The silver and brass (the brass is actually from another 3D printing company called i.materialise) torches were cast as i mentioned above then finished by removing sprues, polishing and/or plating.
Shapeways also offer a stainless steel material which i've been using to make some one-piece multitools and such. It's production starts out very similar to the plastic material with a stainless steel powder being glued together to form an overall shape. The object is then heat in a kiln to burn away to glue and fuse the stainless particles together. At the same time the object is infused with bronze to fill the glue voids. It's not a suitable material for torches as it's resolution isn't quite good enough but it's a lot of fun for other things.
Man, I feel like I just walked through a museum with great works of art. I’m in awe of your creations.
Thanks ImA4Wheelr, new exhibits added to Sections 1 and 2.
" ... Updates will continue until morale improves. "
Simply amazing. Wish I can get one and pass it along to my son after me.
Dont stop posting. Thats about all I can say. Words dont define with what I have again seen. That dive light, wow. Thanks.
That Ag Torch would look/work a whole lot better if it was in my pocket… J)
Thanks a lot everyone, section 5 has just been updated along with a few other small things.
Oh looks like updates are no longer required after all, never mind, forget i said anything.
All in good time, i'm slowly working on making such a scenario a reality, very slowly.
Oh OK i'll continue then, i'm confused now. Cheers.
I hope you wear a belt cos otherwise your trousers will be round your ankles in no time, it's not very pocket friendly.
bit lost for words there, talk about thinking out of the box. Other than the sound of my jaw scraping around on the floor, I was particularly interested in the Fens bog wood. I grew up there (and left as quick as I could), but I’ve never heard of that before. I’m guessing it’s old wood dug up from when it was a marsh/ bog before the land was reclaimed? Or is it from the other side of the sea wall where it’s been brought to the surface by the RAF bombing the monkeys out of it (about the only excitement to be had around there)?
Two questions: which machine?
which CAD/CAM SW?
Thanks a lot Race, hopefully some of the Section 5 lights will come to life eventually.
Cheers Matt, i don't know a great deal about bog woods other than that they have to be carefully dried to avoid splitting so i suspect it's from outside the fully reclaimed areas. The Fens isn't an area of the country i've ever visited, which i suppose rather helps make your point.
For 3D CAD i use Solidworks but i prefer to draw in AutoCAD then transfer them over. For things like 3D printing Solidworks is great because it will identify any open features or small overcomplicated sections so you know the model is correct and printable before you upload to Shapeways or other similar sites. I've never had any cause to use CAM software so far as i have no CNC machining access.
The machines i use are just hobbyist spec:
Myford Super 7 long-bed lathe, 3-phase motor with variable speed control.
Axmister milling machine, can't remember which exactly but one of the cheaper ones.
Now you know why i only make one-offs.
If you get sick of your mill let me know. Thanks again for showing us your work. 
0.875” O.D. is 1/3 the price…
yikes, that’ll be an expensive torch!
Tofty, yep, not much point going to the Fens unless you have too. Definitely one for the agoraphobes to miss too 
Beautiful lathe by the way, they have quite a following in the UK by all accounts. Oh, and I hope that work light on your mill is LED 
I think it would cost more to ship it than it cost new. My pleasure cheers.
Thanks for the link, i hadn't seen that seller before. Unfortunately that stuff isn't quite suitable, as far as my understanding of machining tungsten goes; It's high purity tungsten (99.95%) which is very difficult to machine. A good machining grade alloy will be around 90-95% tungsten with the rest being iron and nickel, these alloys improve the cutting characteristics of the material by quite a bit, hopefully enough to make the impossible a reality.
It's good to have a ball park price figure though, i should only need about 150mm (6") so the cost could be a bit lower than $600 plus postage.
Expensive but hopefully indestructible, i'm always too careful with my torches and don't use them as i should, a torch that cannot be damaged might be the solution......or the fact that it would cost so much to replace might cause an even greater over-protectiveness.
The fens do look a bit bleak and open and i have a natural distrust of drained bogs and flood plains, too many poorly planned scout hikes i suspect.
The Myfords do seem to be held in some regard but more importantly there will always be parts and tooling available for them due to their popularity. Shame they went out of business a few years ago but new one's were hideously expensive. That one started out as a short bed ML7 (older model) off ebay and got slowly improved over time until the right upgrade was again found on ebay.
Alas the work lights are not LED, something does need to be done about the lighting situation in the workshop but it's at the back of a very long list of other jobs that need doing, one day though.
There is a copper-tungsten alloy called Elkonite. Used a lot for welding electrodes. Don’t know how it machines…