I use thermal compound on all my lights with screw in pills and on most of the really high power ones at the head:body connection. Dont forget that on higher quality lights the threads are going to be more precision cut leading to a better amount of surface contact.
I’m surprised the lens cut so cleanly! I’m also surprised to see copper inside the clicky.
This needs an anatomy thread. Nice work Djozz.
Very well done 
Look at the crappy threads on the tail cap.
Excellent !
What’s next ?
C8 ?
I'm surprised to see copper (brass) in the switch too.
The cutting did not go that clean, I sanded the individual pieces after the cutting, and then fitted it together again. The lens cut was even a bit polished with a piece of paper.
The problem with screw thread fit is apparently thermal expansion from the heat generated while machining. Of course more expensive lights can be made with the lath turning more slowly and maybe cooling liquid and better compensation for the expansion.
Cheaper lights, on the other hand, because they may sell in much larger quantities, can have more work and talent going into programming the numerical control, so they can have nicer shapes than more expensive lights can.
The perfect question gets the perfect answer. Where else but BLF? :bigsmile:
It took me a while to get that one. :Sp
For future reference, sectioning like this goes a lot better, and easier if you pot the entire part and draw a vacuum to remove the air bubbles. Once you remove half, you can polish up the face to get a nice outline with everything frozen in place. If you remember to cast it in a nice “frame” or have a way to square it up and polish the outsides, it makes for a good showpiece.
very nice work, though. Definitely an out-of the box review!
edit… Just found some money in my DX account and have one on the way :party:
I can’t believe I have no AA/14500 lights!
Beam shots or it didn’t happen!!! J)
I enjoyed that.
Do a Fenix TK75 next! lol :zipper_mouth_face:
Reminds me of the half cup of tea in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland.
I can’t find a good image of it.
LOL. Beam shot! Too funny.
Nice beamshot LOL…
I don’t know why I find this flashlight splitting so amusing. I guess maybe, maybe, this defines the time where we cross from enthusiasts to nuts category. :bigsmile:
Not sure I agree with all that, but then again, I know squat about machining.
:bigsmile: and meanwhile practise the fine art of destroying.
@warhawk: great beamshot! :-D
Will It Blend?
Thanks djozz, very interesting and informative.
Bet that was not an easy task!
The sawblade blocked numerous times, and three quarters underway it did not like hitting the tail spring and some teeth broke off, but it was old anyway, the new blade was doing much better :-)
Love the beam shot.
I had heard that the body is too thin where it conducts heat from the pill to the finned section, and the picture shows that. The wide part of the pill hits the end of the body before the bottom of the pill touches the small ID of the battery tube. It looks as though this example is not exactly following the original concept of the design. There is no reason for it to be so thin there. The end of the battery tube appears to be cut away to make space for a longer pill below the driver. Either the outside edge of the pill should extend farther back or the ID of the battery tube should remain small to the point where it reaches the pill we see. It would be better for the pill to be longer, because that gives more contact area between the pill and body. I can’t say whether any were actually made that way. Some have solid pills, so maybe some have longer pills.
In a mod., the lengths could be shifted so the pill screws down farther, or else one could add a copper or aluminum ring to fill the empty space. In mine, I have a 17 mm. driver there, which is convenient but doesn’t help the heat flow. It provides an incentive to learn to build a BLF SK68 5x7135 driver or to go direct drive.
This design will be mature when it becomes easier to control multiple amps. within 15 mm.