Simple DIY project

Congrats sir, what a fantastic job!!! I really like the coin at the tail end, it gives a lot of character. Looking forward for the tear-down!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

Very nice work! Looking forward to the details.

Nice one Lancman.
I’d buy one of those in a split second. Great looking build.

This is my first attempt at a ‘how to’ thread, so bear with me.
My daughter fell in love with my original so I have to make another one anyway. :slight_smile:

First up you need a 6” length of 3/4” copper tube. I use a pipe cutter to get clean, square cuts.

Now the fiddly bit. Cut about 2-3mm off the end of the tube. This will become the bezel.

Now cut a section out of the ring.

Clean up the inside of the pipe to remove burrs and fit the ring into the end of the pipe.

It’s trial and error how much you have to cut the bezel to get a nice tight fit. I’d guess about 4mm.

Now solder the bezel in or glue with epoxy.
Remove all the innards from the donor torch. The great thing about this particular one is that everything is held in with threaded retaining rings so is easy to remove.
Next up, the pill. This needs to be filed down slightly to fit. Easiest way I found was like this:

No need to remove the driver or emitter. The trick is to take off only just enough for the pill to slide down the tube. Take off too much and you will have poor electrical and thermal conductivity. If you are going to be fitting a high power emitter I would suggest putting a screw through the side of the tube to clamp the pill to the inside wall.
(Unless, of course anyone can come up with a better idea….)

Next, the switch assembly. This needs filing down as per the pill.

Note the screw head under the green cap. There is one either side of the switch to hold the switch in the housing. See post 40 in this thread for a picture of the switch assembly as it comes out of the torch. The screws go in the two square holes either side of the switch.
The rubber cap is then simply superglued to the top of the switch and the coin superglued to that.
Tip: Do the gluing with the switch inside the pipe (or a piece of scrap) to ensure everything lines up properly.
You are now ready to start assembly. This is what you should have:

Note the O-ring in the middle is optional. It’s there to hold the head assembly in place when removing the battery. It’s 21mm OD and need to be quite stiff. The one shown is probably a bit OTT but is all I had to hand.
Slide the head assembly (O-ring, lens, reflector, pill) and battery into place and mark where the back of the battery is.

Use this mark to position the switch and mark the position of the hole for the retaining screw. Don’t forget to allow for some spring compression so the battery is a nice tight fit between the springs. Slide the switch into position and hold it down against the springs. Drill a pilot hole through the tube into the switch housing. Insert a small screw, press the button and cross your fingers!
If all is well you now have to decide how much overhang you want at the tail. Allow enough to fit a lanyard, if required, and cut the tube to length. Drill the holes for the lanyard and you’re done. All that remains is to disassemble and get polishing! I went for a satin finish ’cos I’m lazy but see Match’s thread for what’s possible with some patience an a lot of elbow grease.

So there you have it. Job done. Easy peasy. I had the copper tube already so the total cost for me was £2.20 ($3.30). If you don’t have the tube, try a plumber - he/she is bound to have an offcut in the back of the van.
I hope someone is inspired to have a go and if you do, please post pictures here. I’d love to see them!
Thanks for watching.

I will most definitely have to give this a try, thanks for sharing and great pics by the way!!!

I’m looking forward to seeing how this turns out (the build itself).
Edit: That looks good! I may try something like this some day.

Inspirational indeed! I might give something like this a go. A few questions on your particular build though:

That nice thick o-ring in the middle of your last photo, was that from the donor light? It looks pretty thick to me, I have not seen one like that in any of my lights.
Also, getting the tailcap off for cell removal, when you unscrew the retaining screw does the switch fall out easily or do you knock it out? I know it can be filed down to personal preference, I’m just asking what you did.

That o-ring was not in the donor torch, it’s just one I had in my box-o-bits. The thin, floppy O-rings that you find in most torches simply aren’t beefy enough for this purpose. It’s not strictly necessary, it just makes life a bit easier when taking the battery out for charging as it stops the head assembly sliding back up the tube.
When you remove the retaining screw, the switch unit pops out part way due to the spring pressure. You can then pull it out the rest of the way or use the weight of the battery to push it out.

You made it look so easy , when in fact it takes a true genius or a flashaholic of the top tier (or both) to make this happen this smooth…
Excellent work!

Thanks for the update pictures. You have explained it perfectly. I reckon you will have inspired dozens to try their first build.

Excellent job!

If you are going to be fitting a high power emitter I would suggest putting a screw through the side of the tube to clamp the pill to the inside wall.
(Unless, of course anyone can come up with a better idea….)

You could use a small pointed punch, like a nail set punch and make a couple of dimples in the copper, where the pill is, to tighten it in place. Easier than a screw and keeps the surface looking smoother.

You could also use another piece of copper, like you used for the bezel, behind the penny and make it fit like you did on the front one, then take it out, solder it and slide it in to keep the penny in. Then you could drill through the body and that ring and use a small key chain style split ring, to keep it from shifting, while using the key chain ring to hook the lanyard to. Of course you would have to remove that ring, to access the battery, but you have to with the screw anyhow.

Sorry, when I get going, I don't know when to shut up.



Flashaholic? Probably - thanks entirely to this forum! This is where I got MY inspiration.
Genius? No way (that made my wife laugh ’till she cried) - it looks easy because it IS easy.
But thanks for the ego boost anyway. :bigsmile:

That’s really nice!

Don’t apologise, that’s just what I wanted to hear: fresh ideas. Thanks for sharing.
The only problem with the punch idea for retaining the pill is it would be permanent. No way to get the pill out if the driver or emitter gave up the ghost.
I like your second idea, probably the best solution if you just wanted to stick with the original rubber tail cap.
Keep ’em coming!

Best use of a penny i’ve ever seen.

:bigsmile: They’re certainly not much use for anything else these days.

I remember a time when…………never mind :slight_smile:

They cost more than their value to make. :~ Maybe it’s time we retire them (and nickels, for the same reason)?

I decided that the Lancman PipeLight Mark II would be bit more DIY than the Mark I so as a start I made my own copper pill using yet another penny. It was only after I had soldered it all together and started grinding the Queen’s head off (sorry Ma’am) that I found out something else about UK pennies. Up to 1992 they were made of bronze (97% copper so good enough) but since then they have been made of copper plated steel! :Sp |(

So now I have to check the date on every penny I find or test it with a magnet. I am now hoarding all pre ’92 pennies I come across and have been officially classified barking mad by my wife. :slight_smile:

I’m sure most of us can relate to that :stuck_out_tongue:

Woof, woof, (welcome to DIY). Now you see lights as we do, or actually, now you see the world as we do: parts that we can turn into lights.