Announced: The 4th annual BLF / Old-Lumens scratch made light contest

Nice!

Maybe I should enter this time. How hard can it possibly be to make a scratch-built flashlight? :stuck_out_tongue:

This is going to be fun. I’m exited to see what new ideas turn up this year!

Mine will also be inspired by OL and RBD as well. If you enter both comps I believe we’ll all be the richer for it.

I feel the same but sooner or later you have to take the plunge. I watched in awe before but this year I’ll try :student:

Gotta do it again. :crown:

Looking forward to the amazing works again.

I don’t have the funds, and with my health I don’t really have the spare time (not to mention the lack of skill) so I won’t be entering but I look forward to seeing what others come up with.

I was thinking that it might be nice if we could have some of the more experienced members help to mentor people who are entering for the first time. Obviously being BLF there is no real need for specific mentoring as people can start a build thread and get advice but it might help boost confidence. Maybe even just a mentor thread would encourage a few extra people to partake?

This whole place is a mentor forum but if anyone wants to pair up with someone in particular just send them a pm and ask. Similar time zones would be an aid in getting timely answers.

I’ve bagged RBD already. :laughing:

Great to see the contest running again! :slight_smile:
Since i won the first place prize the last two years in a row, i will step back this year as a judge or a guide to help others any way i can, or offer assistance to the contest in other ways.

Very sorry to hear of your health problems. Possibly a simple build. Once you go looking through all of the older contests, you might see something that is not expensive to do. As far as modders being mentors, we are just people like everyone else and most likely the onus should be on the one who wants to learn, to PM some of the promiment modders and ask for help. Watching the builds is many times, just as fufilling as doing them.

Anyhow, good luck to everyone and I hope you find something you might try to make, you never know till you try. If a person has some common sense, they can go far. If not, they can still be Blonde and proud of it.

I tell everyone who would like to try, give it a go. If it works, it works and if it fails, at least you tried. Failure is never as bad as never even trying. Failure is just more infamous.

I am going to give it a go! I have an idea already thought out in my head. Hahahaha i cant draw for shit this should be fun!

It’s a good thing this isn’t a cartoon contest then.

Earlier years it has been… BUT I have thought of changing that rule. Will discuss about that with judges (as soon as I have selected them…)

Open question to everyone: Would anyone have any good reason not to allow that?

Thanks OL. My health issues seem insignificant compared to what you are going through though.

I will have a look over some of the older build threads, maybe I will find enough inspiration for this years contest.

As for common sense, I didn’t think BLF was about common sense :stuck_out_tongue:

IMO if someone wants to double up the head scratching, time and effort then power to them :sushi:

I would suggest everyone to ask open questions in their build thread. This will not only allow more than one person to help, but also is more entertaining & educational for everyone watching the build thread! Also, remember that documenting the obstacles and asking help from community will give you extra points. :)

PM'ing other modders is of course allowed, but not as fun for readers & judges (=> no points).

Others may not donate you extra time ( :D ), but you may try asking for small donations (missing parts, etc.) in your build thread. I would bet there are many persons near you that are willing to help!

Verrrrry interesting! :smiley:

On the both challenges question, I would say no. My reasoning is based in large part on something mapache has touched on, as well as The Miller… skill set. For someone used to operating the machines, they’ve developed a skill set that is a serious advantage even when building with simpler tools. This can be intimidating for someone that hasn’t built a light before at all, and has limited tools and knowledge to work with. By not putting a rookie up against a lathe master, the rookie has a much better chance of “winning” (that’s in quotes because anyone that tries, wins, purely based on accomplishment)

When I built the .50 Browning Machine Gun light, I may very well not have even tried if going up against the likes of Hoop or MRsDNF. Having built that light though, the confidence one gains in the successful attempt is largely why I’m still here today. So for those out there that are straddling the fence, I strongly encourage you to saddle up, take the ride… you’ll be glad you did! :wink:

Each time I’ve been a part of it I’ve learned a lot of new things, mostly from figuring out how to overcome an unforeseen challenge or from watching others do the same. The “borrowed threads” Dale used in the .50 cal is a staple of my home made builds now but there are other ways to skin the cat as well if you just look around and notice how things are put together.

To save the looking up time, I cut brass pipe fittings to steal the threaded ends off of them, both male and female, to rejoin the .50 cal shell after cutting it to get the flashlight parts inside. I didn’t have a way to do threads, the shell case wasn’t thick enough to cut threads if I had the tools, so I soldered in/epoxied in these “borrowed” threads. I used epoxy on one so it would be locked out from ground, enabling a twisty action. :wink:

Necessity is the mother of invention. That’s the fun part. Getting the idea what you want to do, then finding the necessary bits and pieces to bring it to fruition. The big difference between thinking you can and knowing you can is this bit of priceless experience that gives confidence.

I will warn though, it’s highly addictive! :smiley: