Since the body had the right diameter I could prepare cutting the threads for the tailcap:
With a parting tool I made the indents for the O-rings:
Using an indexable threading tool I cut the threads on the body:
You get nice little shavings:
After the threading was done I added chamfers to every sharp edge:
Even to the one I can’t reach with the normal tool:
Having done that it’s time for a test fitting:
It fits very nicely and here it also pays off that I have been that precise - you can’t see the transition between tailcap and body:
I parted off the tailcap with a little excess material (it is easier to take material away than to add to it), so I measured the length of the tailcap and need to take 0.05 mm of material away:
Now it’s time to finish off the tailcap and adding some chamfers:
The tailcap is done:
I continued by shaping the body:
Since I changed the angle of the cross slide several times I needed to measure again:
And the body is shaped on the outside:
Looks already very flashlight like:
That’s it for now, thanks for reading and more later.
What do you mean by width? I actually limited the resolution of the pictures to 800x600 so it would load faster. Was that a bad idea? Maybe I should delete all the pictures in the third post, it's getting a little much...
Re width, your pictures are over running the right hand boundary which doesn’t make your pictures any bigger but makes the text smaller and seems to slow page loading. Best way to add pics is with the sunset icon(tool bar button #8), copy your picture link into the first line of the drop down box and type 100% into the second box which sets the width to just inside the blue line on the right. Your pictures won’t be any smaller but the text will stay legible for us older codgers and may speed things up. My post has lots of pics but still loads quickly so maybe it will help. You can adjust pictures already loaded by adding {width 100%} after the first ! . Compare the text of one loaded this way with the drop down box to one of yours to see the exact syntax.
Thanks! I resized all pictures and hope it works better now :)
Well, the same applies to handmade things. There it's even more exciting since you don't really know how it'll come together. It is so satisfying suddenly seeing all components form a flashlight, like a puzzle.
Thanks! Yes, I love it. It makes things so much easier and you don't even have to readjust your tool after changing tools. Also all the different angles, it's really great. Originally it is made by AXA but their tool holders are very expensive (although their manufacturing quality is clearly the best). I got mine from TWG, as far as I could see their quality was very good for an affordable price. I am very satisfied with mine.
After the threads are done it’s time to bore out the body. Since I decided to use a tactile switch, I faced the problem of how to transfer the switch signal to the driver. I could have just used a normal switch and avoided this problem but I really like the possibilities and the flexibility of such a tactile switch. For instance, you can implement a high mode which is always accessible, a beacon which flashes when the light is turned off, and many more fun things. The reliability is a strong factor as well. Anyway, NovaTac uses a spring which connects tailcap and body. This isn’t perfect since it scrapes against the anodized body and takes up a lot of space. HDS uses a thin wire, I like that better but the indent still makes the wall thickness unnecessarily thin at one point. So to avoid this, I decided to bore the hole for the battery 0.5 millimetres out of the centre and then make a groove for the wire. Let’s see how that works out! So I just started boring out the body as usual: When I reached around 16.5 millimetres I added a sheet of metal under one of the three jaws: Because the sheet is 0.50 millimetres high, it moved the body approximately 0.5 millimetres out of the centre. To make sure it worked, I quickly measured the concentricity: And continued widening the diameter of the body. Here you can see the eccentric hole for the battery: After making sure that the diameter was right, it was time to create the groove on the thick side of the tailcap to insert the wire later. That part was a little tricky as well. First, I made a tool which could take an 8 millimetre HSS rod. I started by just creating a round metal rod: Next, I bored in a hole and widened it with a reamer: And slotted it with a homemade slotting tool (I like making tools… ): I threaded a hole I bored into the metal rod: An 8 millimetre HSS rod fits nicely without wobbling around: To create the actual groove I ground a piece of HSS rod: and put it in my toolholder which usually hosts my centering tool: Before putting everything on the lathe I had to make sure that the spindle wouldn’t turn away. Since I didn’t get to build something proper I had to improvise a little. I found an old nut: and tightened it around the gear in the back of the lathe, making sure that the spindle couldn’t turn: It seems to be working: It took a long long time since I can’t just move my slide but have to wind the slide back and forth. Finally, the finished body and tailcap (at least that’s what I thought): Thanks for reading
Nice to see the lathe making the tools needed to continue. Too bad you couldn’t use the motor to turn the watchamacallit threading gear without turning the chuck.
Thanks :D Another groovy post will follow ;)
Unfortunately the motor powers the spindle directly so that wasn't possible. I just stood there for 15 minutes and did it by hand...
@pinkpandda3310 Thanks! Not that you would need a lathe to make a light. :P I uploaded the files I used for the light here. Maybe I will add an 18650 body as well.