Low-cost copper pills, spacers, optics, drop-ins (Updated 23/10/2022))

Next step is p60 copper finned head. Will be a future purchase though, not that soon I think.

Bezel is big problem for this option. Stock P60 bezel is to deep, uses strange threads and could not provide waterproof with o-rings (in stock it is provided by special shape rubber under glass).
I prefer when bezel is outer style (with internal threads), but seems it is impossible to make such part with machinary I have access to.
Anodizing is another problem for exterior parts from alu. When mechanics is not very cool, anodizing can hide small demerits, but sometimes it makes more of them.
I think I should start with simple P60 solid neck. Similar to OrthoDogs, but without internal screw-in pill. Just one design for triple/quad.

looking forward to simple P60 solid neck. How long is the wait?

Not faster than one month. Copper or bare aluminium?

copper :slight_smile: depending on price else ill go aluminium

Again have some xp-g3s. 3C tint now.
Can be shipped together with 3xp/xp32/tpad quad boards, but bare only for this moment.
$2/pc.
Combine shipping with any other parts from this thread.

Aw gee, I just today asked Hoop if he had any interest in making some aluminum SK68 and/or “#3 zoomie” pills.

I know it seems odd to put that work into improving $2 flashlights, but they’d make much better gifts with better pills.

So you have none of these, or have any left?
Nobody besides me is interested? Oh, sad, if so.

I have made them for myself in triple configuration and even build one light. It is little useless because triple conv. requires host cutting and there were no o-ring grooves so light becomes non-waterproof.
I have sent lots of them to one blf member, unfortunately havent seen if he had build them. Right now have 5 such pills (for triple, that needs host cutting). They are not pretty look and seems that I had done some expiriments with them. So they are free.

Do you mean a triple in a SK68?
I find that idea scary (grin) and don’t think I’d attempt that.
They’re not waterproof anyhow because of the slider.

I was curious about single-emitter SK68 pills
(recently I can find SK68s and “#3 zoomie” flashlights for $2 apiece if I am patient and look on eBay and AliExpress.
But those pills are some soft gray metal, uneven, so an emitter won’t even sit flat in contact around the edges,
and of course 10mm square Luxeon Rebel boards touch only at the four corners, on hollow pills.)

How much single sk68 pills do you need?
I will try to make rough drawing today or tomorrow.

I don’t want to push you into doing this if nobody else is interested in them!

I’d buy a dozen, couldn’t use more soon. See if anyone else is interested to make it worth doing?

I’d wish for pills with solid back planes to mount the LED on so I could use the square 10mm Luxeon Rebels.
But if they have ledges I can stuff in a copper or aluminum disk with some thermal epoxy, I’ve done that with ok success before (and just drilled my own holes for wires)

But before you spend any time and effort on this — I’m just some guy, I would not be making these up to resell, but to give as gifts
I’d be putting in BLF 15mm SK68 drivers if I didn’t keep the originals, and “anything has to be better” LEDs.

One annoyance with improving SK68s is that it’s hard to solder drivers to pills — I just dropped one and had the driver edge solder crack off the aluminum pill.
No problem for me, but a fairly common failure when they’ve been given as gifts so I end up redoing that solder bridge.

I don’t know a simple good way around that problem of grounding the driver to the pill that’s idiot proof against dropping them.

Anyone has a solid Cu pill for a ’98 and I’ll kiss ya on the mouth.

Love the flood from ’98s, and would love to push a coupla amps through a nice 4500K XM-L2.

Al would be okay, too. Beats the dinky hollow-pills that are in there now…

PS — for this kind of gift-giving, I like the “#3 zoom” better than the SK68.

these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/USA-RU-Mini-Penlight-Led-Flashlight-ZOOMABLE-7W-CREE-Q5-2000lm-ZOOM-Tactical-AA-or-14500/32723690979.html

Fewer sharp corners, more pocket-friendly. Also takes the 15mm SK68 driver and same emitter

And when a millimeter is filed off the slider, bringing the lens right down to the LED, they give a generous flood, while the narrow beam isn’t affected.

It’s almost impossible to solder to Al. The metals are too dissimilar, and won’t “stick”. Plus, the briefest exposure to oxygen would lightly passivate it.

What I’ve done is to solder-fill the vias/passthroughs on the edges of the driver (those “ridges” where the boards snap apart, usually), and then press-fit the drivers into the pills so that it’s literally a friction-fit. Not perfect, but seems to work for me. Too much solder, though, and it won’t fit at all.

That’s why I like Cu or at least brass.

I would be in for 2 sk68 pills.

Yep. Solder blobs weren’t the right approach.
Lately, I’ve also soldered a tiny copper wire to both sides of the driver, flattened it with a tap (it’s soft already from heating) then squeezed that into place.
Same idea as filling the vias — make the ground ring around the driver electrically contact the pill ….

No problem. You is not first who is asking about them, and 10pcs is enough quantity to make small batch.
I understand that everyone wants solid plane.

SK98 is much less popular than SK68. Also they are not so cheap and closer to better 18650 zoomies in price

I enjoy them myself. Once they almost burned my jeans pockets internal (with trustfire 14500 cells). But they are not as good in heat spreading as sipik with solid pill.

Also I think that we can move pcb shelf a little to have such zoom out and zoom in beams as you want to.

I think there is no need on driver soldering in such projects. You can solder driver to copper pill using torch but it is not safety.
To other ways:

  1. Press fit. Driver place is 0.2mm smaller than driver OD, you need to file driver until it enters in its place by half around and then press it inside
  2. Pill rim press. In fact with 15-16mm driver place rim is thin and you can simply bend it inside to hold driver.

SK68 $2 chinise clone single led solid shelf copper pill interesting list:

  1. leroycp - 6pcs
  2. hank - 10-12pcs(?)
  3. pscal - 2pcs

hm, I’ll go with “whatever” in the end, but curious.

On all the ones I have the side groove on the large diameter is used to hold either a rubber ring or a metal spring — that’s what gives enough friction to keep the sliding part from slipping back and forth, just enough contact (with a little lubrication) to make the focus change smoothly and stay where it’s set.
With that setup there’s probably some slop in the inner diameter of the focusing sliding part, filled by the ring/spring.

How would you focus the light if it’s just two cylinders one inside the other — thick grease? But that would goop out onto your hand, when the slider was full forward (narrow), I’d think?

If you mean the side groove just above the threads, I don’t see any use for that one.

Yes, my mistake, I used drawing of triple with fixed position and forgot about head fixing.
I will check how does it works with 1 o-ring exept of two in stock.

Imgur

#3 zoom” (left) and SK68 (right)
original pills