Tis' the Season - Red 1D Maglite build - It's so nice to be in the shop again!

Hello everyone,

Cool weather has gotten down to us, finally. I can deal with the 80's and the nights are getting nice and cool. I hope it stays that way and I have celebrated by starting on the first of the 1D mods for this year.

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Something looks a little odd here, that looks like a tiger eye Cabochon, Huh...

I had the plans, a while back, for making some different tail cap switches this year. I even discussed it with Chicago X and TJ, I believe, but finally, I am getting to see what can be done with these ideas. I did a couple last year, but never did any refinements.

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Here's the sub assemblies, waiting to be put together and I will go through them a little, in case others might want to try it. The tail cap was drilled out with a 3/8" drill and then I used the rotary tool with the #115 bit, to open it up for the cabochon to fit.

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I also drilled two holes through the tail cap, where the "O" ring is, to pin the plastic insert in place. Future ones will be done with Allen set screws, so the switch assembly can be removed, but this prototype is pinned.

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The switch assembly started out as a solid piece of 1" plastic rod. I used the rotary tool to wallow it out, so the Judco switch would fit in. It's set in so that the top switch button is more or less centered and is just a little high from flush with the plastic. I had to bend the terminals down to clear and I have the wires soldered on.

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Here's a better shot from the side. One wire goes to the spring and the other will go to the side of the tail cap. That way the spring is isolated through the switch.

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The spring is out of a "C" maglite and I soldered a 7/8" dia. copper round to it. Then I drilled through the center and through the plastic below it and used a plastic bolt through the center. I just took a hot knife and melted the bolt at the other end (under the switch housing), to hold it in. I have to buy some "C" mag springs for the rest of the season.

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The button consists of a 7/8" copper round and two 5/8" brass rounds soldered together. Then I file it down till I get the stack height I want. The cabochon will mount on top of the brass round and be held on with epoxy (dried while under pressure). The biggest problem with a "through the tail" button is the fact that the Judco switch takes 3mm of movement and the tail cap is only 1.8mm thick, so there's more travel than thickness, which necessitates having the switch button be raised.

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This gives you sort of an idea of where this is going. I haven't assembled everything yet, but you get the picture. There's more to be done before it is finished and there's the whole rest of the light waiting to be done.

Later...............

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Tail cap is finished and it even works.

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Pins in place, to hold the assembly in the cap.

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Solder spot, where the second wire comes out, to touch the bare aluminum cap.

OK, let's start the rest of the build. We need a whole light, not just a tail cap & switch, so I am working on the shortening of the body.

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I made measurements and decided how much I needed to remove, to make this a 4xAA or 1X26650/32650 light. Yes, I will make it so a Li-ion will fit, since so many use Li-ions. The marks on the body are where I have to make the cuts. I marked the body by wrapping it in masking tape, to protect it and using a large tubing cutter, to cut the marks. The nice thing about the cutter is that the lines are perfect. The parts marked with an X will be scrap and I will end up with two seams. Why two seams? Well, it's personal preference. I just don't like the shorty lights with the knurling all the way up to the head, so I make two cuts, so I have the knurling back a little ways and more in proportion to a shorty maglite. It's more work, but that never stopped me before.

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My cuts are no better than anyone else's. They will need a lot of work to be straight.

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After cutting the pieces, I work with several large files, to try and get the ends straight, so that the light will be straight when put together and so the seams are tight. This is after straightening everything out. It's not near as good as a lathe, but it's close enough.

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Here's the pieces stacked together. The seams are good looking and the light is pretty straight, so it's on to the dremel work, to make the sections fit together. The overall length of this light will be 20mm shorter after doing the Human Lathe treatment to get the sections together.

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Let's take one seam and discuss what I am doing.

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I remove material from the Outside of one section

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Then I remove material from the inside of the other section and they slip together, but in doing so, I have made the whole thing shorter. The #115 dremel cutter is 10mm deep, so that's how much shorter it ends up for each seam.

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Also, there will only be one seam visible. The top two sections will seam so that it is hidden under the head, by removing material from the outside of this end, so the whole thing effectively moves up and under the head.

I have a Human Lathe video on my YouTube channel (in my sig line), that may help explain better.

--------------------------------------------------- More to come..............

So, the body is back together and here's a photo:

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You can see that I didn't get it quite right. The wall of the cut area sticks out too far. Oh well, too late now. Can't take it apart. Now you know why I cut rings where the splices are.

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Here you can see cutting the ring has all but eliminated the visual mismatch.

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The reflector does not fit right in the head. In fact, there are no aluminum reflectors that I know of, that fit right in the head of a Maglite. I have to either cut down the reflector, or open up the head.

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I've learned the hard way that it's better to open up the head. Here is the head ready for the reflector.

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The reflector fits in tight, it's level and it's sticking up, just like the original, so the bezel and lens fit correctly and the lens won't rattle.

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Finally Done!

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XM-L on an aluminum heat sink.

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Held in place and grounded, by a 3mm screw, cut down to fit so that the head will go over it.

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Ok, so I use those $1 nine led ugly blue lights and here I'm making these great Maglites - Go figure...

The NANJG driver should pull about 2 amps on high. It has six 350ma chips on it and it is set for 3 modes, hi/med/lo.

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Stock Chinese 3AA battery holder. No I didn't mod it. I'm using Alkalines for testing.

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Yep, it works. The reflector is coated (as always). I just hate ringy beams.

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Yes, the grooves are wider in one area. Kind of like giving a sense of this is the top... or not...

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AcoupleofFOYshots,LOL.

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That's it. It will be up for sale in a day or two.

Shiny :heart_eyes:

Nice. :D I love the 1D mods.

Nice!

Wicked cool. I love the look of switches that don’t use a rubber boot. It exudes upscale, or something.

I’ve always wondered the best way to anchor the internals at the front of a 1D without the retaining ring and set screw. I’d need to build it to be positively secured—so no amount of pressure from the battery and spring should be able to mess things up.

I've been thinking about something like that ever since I saw the lux-rc switches.. :)

How much? I’d very much like to bag an old lumens special by my birthday in February. I love your work Justin. 8)

Hehe..modding season. That tailcap switch looks precious (or is it semi-precious?)

Cool stuff !!!

Looking very good there!
Even though I have not much idea of what you are doing with it. What kind of switch that is, and why these holes are drilled in the sides.
I really like the look of the tailcap!

Me too!!

Can’t wait to see more.

I just love the tailcap, incorporating gem stones into a flashlight. :D Whats next a diamond heatsink? :P

Go-Go-Gadget-wat?

Direct diamond bonding anyone? I'll bet we could get a few thousand lumens with a big enough chunk of diamond.

"... This man can take any old tool ...and make any light into a jewel ..."

The ultimate heat remover is isotopically pure carbon-12 diamond. Twice the heat conduction of natural diamond (which has the highest thermal conductivity of any material). Then etch micro-channel grooves on the back for fluid to flow through. Life don’t get no better than that…

Thanks everybody for the kind words. I just like something a little different. Some buttons will be copper, some brass, some Nickel Silver, some Cabochones. Just another way to set them apart from the run of the mill.

Sensational !
I imagine the local lapidary club would love that as a trophy !
I’d like to see a Lapis Lazuli button.

That is gonna be a really nice light! See, somebody still wants to mod mags! For some reason I am really partial to 1D and 1C mags. You can get great heatsinking and I really like the looks. I esp. like to bust out one of my modded mags at night and see all the non flashlight peoples reactions :bigsmile: . Love all the where did you buy that questions.

The two holes in the "O" ring groove are to hold the whole plastic assembly in place, so it does not move.

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EDIT: The switch is a Judco pushbutton switch. They make many, search for Judco pushbutton switch, or just go to DigiKey. This one is a 10amp and it's a reverse clicky.