Aluminum, SS, Copper, Titanium... how about a silver AAA light?

I don’t know how funny or common might be this idea… but i’d love a silver light!

And i would not mind some crystal inlays or other jewel like ornamentation.
For me and some ladies i know.

For an EDC AAA tube shaped light it would not take that much material.
A silver tube… some machining for the threads at least… some engraving… it could use parts from an actual light… BLF-348 for instance.

Could it still be a ‘budget’ light?
I have absolutely no experience regarding flashlight production, so i’m just dumping the idea of a somewhat more ‘precious’ light here. :slight_smile:

I’ve thought of it a few times myself… At least a silver pill.

But that’s a lot of silver, and worse still probably a lot of wasted silver, with the boring and threading and what have you,assuming you start with a solid chunk.

But I’d like to have this as well, if we could keep it thick, like several ounces of silver, as it would be a good way to hide precious metals in plain sight

A few months ago I asked myself the same. IMHO would the cost of the silver not differ very much from other materials like titanium. Simply because an AAA-light only weighs a few grams. But in stead of sterling silver I would recommend the use of argentium. This has a slightly different composition, but better physical properties. And the waste of machining and drilling will be recycled.

I used an old dime to put behind the star to fix a hollow pill.
There is an old thread here with pictures of silver lights, made with 3D printing.
Silver has slightly more heat conductivity than copper.

This idea comes up all the time on another forum I hang out on. There’s interest out there for a solid silver light.

The only silver light I can think of is the Lummi Wee.

A silver AAA light is a great idea!

Nickel or Nickel Silver wouldn’t be too bad either.

Maybe the silver tube could be extruded or cast so that there would be little material to machine off?

Interesting question. So, let’s estimate what the silver would cost. May as well do the metal cost for copper and gold while we’re at it.

Current prices, per gram:

Gold $40.00
Silver $0.50
Copper $0.005

Density, grams per ml:

Gold 19.3
Silver 10.5
Copper 8.9

Lets assume we start with a block of metal the size of the BLF-348 AAA light, a somewhat large AAA light. The block would measure 9cm x 1cm x 1cm, or 9ml in total volume.

Assume we waste all the scrap metal after boring and shaving. (Ridiculous for gold, and probably for silver as well, but this gives an upper limit on the cost of the metal in the light.)

Total price of the light’s tube, after using the above figures, is:

Gold light: $6950.00
Silver light: $47.25
Copper light $0.40

So, a silver AAA light would add at most $47.25 to the price of the light, assuming it’s as easy to work with as steel, aluminum, or copper. That assumes no recycling.

I think the price would be pretty reasonable.

Gold, not so much.

Interestingly, the above 40 cent figure for copper, makes me wonder why there’s so much of a premium for copper lights. (The Astrolux A01 copper AAA light group buy is $11 more expensive than the aluminum version.) Is copper more difficult to work with, or is there no scale of economy for it?

The scale is wrong. You can’t buy Cu in a machinable bar that cheap. And yes, it’s more difficult to work with.

Edit. At $1.57 and inch for .5” Cu rod, you would have to pay for 5.5” at a minimum. Why that long? Because you have to thread male threads that dont’ count in the overall length, you have to true the ends and you lose some in parting off. Also you have to make a pill. Also need enough to chuck in the lathe to begin with.

$8.67 is a far cry from .40. So see, the scale is wrong.

EditII: That is in pure oxygen free copper which can be a booger to machine, might even break a bit.
Tellurium Cu is easier to work but the price goes up to $1.70 an inch. $9.35 for your 40 cent copper flashlight.

I’ve often thought of a lost wax cast mold for a silver aaa light, maybe some day when some of my other project are done
It would be a nice gift to the wife :heart_eyes:

Okay, fair enough. But the more you pay for a silver rod, the more likely it is that you’ll recycle all that waste silver after machining. Even at small-scale prices, there’s probably not more than $50 worth of silver in a AAA light.

That said, I doubt you’ll find anyone to make a silver light for $50-$75. It would be carried only by niche boutique dealers, and they’ll charge a whopping premium for what would essentially be jewelry.

I’d already thought of making one myself, not just the pill section but the whole light. Onlinemetals has Nickel 718 (Inconel) I could that for it’s non-tarnish and rust free properties and use Silver for the pill. Should still be able to make it under $40 or $50.

That’s why BLF is the right place to get this done, because nobody has to carry it anywhere. Nobody made a stainless steel X6 or copper X5 before blfers got together and had it done. No reason we couldn’t gather enough interest (or at least try) and have a small group buy run made. Nobody should expect it to be especially cheap, but it’s doable, especially if its really a factory light made of a new material. For instance, why couldn’t Lumintop just make us a run of Tools using Silver instead of copper, ti or aluminum? It wouldn’t take much work on their end as long as we had enough commitments to make it worth it to them.

Exactly emarkd, availability of the material notwithstanding. There may be some customs issues with a precious metal. :wink:

They’re just gonna call it a $5 garden tool anyway…. :stuck_out_tongue:

Well, a quick search later…
Onlinemetals.com didn’t have any silver that I could find. But…
Sterling Silver tubing

This is 1/2” OD tubing by 12” long, the largest they carry at that website. They are sold by the troy oz, but the site estimates this tubing at $1.61 for one 12” length. Price goes down with multiples. They have 1/2” OD rod stock as well. Silver Rod stock Price per 12” piece for that is $12.83 so still in the budget realm. Now, to get someone to make AAA lights out of this Silver! :partying_face:

I’m in for one :sunglasses:

How about a DB Custom light/host run??? Sorry Dale…had to throw that out there…

In for a silver Tool!

Rey?

make a big, fat, removable heat sink of pure silver, in the shape of a tall coin/cylinder, such that the machining and losses are nonexistent. a few good ounces (56-84 grams). this will add to inherent value but shouldn’t add to production costs, and will have a second intrinsic property: it will force the precious metal collection on an otherwise unknowing individual.

a programmable flashlight that is redeemable for cash beyond the value of the flashlight components and machining.

A silver Tool would be a pain to clean the tarnish and it looks and feel too ‘manly’ IMO.

I’d be in for a couple if they had a soft/classy shape. This is something i would definitely gift a lady. :slight_smile:

Price range… sub 100?

A possible way would be to find a light that’s made out of tubes rather then rods and hope to find the equivalent tube in silver… and talk to the manufacturer?

PS: oh well, if a silver Tool does come up i’ll be in for one anyway - lol!