This list is for the people who may not yet have a set of taps and a tap wrench (or are maladroit at selecting proper screw size…) or just want a light ready to assemble out of the mail.
Nice work on that by the way :heart_eyes:
Maybe you could make a thread on how to best do that? That would actually be wicked helpful. I drilled and tapped a Mag heatsink once for a 20mm board. It ended up as planned but the screws interfered with both reflectors I tried (Rebel and DX 73mm). I think I used 4-40 machine screws. Evidently that was the wrong size
Most everything I use is leftovers, I don't have any taps either. Those tiny little thin-head screws came from the tiny screw container, originally they were laptop screws if I remember right.
I just pick the closest size drill smaller than the OD of the threads for whatever screws I pick from the junk bin, then slightly taper the hole so the screw starts easier. On larger screws I'll sometimes pick out however many I need plus one extra with the same thread size & pitch and turn that extra into a tap, with a directional chip collecting groove cut with a hand file like a self tapping sheet metal screw. Brass like shown above doesn't need that as it's relatively soft and not prone to galling and breaking off screws, aluminum & copper can be trickier.
On my M1 host I found the pill would not screw into the seat without the screw heads insulting the threads, so I had to leave them out and just let the pressure of the reflector and gasket hold the emitter in place. I assume that I could have waited and tried to find smaller screws (like those that come with that C8 pill), but in the end it seemed to work, however after reading this thread realize I’d get better heatsink conductivity with some screws in place.
And thanks for the head’s up on that C8 pill, I had missed that and it seems like it may be a better choice for the C8 host than the aluminum pill that comes with it.
Update: I just noticed the comments on FT’s site that note this pill is not compatible with the Convoy C8 host, and that one buyer did not get the screws and noticed the lack of any dimples on the rim to allow you to seat the pill in the host (should be easy to fix with a dremel).
This thread somehow shows a very familiar list, as any of the mentioned hosts (1-7, as of now) I got or at least regularly consider to get. Hopefully some gem yet overlooked will find its way to the surface.
The picture below shows the pill of the CNQG OEM D4 and the Fasttech C8 pill (SKU 1208600).
With the OEM D4 the use of different screws was helpful, the screws even sit lower. Filing down the rim was necessary for both pills, but working the brass with a file is really easy.
As it was noted that the FastTech C8 pill (SKU 1208600) does not fit in all C8 lights, here are some additional measurements, that are not to be found on the FastTech website:
Overall height of the pill: 14.1 mm
Inner depth of the rim: 2.0 mm
Outer height of the rim: 2.6 mm
Depth of the complete driver hole: 10.9 mm
The diameter at the inner part of the hole: 16.3 mm
Depth for the driver spacing is ~ 3.4 mm
Diameter at the driver spacing: 17.1 mm
Star mounting screws are M2 (metric standard pitch)
Just had a closer look at the XinTD SC-82 pill, version 3.
The threads are not populated in stock form, but could certainly be used in an emergency. A dire need for a 20mm noctigon XM-L2 comes to mind…
Threads are M2, metric standard pitch, I tested it with the longer screw shown in the picture.
Version 4 might have threads as well, a picture of Foy’s review of v4 at least shows similar holes.