Bedside Reading Lamp

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Hi All

Long time no contribute anything…

We live in an old house, with only one power point in the bedroom - on the opposite side of the room.
So my bedside reading light has been this ghetto creation, which has served well, but there is room for improvement… :slight_smile:

I love old vintage lamps, so I scored a couple of these French railway lanterns (1940’s or 50’s?) from a really helpful guy in France (yay eBay!)

I removed most of the old paint with a wire brush, and then with a soda blasting kit (they are really cheap, and good for the detail bits that the brush can’t get)

Then out to my modern, well-appointed paint booth for multiple coats of hammered-finish grey…

Once dry, it was baked in the oven for a half hour for a really hard finish.

I designed a heatsink/reflector, and got my friend the expert machinist to build it for me.
My little lathe was too small to do the machining, but it did fit in the chuck so I could polish it with some jeweller’s rouge (polish).

The LED was bonded into place, and the reflector pressed into the recess in the lantern body. It is a good press fit, so I just used a couple of drops of thermal adhesive to give at bit of extra stick-in-place-ness.

To drive the LED, I designed a little constant current driver pcb. The LED has 3 levels of brightness, chosen by the rotary switch on the top. The driver board also has drivers for a future RGB led to be fitted facing the rear. The original lantern had a red lens facing rearward, and cutouts in the reflector to allow a little light to shine back.

My original design was for a twin-pole rotary switch, to chose Low-Med-Hi-R-G-B, but unfortunately the switches are physically too large, so I have had to drill an extra hole in the top and fit an On/Off switch. This is the only non-original hole I have had to drill.

The PCB and 2 18650 batteries are mounted on a piece of aluminium, which is bent to shape to fit the battery compartment, and doesn’t require any holes to be drilled in the body. Sprayed and baked to keep it looking nice.

And here it is, all fitted together:

If you are wondering why the wiring is so long, its to allow the PCB/Battery plate to be removed and modified in the future, so I don’t have to try to work ‘inside’ the lantern.

And the beamshot - its quite a wide angle, and its a beautiful warm cozy bedtime reading color!

So, in the end it probably would have been cheaper to get an electrician in to add an extra power point in the bedroom, but now I have a happy, one of a kind bedside reading and general purpose lantern that will get daily use - and as you know, building it is half the fun!

2

Very creative TriggerHappy. Its good to see your reflector and driver board worked for its intended usage. I cant quite make out what led you used was.

3

Thanks!

I started with a neutral white from manafont, but it looked horribly blue to me.

So I swapped it for a Cree XR-E, which looks fantastic. (and dirt cheap - 5 for $12 on eBay)

A nice warm white gives a much cozier light for reading. :slight_smile:

4

I’m so envious of you modders….

5

Then have a go! Start small - my first mod was an emitter change on my V10R - I carry it (and use it) every day.

Plenty of free advice on BLF if you get need a hand!

6

That creation is ablsolutely beautiful, there should be some sort of International prize for that.

7

I like that you are recycling an old lantern and giving it a new lease of life but those batteries look decidedly dodgy. I bought a light/charger /battery set and the 18650’s were UitraFlrc, they looked exactly like those. Thread And Thread Forgive me if I’m wrong but I’d rather look daft and have you safe than not mention it and have you at risk of injury.

8

Very nice! I’m sad to say that I would have been sorely tempted to solve the problem with an extension cord. But your solution is so much more interesting.

9

Great build, I’m going to look for one.

10

Which LED did you use?

11

I really like that. What a nice thing to have.

12

Nice work. And good recycling of old gear. Amazing how times have changed. Back in the 40’s I bet that light was the surefire of its time. lol

13

Awesome! Very inspiring, thank you.

14

Cool build, TriggerHappy!
Those oldschool appliances made into modern tech are always classy :D!

15

Awesome work! (except Ultrafire batteries maybe ;))

I may try a similar mod, even if I know I won’t be able to do as minimalist and beautiful work. These Railway lanterns are quite easy to find here in France.

16

great mod! Thanks for writing it down for us to read.

Funny you made a bedside light with it, those railway lights are spacious enough to do a true monster mod , especially if the housing is aluminium (it looks like it?)

17

Nice mod! Thanks for sharing. I really like those old railway lanterns.

18

A real treasure!

19

Thank you all for your kind comments!

And thanks for the warning about the batteries - Don’t worry, I’m careful, always charge them in pairs, I’ve been using these ones in my other flashlights for ages, so they are all good.

Cheers!