This process takes way, way, way more effort than I anticipated. Even when using a metal chop saw and a drill press. I need more practice.
Makes you appreciate Old-Lumens handmade builds, doesn't it?
-Garry
Oh I appreciated his work a great deal before this. I’m 27 and he’s got much steadier hands that I will ever have. And more patience.
Even I probably wouldn't try that with copper. Aluminum is much less of a nightmare, and brass is sheer joy to work with.
I’m going to need a lot more cutting oil.
Well even just soldering for me… I envy you all with workshops!
Whoa, that is one serious looking length of copper round bar. What diameter is that bad boy?
It takes time. And yes, patience. And when you get it right, it feels so good!
This one is for the “D” MagLite laying beside it. The driver pill cut completely with a Proxxon rotary tool while spinning the big chunk of copper by a 1/4x20 bolt threaded into the other side with my cordless drill…very slowly.
The triple XM-L2’s are on 16mm Noctigon boards, Arctic Alumina put on the bottom of the star and then set in the Ledil 50mm Tuija optic upside down, pressed into the Mag to locate and affix the emitters. 3012 lumens from 9.02A out of a 26700 King Kong cell. Worth every painful minute of building that copper heat sink! 
Keep up the good work! It gets easier as you learn the short cuts, trust me!
Good things come to those who wait. Or is it good things come to those with huge gobs of money? No, wait, it’s good things are impossible to keep? I can’t remember…
It’s actually not all that big. It’s 3/4” (roughly 19mm). It started out at one foot long. Not sure if you want this knowledge, but if you have amazon prime, you get free shipping at amazon supply.
Maybe that hard temper is the root of your problem?
You never know until you try. I bet if you used up that bar you’d know a thing or to more than you do now. Every build has taught me something new and I value that more than the builds.
so would this be significantly better?
I had been cutting it with a hacksaw and filing it into shape, and then soldered a burned-up noctigon (byproduct of learning to reflow LEDs) to one end to get it to sit into the brass S2+ pill. I thought a chop saw and a drill press would make things easier. Definitely made the process quicker. Not much easier. Definitely learning some things though. This would be utterly impossible without cutting fluid.
3/4" is big in my books. 1/2" is the biggest round rod I have worked with and I didn't enjoy cutting though that either. 1/4" more adds a whole lot of material to a circle. Really looking forward to seeing the stuff you do with that bar. Best wishes. :)
The Tellurium Copper (c145) is supposed to be 85% the machinability of brass, instead of 20% like most of the other grades. So I would say that it should be much easier to work with. Albeit with the caveat that Tellurium is toxic and might require some precautions.
EVERY new build on this forum Starts with, contains, or compares to our BLF Master Craftsman .... Old Lumens...
AMAZING WORK, I'm Speechless, You Guys are incredible !!!
Keep up the good work and keep us informed
To be fair/honest, this isn’t the first one of these I’ve built. But it is my first after finally pulling the trigger on a decent craigslist drill press and an amazon open-box porter-cable chop saw. Previously I’ve built these with zero power tools (hacksawed the copper, lots and lots and lots of filing). I’m assuming y’all don’t consider a soldering iron and a hot plate power tools. I’ve used those on the previous few, obviously. But here’s the rest of the process and the results:
My “workshop” (aka, damp basement):
It’s not mirror-finish, but it is quite flat. After sanding with 180, 300, 600 and 1500(wet) on both ends.
Almost there:
Pill assembled… copper spacer soldered to brass S2+ pill, noctigon stuck in place with arctic alumina two-part epoxy. LEDs are XP-L V5 2A, dedomed in gas. Legs on the carclo filed down a bit so they’ll sit tight on top of the LEDs when tightened into the head.
All done!
I’ve been selling/gifting these to friends and family for the past few months. Set up to take protected & unprotected cells, driver is from RMM and is a 3.04A Qlite flashed with NLite with a 120-sec turbo timer (LEDs from RMM also). You can feel the heat almost immediately from the one in the pics, but it never gets uncomfortable - obviously the turbo timer helps with that. Very pleased with the results. This is definitely the best job I’ve done on the spacer so far. Both ends turned out very flat, so the o-ring at the end has nice even compression, and it’s definitely transferring the heat well since you can feel it warming up almost instantly. I hope the next one turns out this nice.
^ Sweet mod.
I like your "workshop". Much nicer than my shed. We don't have many basements down this way. Not sure if it's a water table thing or what. They sure would get damp here during rainy periods.
thanks!
yeah. we shouldn’t have basements here. my lot is flat - basement dug out by a previous owner (house is 62 years old). it floods every time it rains. hence the dehumidifier next to the fridge and the sump pump to the left in the first pic in post #16. basement is only accessible from inside the house. getting the fridge, chest freezer and (especially) the gun safe down here was… a challenge.
A terrific mod with again basic tools. I love your basement. We dont have them over here.