I haven't heard a word from him in a long time and he does not answer emails. That is not like him at all. I have known him a long time and I do not think he would intentionally stiff someone. I think something very bad had to happen for him not to answer.
One of the phone calls I made was to his house in Michigan. A woman answered, and took my name, number and the subject of the call (“flashlight”). She said she would give him the message.
Wayne would have to be one of the nicest guys I’ve had the pleasure of talking to on this forum. We live in a virtual world here and it is hard sometimes to deal with the fact that people just disappear. It has happened before and it will happen again. In this case I believe no one set out to upset anyone with uncompleted jobs. By the look of it, completion was not far away. I pray in this case that Wayne and his family are fine as there is nothing else I can do as mentioned before, in this virtual world.
I don’t have an answer to this except if members want to set up somehow a contact base. How this would work I don’t know as there would be privacy issues involved.
It was very close to completion, but shortly after his last post to the build thread, the module started flickering, and had to be sent back to the designer. He transferred the emitters to a new module, and sent it back to Wayne. As of the end of June, he had the new module in hand, and was waiting for a delivery of epoxy. Then I got the email about his back injury. He told me he could send the stuff to a trustworthy friend, to complete the build if I wanted. I told him to wait until he was fit enough to complete it himself. That was three months ago, and I haven’t heard from him since.
Wow! That doesn’t seem like him at all. In conversation he always sounded like a great person, and when I purchased a $100+ knife from him, it was packaged and shipped in the most professional manner. I sure hope everything is ok!
I hope he is okay. Maybe he is too unwell to finish it. 
When health issues pop up it can always turn into something much larger, sometimes overnight.
As others said Chi X is a good guy.
He is stuck on post 3999. Reminds me of Lumatic. I just assumed he changed his name and is still amongst us.
Hope he’s all right, or heading that way. My dealings with him have also indicated him to be a great guy.
Best wishes to him. And of course to you on your build Donn. Hope it all gets straightened out.
I’m surprised and hope he’s OK.
Kumabear disappeared a while back without filling a bunch of orders he’d been paid for. So What's The Deal With Kumabear And I’ve seen this happen in other hobbies.
Moral of the story is, pay by Paypal (not as a gift) and file a dispute w/in 45 days.
As I'm sure many are aware, I'm the designer of the light module in this light. Sorry I haven't chimed in earlier - I just saw this thread for the very first time.
Having talked with Chicago-X on multiple occasions about multiple topics and having done business with him also on multiple occasions, I can say with absolute confidence that he is a stand-up guy. I haven't heard from him since the failure of this light, however, so I have no idea what has happened with him. I will try getting in touch tomorrow.
The last I talked to him, he said that a light module he was building for a customer started flickering in host. I asked for some pictures, and quickly determined that one of the components on the module had been destroyed. Unsure of why, I asked him to send me the module. He ended up sending me the whole light (I've actually held your entire light in my hand!).
I found that Arctic Silver epoxy had been used to adhere the module to the Copper heat-sink, and enough had been put on that it oozed through the vias in the circuit board. Arctic silver has some.. properties.. that make it unsuitable for use in situations where it can come in to contact with electronic circuitry.
In any case, it wasn't a huge problem. I removed the module from the light, transferred the special high-cri XM-L emitters to a new one and re-installed it in the light. All was well in the world again.
This was my message to Chicago X about my findings
Following that, there were a few messages exchanged..
As i said, I'll try getting in touch with him tomorrow. The light was 99% finished and in his hands on June 25, 2013. All that was left to do (unless I'm mistaken about additional customization) was sand off the old epoxy and re-glue the module with the DeltaBond that I suggested and he ordered.
Hopefully this doesn't go unresolved, and hopefully Chicago X is ok!
PPtk
So what happened to kumabear? I liked his sales but they got really expensive later.
We dont know.
7 months now, and still not a peep.
Like I said, for him to just disappear, something bad had to happen, or he passed away. Last I had heard was there was some type of serious back injury and I never heard anything more from him or his wife. Members come and members go and many times the rest of us here never get to know what really happened. Online twilight zone kind of thing.
I told my wife if I ever die before her, to let the forum know, but with my luck, we would both go the same day and the cat refuses to post in a, (her words, "a ridiculous flashlight forum"), picky cat only visits cat forums.....
I didn't find an obit for him, so at least I think he's still alive.
I got a genuine chuckle from this. Thanks OL. Dark humor is the best humor.
It’s unfortunate that ChiX disappeared before finishing this transaction. I just hope that he is alright. He was a valued and respected member of this community.
he wouldn’t stiff anyone. sure he will get back to you ASAP. hope he is OK.
+1.
I always valued his contributions.
I always liked the many contributions from ChiX (and won one of his giveaways :-) ), so despite him disappearing here, I hope he is ok.