I’ve slowed down a little, but still buy anything new as it comes out I’m interested in, I guess I already own most of the already-released ones I want (unless they’re super rare), so I guess so?
At this point I know what I like. I know how I’m going to carry them. I know what I’m going to use them for. I still occasionally fool myself into thinking that I could change things up a bit or use a new light for a certain purpose but I don’t end up changing anything or using them. So it’s very occasionally.
I keep looking.
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Go for it man.
I started soldering wires to cheap circuits and watching youtube videos. My biggest mistake was cheaping-out on soldering iron and solder. damaged circuit traces and disintegrated the iron tip when I first started. Now, I’ve lost count how many lights I’ve modified, and even done some smd work. First and foremost get a decent quality soldering iron - it doesn’t have to be name brand. More importantly you want to use quality solder. the last thing you want is for your soldering job to degrade and fail over time. The tip style is also important, you need flat/fat iron tips for effective soldering. PINECIL or TS100/ iron’s with TS style tips are often recommended.
It’s not that I haven’t modified things over the years. But I’ve only used the bare minimum equipment and technique to do the job, and then finally ran into problems trying something new. I started modifying headlamps 20 years ago with a 15W Radio Shack soldering iron and lead-free solder, swapping out the star on a Princton Tec Eos and then building (and rebuilding/revising frequently as it failed) an external battery pack for it. Then I found out that 15W wasn’t enough to replace the batteries in my lawn mower, so I bought a cheap adjustable 60W iron and that did that job (two times over the years, due for another). Also realized that rosin core worked better so I got that.
A year or two ago, I decided to play around and try to repair one of my old bike headlamps (Gemini Xera) that had a failed power cable right where it enters the body of the light. If that went well, I had a LH351D on a star that I was going to swap in from a different project idea that never happened. I tried to desolder the wires from the board, burned the board and had to give up on that one. That’s when I started watching YouTube videos on soldering. What I need most that I don’t have is flux ($8). Then a third hand holder ($8), both cheap enough. Optional would be a better soldering iron ($40). Then solder paste ($27) if I want to swap the actual emitters off boards, which I haven’t needed to do.
However, I just ordered a headlamp in form factor that I like (Gemini Duo/Yinding style) for $12. It’s cheaper to buy a cheap replacement than to repair my Gemini Duo ($200 light when I bought it, including battery pack/charger/headstrap) or Yinding ($20 lighthead only with NW emitters), that I got when the Gemini failed. Both lasted about 2 years of very heavy use. First choice would have been to buy another NW Yinding, but they haven’t been available in years. Both of those broken lights need oval-shaped driver boards that look close enough to a $12-13 one on Kaidomain that I would have to modify a bit to fit. Meaning lots of chances for me to mess up those driver board swaps in desoldering/soldering wires to power and wires to the emitter board, filing, etc. Not specified, but the XM-L2s (or imitation XM-L2s) on the $12 aliexpress light will probably be cool white, so I might end up needing solder paste to swap the emitters to neutral white.
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I’ve come to a complete halt recently, so I voted No.
Once I made all the 519A domed, dedomed, and sliced variants that I wanted, I’ve just been sitting back and enjoying all the wonderful flashlights (E17As, Optisolis, 219Bs, etc.) that I’ve made over the years. 
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