After the threads are done it’s time to bore out the body. Since I decided to use a tactile switch, I faced the problem of how to transfer the switch signal to the driver. I could have just used a normal switch and avoided this problem but I really like the possibilities and the flexibility of such a tactile switch. For instance, you can implement a high mode which is always accessible, a beacon which flashes when the light is turned off, and many more fun things. The reliability is a strong factor as well. Anyway, NovaTac uses a spring which connects tailcap and body. This isn’t perfect since it scrapes against the anodized body and takes up a lot of space. HDS uses a thin wire, I like that better but the indent still makes the wall thickness unnecessarily thin at one point. So to avoid this, I decided to bore the hole for the battery 0.5 millimetres out of the centre and then make a groove for the wire. Let’s see how that works out! So I just started boring out the body as usual: When I reached around 16.5 millimetres I added a sheet of metal under one of the three jaws:
Because the sheet is 0.50 millimetres high, it moved the body approximately 0.5 millimetres out of the centre. To make sure it worked, I quickly measured the concentricity:
And continued widening the diameter of the body. Here you can see the eccentric hole for the battery:
After making sure that the diameter was right,
it was time to create the groove on the thick side of the tailcap to insert the wire later. That part was a little tricky as well. First, I made a tool which could take an 8 millimetre HSS rod. I started by just creating a round metal rod:
Next, I bored in a hole and widened it with a reamer:
And slotted it with a homemade slotting tool (I like making tools…
):
I threaded a hole I bored into the metal rod:
An 8 millimetre HSS rod fits nicely without wobbling around:
To create the actual groove I ground a piece of HSS rod:
and put it in my toolholder which usually hosts my centering tool:
Before putting everything on the lathe I had to make sure that the spindle wouldn’t turn away. Since I didn’t get to build something proper I had to improvise a little. I found an old nut:
and tightened it around the gear in the back of the lathe, making sure that the spindle couldn’t turn:
It seems to be working:
It took a long long time since I can’t just move my slide but have to wind the slide back and forth. Finally, the finished body and tailcap (at least that’s what I thought):
Thanks for reading