Since there seemed to be some interest in the 1D maglite I just sold, I wanted to talk about possibly making a few more. So I thought I would see what real interest there is and try to figure out how to approach that.
Y'all know that I do these by hand and it takes some time to do them. I figure I might do 1 a week, but I'm not wanting to get locked into where I have to do them. I do it for my enjoyment, not for making money. If I made it a business, I wouldn't enjoy it any more.
These cut down mags aren't going to be exactly cheap. I deciced to really look at the cost and I think it will be prohibitive for some. Here's what I broke it down to:
Maglite 2D Incan Host $16.80
Aluminum Reflector $7.50 - I have found 3 different reflectors that would work. They are here, here & here.
Glass Lens $1.00
New style KD 8x7135 driver $5.00
Aluminum Heat sink $4.00
XML-T6 LED $10.00 (average) - (depends on where it comes from, lots of cool white out there, but getting into neutral and warm white there's fewer choices to buy from).
Battery Holder (4xAA). Right now I do not have a source for them. I would have to make a holder and I figure at least $5.00
All Miscellaneous $10.00 (based on all the stuff that goes into one, Arctic Alumina, JB Weld, Sandpaper, Dremel bits, Teflon wire, etc, etc, etc.).
So........ we are talking $60.00 USD here for just the parts and materials. (which means I lost money on the one I sold). I do not do free shipping, so now you can add $8-$10 USD for shipping (CONUS) and about $20.00 Internationally.
No labor is figured in. I'm not looking for that. I just have to absolutely be able to recoup the costs of the parts.
Well, that's a lot of money to me. Realistically, you could spend another $20-40 and be able to buy a Dry or a Sunwayman, or many other lights. So why one of these?
It all boils down to the fact that a person just wants a 1D maglite. That's all it is. Only people that really like the looks of a shorty Mag will want one.
What I am looking for? I just want to find out who might really be serious about having one of these. Really serious. I'm not talking deposits or anything, but I don't want to go buying parts if there's no serious interest at $70.00 USA or $80.00 International, for a hand modded 1D Maglite.
This light could even have an SST-50 in it, but with 4AA batteries, it would have to be a wow light, because it would only be on for a few minutes before the batts died.
ALSO, the time frame here is long. We are talking 3 weeks for parts from China and then I will only make them as I can or want, so 1 per every 1 or 2 weeks. It will be a while... I am putting my max limit on 5 of these for right now, since that's getting out there time wise.
Maybe it's better for me to just do one at a time and sell them off without this thread, but that takes even more lead time unless I order more than one of every part. If there's enough serious interest, then I might want to buy the parts to make several, but of course that's like counting chickens before they hatch.
I also want to stress that each light will be different. One may be a Blue Mag, or a Silver Mag, or one may have a crenulated bezel, or a copper trim ring, or a different color scheme. That's up to me to decide as it's artistic perogative to keep them all different.
Give your interest and thoughts here in this thread, so I can see if I should look at doing some more or not.
Thanks,
Justin