He also uses a Zilog MCU as well…completely different coding and uses a specialized flashing box that costs $30 (I think I could be backwards…I get Tivo and Pyro mixed up)
But it is a VERY cool design!
At what point will an XM-L2 on copper turn blue and go poof?
How much copper/aluminum/brass needs to be backing the copper star to push that number higher?
Does the XM-L2 continue delivering output beyond 6A even if pushed that far?
Are sausage and jalapeno and cheese kolaches better than fruit filled ones?
I keep asking myself these questions even as I try for more power in the lights I play with. Also ask myself why it’s all about the power, not better reflectors for a purer narrower or more defined beam profile. And I’ve decided, that with coffee, a cream cheese kolache is pretty dang good! Especially after a couple of sausage jalapeno and cheese ones. 
A good cup of Folgers Columbian is calling my name…
Don't know about the filosofical part, apart from that my coffee at the moment is a black Lavazzo espresso (mmm), but sadly the XM-L2 on copper will never turn blue, the bond wires will fail long before that.
Thanks for setting me straight. I knew I didn’t quite put enough effort behind my “of the top of my head” idea before posting. When I was laying in bed, it did strike me, “what if the pinout on the ones I found were backwards?”. Then I thought, NAWWWW, they must have standardized the SOT-89 package in some way! Yes, the “on” resistance is wayy lower with the mosfet you found, and that is a VERY important thing to keep the amps and voltage as high as possible. That was one thing I neglected to check when doing my quick search.
At least now, I have a little better understanding of what to look for, because it’s pretty fun disassembling scrap electronics searching for usable mosfets!
At what power level have you found the XM-L2 to fry the bond wires? Copper or no…
I wonder sometimes just how these little emitters stand up to all we give em. Rated for 3A, we far exceed what they were designed to do on a regular basis.
Just wanted it to be known that I do think of other things besides flashlights and their related tangents…food! 
I tested it a few months ago in this thread, I found (for the record, I tested just one emitter, I don't know how much it would vary of course), and found that at about 9 amps the bond wires burnt through while the colour output of the led still looked fine.
Did anyone considered AMS1117, maybe!
A... voltage regulator? A link or even a proper name might help.
SOT-223 is like the SOT-89's cornfed linebacker cousin from Topeka. Quite a bit bigger.
And besides, it's a regulator, so you'd need another component to convert the attiny's low current PWM output into a high current source to feed the regulator (like, you guessed it, a FET)... and besides, a 5v regulator won't work very well when it's fed by less than 5v.
One of this days I am going to find something interesting 
Oh crap... Tried building RMM's version, but, I got screwed by the bad cell phone pic....... 
. Wrong pad, JB Weld'd down the FET. Maybe I can salvage it by de-soldering the leg and bridging over to the next pad.
comfy's seems more involved? Why do you use kapton tape, then JB Weld the FET to the kapton tape? Guess you want to avoid any solder from the connections going where they it shouldn't go? I have no clue how kapton tape can be done so precisely like that - I have myriads of problems trying to cut kapton tape - everytime I work with it, it's a nightmare, and causes nightmares...
I re-read thru the posts on the capacitor, but still can't understand why you moved it? I didn't think Richard moved it? Is it necessary? What's the difference/benefit?
…this thread.
Tape isn't necessary, just that none of the other pads are needed. JB Weld is a good enough insulator on its own.
I moved the cap because it looked lonely all by itself over there. Seems silly to have only one component there when you could turn it into a single sided board just by relocating one little capacitor. If space is tight you can skip the spring and use a solder blob for flat top cells, or leave the pad bare for button tops.
Tom, you should be able to salvage it yet!
Ok - yes, did get it working, kind of twisted the leg, but it worked fine. I tested it on the bench, couple of weird things but maybe due to the bench setup, so I'm gonna go ahead and install it. I was only getting 3.3A or so on a Pana PD driving am XML T6 on a alum star, but had lots of wires/jumpers and a poor, cheap battery carrier. Also on high (255), after just a few secs it would kick down to the next lowest (medium) as if it's detecting a low battery voltage (STAR voltage monitoring), though the battery was at 4.10v. I'm hoping it's not a sign of a problem...
Thanks comfy for the explanations - makes sense now. Still, dunno how you do that great work with kapton tape in the last pic, and that perfectly shaped flat top mound is from solder? wow... My solder blobs don't seem to come out quite like that. 
So I use a short cylinder of 5/16” brass rod soldered to the contact pad. Length adjusted to suit.
The clean board where components have been removed, the kapton tape, very neat and professional all the way.
Regarding the Kapton tape, my guess is that he lays it down then trims the edges with a razor blade. That's how I always did awkward tape lines when I was painting cars.
I'm guessing that if you measured the voltage at the driver that it's quite lower than at the battery due to losses along the way.
Yep, tape over the whole thing, then trim with razor blade, pick up the corners of the parts to be removed and pull off with tweezers.
On doing pretty solder blobs, load up a big dollop onto the tip, then touch the bottom of the drop onto the board and let gravity + surface tension suck the solder off the iron. If that has to be repeated more than once to get enough buildup, add some flux before each one.
Any secrets for desoldering 7135’s from a driver without hot air?