Well, here we go again. I have gathered some parts and materials and have a rough mental plan.
Some of these were on hand; the 10 inch piece of 1 “x 1.5” aluminum tube is a leftover. So are the pieces of copper tube and strap stock. The driver, mcpcb, optic and charger circuit board were waiting in little boxes, looking for something to do. I did order the 2000 mAh Vapcell 16650 cell from illumn.com. This one tested out at 2128 mAh. Some 519A LEDs are on order.
I’m looking forward to this. I think 16650 format lights are underappreciated. I have yet to get one, but I think it would help the pocket-ability over 18650 lights.
I did a little work on this today. Not much, but a start.
I cut the aluminum tube and a strip of the 1/8" x 3/4" copper to a size closer to the final size. It is still longer than necessary but easier to handle. I used my miter saw with a negative 5 degree hook carbide tooth blade.
The aluminum tube is 1/8" wall and 1" x 1.5" OD; with the ID working out to 0.75" x 1.25". The copper is sold as 0.75" x 0.125". Production tolerances have the aluminum ID width as not quite 0.75" and the copper as slightly over 0.75". The copper strip won’t slip into place.
So, a few passes of the copper strip on the 220 grit sander belt was needed. (the image is staged with the machine turned off for ease of operating the camera safely)
The copper strip now fits into the aluminum tube. It can be slid back and forth and will fit snugly against the inside of the aluminum.
The blue is the reflection of the sky through the open door behind me.
I had a small but very sharp paring knife slip. Stupid thing. Not only did I get blood all over the cabbage but I have 4 stitches in my thumb. Plus, because of the location of the cut, a finger splint to immobilize the thumb. That thumb gets used a lot and the splint is very much in the way. It’ll slow me down a bit but not stop me.
Sounds incredibly painful there! What happened exactly? Just a slip or mishap? Hopefully you are ok, get better soon and good luck if you choose to keep working on your project.
Ouch! When i saw the pic i thought you might’ve had the mishap in the garage. If it was a nice clean cut (sharp knife as you say) hopefully it’ll seal up and heal quickly
The doctor said it was a nice clean cut. It was a thin narrow blade, about 4" and I was coring a cabbage head. The cabbage head was wet, rolled, my grip slipped and the knife cut through the cabbage surface and into my thumb. It bled pretty good while I rinsed it before binding the thumb. That was last night. This AM it was still seeping blood so I thought it might need stitches.