Not much really going on, but I’m rather excited about it. Finally received my 25/32’’ drill bit I had on order, and started modding a minimag.
I only went down just enough for the pill to drop in, because I don’t have my optics yet. Asa I get those, I will re-drill the head deeper, but for the time being, IT’S A MULE!
XML2 T6 3.7-8.4v 1 mode, copper wrapped.
Short +spring, with copper braid, and a couple beads of solder on the negative ring, to keep the positive terminal from contacting the body.
Neither, I mounted the head on a rubber sanding arbor then chucked it into my cordless drill to turn it, used a 1/8” carbide bit in the dremel to shape it. Ya just gotta make do, don’t ya know?
I don’t, actually, NightCrawl. Don’t like my camera in the mess and metal shavings when I’m working on one. I have thought about having my wife take a few shots while I’m working on one, but haven’t done so. I’ll try to keep that in mind, as I’ve got a couple of pills to make in the near future. Don’t know if/when I’ll be doing another minimag per-se.
Thanks guys! I have an order from LEDDNA in transit with some LED’s and TIR lens’s, Can’t wait to see what these XML2’s look like behind a TIR lens. Never seen it in person before!
10-15 degree produces a large spot, once you get past that, it’s pretty much all flood. TIR optics just don’t seem to produce much of a tight spot, it’s more of a spot that just blends right out to spill, so it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. At least that’s what I think of them. 45 degree is wide open, just a smooth very large illumination and only works up close. It fades out at about 15 yards or so.
Congratulations and well done on the start of your first mod. I really must warn you that this can evolve into an addiction that not only can create great pleasure but extreme frustration and a empty piggy bank. I agree with OL about the lens angle and use 10 degree ones now. You can also use the same TIR with XPG leds as well to give a tighter hot spot. I’m looking forward to see you complete this light and start your next mod.
Yeah, I cant wait to get the other LED’s and Optics in.
Quick question for ya Dale, after opening up the head on the build with the 3xXPG module, what kind of threads are you left with?
Are you using the standard 2AA incan Mini? Or the LED one? I cant imagine there will be much for threads left after the TIR lens is accounted for. Also, this is going to extend the overall length of the torch I presume, as the head wont be tightening all the way. So I was thinking of hacking of some of the threads on the body to compensate?
I went through the same thought process earlier today as well.
Taking an Incan 2AA mini, allowing the head to tighten down on the body just enough to cover the oring and over the gap… I came up with about 22mm, assuming you chop off all but 3-5 threads inside the head when you widen the inner diameter to allow it to accept everything. I was told the 3up optic and star/emitter stack was 7.8mm. So about 14mm +/- 2mm to work with in the head for your pill and maybe driver.
I didn’t think of removing threads on the body, but you could reduce the overall length of the light by about 7mm doing so. I don’t trust myself to do a good job on thread modification to do that though.
I was planning on attempting to “human lathe” the body down to 1x14500 length, but I have no idea how effective it would be. I know Old Lumens has done this on the larger sized maglites, but the only chopped mini mags I’ve seen were machined iirc. idk, should be one heck of a fun thanksgiving break though.
My goal is to do a setup with whatever drop in, but keep very close to the normal size. I am not a fan of the protruding head look. I wouldn’t think taking off a few threads, and chasing them back would be entirely to challenging. We’ll see though.
It should be a relatively easy task to get a 2AA down to a 1x size as well. Measure, cut, and rethread for the tailcap, with a 5/8x28 tap. Or so I have read, can’t confirm at this current time.
Great news though! These little guys are only $8. If one gets mucked up, it’s not a super huge deal. 8)
‘5/8-28G if I recall correctly. The “G” signifies a special British standard with a 50° thread angle. A regular 5/8-28 with a standard 60° thread angle works just fine.’
