When you see this build you'll be simply compelled
to applaud his great skill with some old JB Weld
He creates perfect vectors
With P60 reflectors
The best crafted work you'll have ever beheld
How in the hell did I miss this thread? You have a knack for modding that's for sure. Very inventive ideas!!
Have you thought about using TIR optics instead of the reflectors? I say that only because even when polished, I would think those reflectors might have 10%-15% more loss than plated ones do? Even professional polishing leaves tons of scratches so minute the naked eye can't see them, but photons probably see them. Anyhow, you might look at the 50mm Three-up TIR for the XR-E. I think just a tiny bit of tapering at the led holes will allow that thing to fit right on three MT-G2 domes. Several places have them. Fasttech does. It's just another possible option.
I am not shooting anything down. I think your work is absolutely fantastic. I would not even dare to try what you have succeeded at. Very interesting thread and I am glad to see your good work.
I'm glad you are doing a 3-up MT-G2. It ought to be a monster!
Oh trust me, I didn't start this with the intention to hand-polish my own scratch built reflectors, it just kinda ended up that way. And I ruined another set with the wrong cut, but saved the plating... not such a good trade off there, huh?
I don't know why, but something has me biased against the TIR stuff (probably irrational, like most biases). I've been meaning to pick up an assortment to experiment with every time I place another order but somehow they never manage to stay in the cart until the very end. I think what it is is that I have only used them in old cheap lights from the 1W/3W Luxeon days, and haven't tried them with the current-gen LEDs. I should probably do that one of these days. (or maybe I'm just a 'reflector guy', like some people cling to their old dead technology like incan bulbs? lol) I mean, I still build a lot of p60 drop-ins, which by all rights could be called a dead technology too, but I have a very simple & robust heatsink design that allows +4A drive currents and still keeps the no-tools easy swapping functional. Just a spacer ring of 3/4" copper pipe that's press fit into the body and supports the base of the reflector, which is all things considered a pretty direct thermal path. That, and a copper MCPCB soldered into the pill, will take about anything you can suck out of a single cell anyway.
And for all the folks posting compliments... stop it! I'm not good with compliments. Criticism pushes me to do things better, and nobody's as critical of my own work as I am, so trust me, you won't do any more damage than I do to myself. Besides, you may goad me into trying to prove you wrong, during which I might just learn something (I usually do - even if I don't recognize it right away).
:p
Here's the current status:
The gold would have been neat if the light were still gold, it's kinda icky with the silver body. It's just adhesive sign-making vinyl, available in more colors/styles than you can imagine. (fake carbon fiber weave? yes) I think flat satin black might look best here, to add some contrast from all the silver.
Also, I'm rethinking using the XM-L2s. How about de-domed XP-G2 1Cs instead? Given the max 4.2v input and the XP-G2's lower Vf it might work better. They will work fine with the XML-base reflectors though I will need to make my own centering rings (blech!).
edit: reflector polishing... They are nowhere complete in that pic, they've had two passes with jewler's rouge on a felt wheel, but I need to find/make some kind of mandrel or fixture to let me sand them in the up-down direction with 1000-grit paper, there are still too many concentric rings/defects in the surface as it is now. I haven't been able to figure out the best way to do the sanding, my finger's too big to work it properly all the way down into the base. I will cobble something together eventually...
amazing amazing work!!
OK, I’m trying real hard to not compliment. I hope I don’t get an aneurysm doing so.
I’m partial to reflectors too. I’ve used some TIR’s in automotive and a couple little flashlights. I can’t put my finger on it, but I haven’t met a TIR I would take over a good SMO reflector yet.
I was reading about reflective properties of metals. Supposedly, aluminum can be taken up to as high as 98% reflectivity. I’ve seen this product praised quite a bit. They say don’t use it indoors though due to smell:
http://www.amazon.com/SCI-Scandicrafts-Inc-1733-Polish/dp/B0000DE4QE
I use this for a final polish, wadded up into a ball that fills the whole reflector and turned at low speed with a drill, in several stages with the last being basically applying no pressure at all, just letting it turn and the chemical-whatevers do the work. It's done well enough so far on other stuff, I just need to get these a bit smoother first.
Oh, and I just remembered I forgot to post in your spotlight thread about the diamond files. As long as you use them on soft stuff like plastic, brass, aluminum, etc. even 'bad' ones will last more or less forever. On steel they might lose some of the coating, but that shouldn't be an issue for most flashlight work. The set I have came from Lowe's, in a kit with bigger traditional files. There are some nice looking sets on ebay with lots more shapes than what I have now, I need to get some... I keep forgetting and/or procrastinating. Typical! :p
Reflector polishing? If you had it to do over, (LOL, I love that phrase), you could strip them, polish them and then cut them. Might be a lot easier, but as I know all too well, hind sight is 20/20. Have you tried Simichrome polish? It really cuts well and might be good for a final of just before final polish, as it does cut and polish at the same time. A lot of mold makers use it on aluminum and steel molds that need a mirror polish, as a final.
Oh, I forgot to be negative, sorry.
LOL, no, suggestions and ideas are fine too.
I use 'Mother's mag/chrome polish' (which is just jeweler's rouge) on a little Dremel felt buffer before I go to the Duragloss. They just need some more prep work before they're ready for the buffing stages.
If I cut them with just a hand file the plating stays intact, this was the first time I used the bench sander and the heat is the only part of it that killed the plating.
I've done some light machine"mill"work but youcomfy you are good flashpilot I've done leading edges and widshield retainers to a nice high polish but you are right about not over heating compunds or they'll stick to aluinum one trick that I learned from painters was to use flour to get rid of black oxide residues from final polish just a thought:-)