Tofty's 5mm Array Drop-In (build finished 07/10/13)

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
21

@ relic38: Thanks, the reflector is made up of conical cuts so i doubt it will really do anything such for the beam but it does look the part.

@ Essexman: Heya, good to hear from you, looking forward to seeing some of your tritium creations soon.

@Ledsmoke: Thanks a lot, got some more progress coming up (see first post).

@ Sirius9: I agree, i prefer the solutions that appear on this forum as they always seem more considered and open-minded.

"if only I have a proper tools "

I say that all the time, there's always something else that can help making things easier.

A full of partial CNC setup would be such an improvement as i'm more of a designer than a machinist.

Anyway Cheers.

22

First thread undated with pictures of finished drop-in.

(beam shots still to come)

23

That is one sexy looking light. Your drop in fits in nicely with the exotic look of the host.

24

Thanks, it's not a very sensible host, which is why i suppose this drop-in suits it.

It's a little bit of a shame as the front of the drop-in looks like it's ready to deliver something impressive, which doesn't materialise.

First post updated with beam shots.

25

that is kind of a pretty beam. amazing work on that too

26

I kind of like the beam. Very geometric. Thank you so much for sharing this neat build of yours.

27

It is certainly an "interesting" beam. Does it improve any when not white-wall hunting?

Seems a shame to cover it up after all that amazing work but how would you go with a bit of diffusing film? I can't quite tell from the photos if you have the lens in the host but some DC fix might work wonders.

28

Not every beam should be perfectly smooth. Can’t we have fun beams like this one. I think it’s cool.

29

Sure we can.

But even the OP seems disappointed with the result which is why I wondered if it could be easily and inexpensively improved.

30

Nothing wrong with that beam, it’s different. This build is not made to have high beam, so something different can be a nice touch and necessary, especially if can maintain those geometric shape. It’s a cool build.
Waiting to see other variance, I think you already have some in your mind :smiley:

31

Thanks everyone, perhaps there's a niche in the market for decorative flashlight beams.

No, the lines are very distracting as they move over objects.

The host does have a lens, the drop-in is slightly less than a millimeter away from it.

I've never tried diffusing film but it might make quite an improvement, i'll give it a go when i get some film.

It would be a shame to hide the LEDs though, i think it's appearance is it's best feature.

Cheers, i've got a few ideas but probably not anything with 5mm LEDs for a while, however in retrospect i should have used the Nichia NSPW500GS LED as is has a 15 degree projection angle rather than the 140 degrees of the LED i used.

I'm thinking of making some drop-ins with exotic, unusual or just simply forgotten LEDs.

I'm also going to put some more thought into the idea of a more modular drop-in.

32

if you want to push 5mm the - side ring should be as close as possible to the led body.better thermal path in a lousy package that needs all the help it can get.
nice idea though.apply some kapton tape between the ring and head to prevent shorts.then a ring of jbweld to secure the ring to the head.

33

That would have been a good idea. I rested the ring on the little taps on the LED leads, but I should have ground them off and brought the ring closer to the front.

A similar thing could have been done to the central ring, although a slot would have to be cut for the central LED's lead.

The whole cavity was potted, but it's no match for lots of brass as the thermal path.