Tofty's Custom and Modded Lights (Section 3 updated, 17th February 14)

Welcome to my custom builds thread.

All of the five sections are now pretty much up to date, but don't fret, there will still be updates every now and again.

SECTION 1: BRASS

This is my very first torch, build in brass, powered by a AAA battery and rather over-engineered. It is one of a number of pieces i made for a Brass Keychain thread over on MT.Org.

It uses the internals from this very good little budget light:

The same donor parts are used in my next few iterations of the same basic design.

Version 2:

Version 3.

Version 4.

And the final Version 5.

(this simple torch design then evolved into a 3D printed version that will be covered in Section 3)

Brass Heat-Sink.

My next brass torch project was to be a CR123 sized light, about the same size as an HDS with as powerful a light engine as i felt comfortable with.

My 'Brass Heat-Sink 1' torch.

This light has an XM-L T5 on a 14mm aluminium MCPCB, Carclo optic, 3A 8x7135 driver board set to just hi/lo, AW IMR16340 and a McClicky tail switch.

It's not waterproof as there's no o-ring around the lens and all the screw holes go straight through the body.

This might be my favourite light out of all those that i've made; the LED tint, physical size and weight are just right.

HS.II

i've been putting off making this one for well over a year but now it's finally done.

It has the same internals as the Brass Heat-Sink 1 except for a T4 XM-L rather than the T5 and a glass lens above the TIR optic which retains it.

I designed it as a simplified production version of the Brass Heat-Sink 1 with off-the-shelf RPM bezel rings being used top and bottom.

It's nice but i still prefer the first heat-sink model.

Future Builds....

This is my next brass-ish AAA light.

Brass-ish because the head will be copper, the body brass and the tail section in nickel silver with edging in stainless steel.

It is to have a clicky tail switch with a mosiac pin set into the switch cover.

The LED will be an XM-L T5 driven at 0.5A and with an aspheric lens.

This is going to be a very tough one to get right which is try if also been putting it off.

More photo's and detailed build explanations on my brass lights can be found in these two threads:

Tofty's Brass Torches on Multitool.org,

Tofty's Brass Torches on CrazyPirateFun.

Updates will continue until morale improves.

SECTION 2: TITANIUM / DIVE TORCHES / QTC

Tofty Ti Dive infinitely variable QTC dive torch.

This is one of the first torches i ever made, after a couple of the brass AAA lights.

It was incredibly ambitious and there are many things i would change on it were i do do it again.

I've only taken this torch down to about 12m so i don't know yet if it can handle 40m which is the depth limit for most bobby diving.

The torch was made in four main sections rather than the more conventional Surefire arrangement of three sections, this was because i based this torch's design on an Ultrafire 501B which was the only P60 host i had at the time and following some of it's design elements made manufacture slightly easier. In retrospect i realize that having as few section as possible is the best option for a diving torch as it reduces possible fail points under pressure.

The tail contains a McClicky switch as well as a custom QTC variable output system. The tail switch wasn't a very good idea as under any water pressure the rubber boot sucks down onto the switch activating the light. The light can however be turned on and off by rotating the tail due to the QTC system. The one big advantage this torch has (out of the water) over most other QTC lights is that it can be turned off whilst the QTC remains compressed so that the same level can be returned to in an instant when turned back on rather than having to twist the light every time to return to the desired output. The QTC system also completely isolates any twisting force on the QTC rubber which has been the cause of it's failure in other lights such as the older Peak Eigers.

The cylindrical collar on the tail cap was designed to allow the torch to be clipped into a holding frame that could be attached to a divers arm allowing hands free illumination (i never got round to making the frame though).

Specs:

Full titanium construction, including bezel ring,

Malkoff M61 drop-in, powered by two CR123 batteries,

Tail with custom QTC system and McClicky switch (stupid idea for a dive torch, lessons learned),

Nine tritium vials,

All joints double o-ringed (far too many joints, more lessons learned).

Original build thread on Cunning Pony Furriers,

Similar build thread on Multitool.org.

QTC Puck.

My Ti Dive torch was my first attempt at working with QTC, my next attempt was to make a litle puck that could be installed into any Surefire C/M/P/Z light. Unfortunately there is a serious fault which prevents consistent operation when used with a clicky switch which was supposed to be it's main attractive point. It would work correctly with a Zero-rez shorty tail but without the switch it seemed a bit pointless

One of the benefits to this design was the ability for it to be disassembled without requiring any tools. The screw in the centre was supposed to work as a direct bypass of the QTC under full compression but it was too difficult to set it up due to small tolerances of the system.

QTC Tailcap.

The solution as i saw it was to make a full tailcap for all Surefire and clone lights that use the Z41 style tailcap.

The external design of the tailcap is just for show and doesn't have to look any different to the original tailcap other than a slight increase in length. It works but needing a whole custom made tailcap is far too much of an expense so i went back to the drawing board.


QTC Puck 2.

This is a direct evolution from my first QTC Puck and by making my own switch i have managed to solve the problems that rendered my previous design unstable.

When my Tofty Switch (discussed in section 4) is out of it's testing stage this QTC system will be ready to be sold alongside them.

Future Projects....

Umbilical Dive Light.

This is a mere concept inspired by these components i saw a while ago on LED-Tech.de and just had to have them:

My thinking is that only water cooling could keep this setup cool enough so another dive light makes sense.

Specs (as far as i've considered them)

7x XM-L U2 on 35mm copper board with TIR optic,

Driven by a Taskled HBFlex similar to this built: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?357319

Not sure about the battery arrangement but as they will be housed separately it doesn't really affect the light itself. I want to have a light with an aspheric lens included but i'm not sure about the overall size of the unit yet as i haven't started doing drawings yet.

Switches are always a problem underwater but one solution would be to fill the cavity which contains the switching gear with caster oil, i've seen this done to torches before and allows non pressure rated switches to be used as the oil is incompressible unlike air.

This project isn't at the top of my to-do list but when i finally get stuck in i'll start another thread for it.

Updates will continue until morale improves.

SECTION 3: 3D PRINTING

I've been interested in 3D printing ever since i first heard about it many years ago, but it's only recently that i've been able to make use of it thanks to sites like Shapeways; where 3D models can be uploaded and then printed in any one of a number of material options.

My first plan for a 3D printed torch was to be a AAA, based around the same architecture as the brass AAA torches seen in Section 1. At the time the only metal Shapeways provided which was suitable for making torches from was sterling silver. However, to test the design before i went for the expense of silver, i redesigned the model slightly so it could be printed in plastic. This required a copper contact to be installed into the plastic torch body to complete the electrical circuit that, in my previous AAA torches, was being made by it's brass body.

Although these prototypes proved that a 3D printed torch host was perfectly doable, i realised that i didn't really like the design; it looked just like my other machined lights, rather than taking advantage of 3D printing's ability to make shapes that couldn't be achieved any other way.

I therefore set about redesigning the AAA light into something a little more elaborate. Meanwhile i considered that the high cost of the silver parts would be rather let down by the low performance of the internals it was designed for, so i also set about designing a high performance light that could make the most of silver's excellent thermal properties.

This light turned into my 'Ag Torch'.

Specs:

Full sterling silver body construction with 5mm of silver behind the LED,

Gold plated brass bezel and tail rings,

XM-L U2 on copper MCPCB from LED-Tech.de,

Carclo 10003 20mm optic,

3 Amp 8xAMC7135 driver from Illumination Supply, set to l/m/h,

AW IMR16340,

McClicky tail switch with extra spring for switch cover,

Six 6x2mm tritium vials in the switch cover.

The torch manages to get almost too hot to hold within a minute, which i suppose just shows how much heat isn't being moved away from the LED by other torches with the same components.

The next version of my 3D printed torch turned out yo be a little more interesting.

Having decided that i was happy with this new design i pressed ahead with a silver version.

It could do with a better polish (which Shapeways now offer as a premium option) but overall i really like it.

I decided that it needed a proper LED drop-in so i built a direct drive copper pill with an XP-G R5 on a ceramic MCPCB and an aspheric lens.

I liked the silver one so much so that i also ordered a gold plated one.

This is about where i've got to with 3D printing torches so far.

Tofty's 3D Printed Torches on Multitool.org,

Tofty's 3D Printed Torches on Cautious Pig Farmers

I've also experimented with printing some torch related accessories, such as tail shrouds and diffusers, for both my own torch designs and for some production models.

Although only barely light related, i've also come up with some nice little 3D printed tritium lanterns.

Come on down to Tritium Town!

That's not quite it for 3D printed items as the next section will testify.

In case your not too familiar with 3D printing.....

Shapeways is a company which manufactures objects, from a customer's upload 3D model, using 3D printing.

I think it's great, all i have to do is create a 3D model that conforms to the desired materials physical limitations, upload it, pay for one to be made then sit back and wait for it to be delivered. It's the future and i'm all for it being that simple.

The plastic torches are either glued or laser sintered together from layered powder, then polished in a ceramic tumbler which also helps remove excess powder from voids and cavities.

The silver and brass torches are not technically printed, they're cast using the lost wax method. It's the wax models that are printed. They are then finished by removing the sprues, polishing and/or plating.

Shapeways also offer a stainless steel material which i've been using to make various one-piece multitools and such. It's production starts out very similar to the plastic material with a stainless steel powder being glued together to form an overall shape. The object is then heated in a kiln to burn away the glue and fuse the stainless particles together. At the same time the object is infused with bronze to fill any voids. It's not a suitable material for torches, as it's resolution isn't quite good enough, but it's a lot of fun for other things.

Updates will continue until morale improves.

SECTION 4: MODS and TING

Here's the rest of the things i've done that are not complete light builds.

One of my first proper mods; an simple Aspheric Thrower using an EZ900 XR-E through the Ahorton lens and mounted into the simple Skyray P60 host.

Only the tiniest bit of cutting was needed on the host to remove the lip which usually holds the lens in place. The LED pill sits in a threaded copper tube to allow subtle adjustment relative to the lens.

More details on the build Here on Multitool.org

I got a modded triple E-series head back from Tana recently and decided to give it a e1 type body but being a high powered drop-in i wanted as much battery as i could get so i made an 18350 sized body for it.

This is my old-school pineapple build, the body is an old E-series compatible PEU Pineapple while the head and tail are my own creations (although the tail is a close facsimile of a McGizmo Aleph tailcap). My inspiration came from these pictures of previous pineapple builds by wave_particle:

I love the shape of the light in the first picture but it looks like it has a titanium head and tail and as i want to give this light a triple LED head titanium is not a sensible option and since i don't like bare aluminium, i decided to go with the red and black colour scheme of the light in the second picture.

Unfortunately while trying to remove the original anodising on the body i etched it quite badly which is why is has such a matte finish. The black body i have looks alright with the head and tail but i'll probably get another pineapple body and try again to get it anodised red. It might also have another go at making a head and tail as there are a few improvements i would implement.

I really wish i hadn't cut the text in the head but luckily it being black has made it a bit less obvious. A copper triple drop-in hasn't been made yet.

Both the e1 body and pineapple build are discussed: Here on CaramelisedPlumFritters and Here on Multitool.org

2W 445nm Blue Laser Drop-In.

This thing is just dangerous, i'm not entirely sure why i made it but it does work quite well. The bezel ring is titanium and the host is an aptly coloured Solarforce L2P. The tail has been converted to a reverse clicky as it seems like the safer option.

As thermal path is very important with laser diodes due to their low thermal operating temperature maximum i used as much copper as possible.

I designed the drop-in to be dismantleable so the leads are screwed in place and the central 12mm module removed and replaced if need be.

Pretty.

This laser build is also discussed more Here on CodPosterFactory

5mm Nichia GS Array P60 Drop-In.

It doesn't work very well but it was an interesting experiment and some features will be used on future projects.

The original build thread with more pictures can be found here.

This is my copper tail cap machined to match the copper Cryos Cool Head and copper/carbon fibre Cryos Body.

The host now has a Hit Man direct-drive LED-Tech copper mounted XML2-U2 drop-in and runs off an AW IMR 18650.

The switch is a McClicky and the bottom plate is separate from the main tail section and is retained by the bezel ring.

What to do with all those left over Solarforce parts? Build a stubby host of course.

The body section is just a cut down version of the L2 body with the full P60 cavity, although the bore is only 17mm. If someone made a 16250 cell then a standard P60 could be used but i plan to make a custom triple drop-in for the light and use it with an IMR 16340. There will be a 5mm copper puck between the MCPCB and 3A driver board.

The light is a bit longer than the Torch Lab Pocket Stubby but that's all just in the extra length of the clicky switch.

My 10 amp reverse clicky switch for Solarforce tailcaps.

This is a project to construct a higher current handling clicky switch for 6P architecture lights. The switch has been sized to fit snugly into a Solarforce S1 tailcap and be secured in place with the Solarforce aluminium retaining ring. However the basic design should be able to be altered to match the McClicky switch profile and perhaps other similar switches.

Renders of my original 'Tofty Switch 0', which has gone through a number of alterations to become the finished 'Tofty Switch 1' shown below.

A number of switches have been sent out into the community for beta testing and small scale switch production will begin soon, so long as the testing feedback does not flag up any serious problems.

The original project thread with more information can be found here.

Brass V10R heat-sinks with tritium holes.

This was a bit of a failed experiment but not entirely. Installing tritium into the heat-sinks of the Sunwayman V10R Ti and Ti+ is quite a popular mod but quite an expensive thing to get done by a professional modder. I was therefore asked by a previous client of mine whether 3D printing could allow a heat-sink to be made with tritium holes pre-formed and these are the results:

the version above is in bronze and can take 20 of the 2x6mm tritium vials. The biggest problem with this project is that the threads still need machining, which is difficult as the heat-sink itself isn't perfectly round so centering it into a lathe chuck is very difficult. I had this made in bronze as Shapeways had an discount on the material at the time but from my research i concluded that it's thermal properties are pretty awful and unsuitable for use as a heatsink, being only slightly better of thermal transfer than titanium.

The version below is in brass and can take 20 of the 2x8mm tritium vials. Although not as good as brass can be, the brass alloy Shapeways use should have reasonably good thermal properties and be suitable for heat-sink applications as a valid upgrade.

The version below is also in brass but with no tritium holes, so was designed be be as efficient a heat-sink as possible, which realistically is a bit pointless as the thermal path between the LED and heat-sink involves a lot of titanium and therefore a rather large bottle-neck.

In conclusion i realised that the hassle of having to machine parts of the printed heat-sink out-weighs any advantage gained. It would probably be easier and cheaper to completely machine a new heat-sink from brass including the drilled tritium holes.

As may be apparent i have a fair interest in the P60 drop-in format and have been collecting both hosts and drop-ins for a while now.

This picture was taken about seven months ago.... Two months ago....

And just this morning.

Now all i have to do is make a load of drop-ins for the empties.

Updates will continue until morale improves.

SECTION 5: SPECIAL MATERIALS

Firstly yes i do think titanium is a special material and my Ti Dive torch should really be here rather than Section 2.

Even so i've got a few other exotic materials in mind for various lights......

Future Projects....

Magnesium UV Torch.

This is my planned magnesium bodied torch which will use an LED Engin 365nm chip run at 700mA and will be powered by an AW Protected 18500.

the lens is a visible light filtering lens and allows only UV light to pass through. The GITD o-ring is to help identify if the torch is on and working.

The purple coloured parts will be anodised aluminium. They were originally planned to be titanium but since that would seriously offset the weight saving advantage of the magnesium i changed my mind. The reason for these non-magnesium parts was to avoid excessive wearing of the rather soft magnesium, especially on the threads used to gain access to the battery.

I actually have everything i need to start this project, including far more magnesium than i need and it will be my next major build.

The only thing i'm unsure of is how to anodise the magnesium, i got hold of a MIL document that explains the process to some extent but it's either going to be whole lot of trial and error or i get lucky and find someone with that kind of experience, fingers crossed.

Original concept thread on Multitool.org

Tungsten Torch.

Now this one's just silly, i admit it, but i'm still going to try and make it.

I've wanted to work with tungsten for quite a while now, probably just because of it's reputation. Just like titanium i suspect tungsten just needs a considered approach and the right tools.

The basic design of the light is quite similar to some of my two 16340 brass torches with the difference being that there will not be a solid core but rather a copper drop-in that screws down into the body. The LED will hopefully be a high CRI 3000k XM-L2 driven at 3A and using the good old 20mm 10003 Carclo TIR optic.

Since tungsten is so hard i've tried to design all the components to be similarly rugged; the lens is rubber mounted above, below and round it's circumference, the drop-in and optic are secured in place with locking rings, the battery is secured in place with o-rings and plastic collars and is not supported by springs, all joints are double o-ringed and the tail switch boot is shrouded. All in all it should be pretty sturdy. When it gets dropped onto a paving slab, it's the slab that will come off worse.

The anti-roll ring is a separate piece and will hopefully be made from titanium, anodised blue to add a touch of colour to what will be quite a somber piece.

All that's left to do is find some 1" bloody tungsten rod.

Wooden Clad Stainless Steel Torch.

This light is supposed to be a homage to the early Surefire weaponlight heads (Z32) and is designed to hold a P60 module.

The P60 module is planned to be a custom unit with a 26.5mm Carclo optic, an XP-C mounted to a Noctigon copper PCPCB, driven hard with a silver plated copper heat-sink.

The type of wood i've chosen for this torch is Bog Oak from the Fens.

I chose it rather than Irish bog oak because i wanted to have clearer grain definition than just the black against black of some of the more ancient bog woods.

The grain will run from top to bottom on the light rather than around as shown in the renders. The wood will be oiled but not varnished or stained as it doesn't need to be.

The torch body is made up of seven pieces not including the wood, and is all screwed together allowing the wooden pieces to be installed as single pieces rather than half that need to be glued together.

There are a few other lights that use special materials in the planning stages which will hopefully make an appearance eventually.

Updates will continue until morale improves.

whew... that was tough :D

cant wait to see whats to come

edit: i think i can honestly say... ill take one of each

Speechless.

WOW… very cool lights!!!

this.
Simply amazing work! :open_mouth:

You are real maister…

There are no flashlights like hand made flashlights.

Well… I hope your journey will never end, this simply provide so much refreshing and entertaining.

Im blown away by your sheer talent and creativity. Thank you for posting!

There should be a NSFW tag in the title because this is some straight up hardcore flashlight porn.

All the above Tofty. These are all works of art. The beaten look one especially as to me at a casual glance looks like an old piece of wood. Keep em coming.

WOW!

This light is amazing. I love the organic look is has, like something grew this way, died and you made a flashlight from its petrified skeleton.

Is this there going to be a production run of this?

exactly what I was thinking! you just raised my addiction go a new level!

the 3d printed and the special materials lights are by far my favorite.

http://www.shapeways.com/model/1103655/ag-torch-ser-002-silver-parts-flashlight.html?li=productBox-search

but... will not be in my collection anytime soon :(

others of interest:

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/toftylight

Love… IT!!! :heart_eyes:

Now, that’s the good stuff! I’ve seen a few of these and been suitably impressed… new was the beaten looking one, and I like it. Thanks for sharing.

i really want to see more on the special material ones. i dont know why as i dont care for purple much, but that purple torch is calling my name