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

can someone pass me my jaw please?

Awesome work. Thank you for sharing.

whoa that 3d printer one is pretty mind blowing at all the possibilities. thx for sharing.

Thanks everyone, it's great to see something other than the usual indifference on a forum, especially one of such connoisseurs.

I'm off for a long weekend in a bit for a beer festival but i will answer all questions as soon as i get back, unlikely as that may sound.

Cheers.

lights shown here are nothing like other custom made.
that P60 drop in is looking good :smiley:

I was sure someone was going to post before i'd finished, just for fun.

Updates will continue periodically.

The dream is to eventually offer lights for sale but for now that's all it is.

Thanks everyone, my pleasure.

Thanks, it's the freedom to make things that aren't always a good idea that i like the most.

Ah you must have clicked on 'Two girls, one flashlight' instead.

It's a really nice and simple finish as well as being quite relaxing to make. One of my future projects will be decorated in turned wood like a fine pen but some old drift wood or railway sleeper would help make a really interesting piece when matched with similarly distressed brass, bronze, copper or even forged iron.

Not a production run as such but the silver parts can be ordered from shapeways right now.

I wouldn't advise it though, the fit and finish isn't quite as good as the picture makes out, although all the parts only had to be ordered once so i did pretty well.

An update on this to come soon.

Thanks for the link, not what many people would call a fair price unfortunately.

Hopefully a few more you won't have seen coming up soon.

This section is for now just designs but i have all the parts needed to fully make one of them at least.

Thanks, i'm hoping that some of what i learned from that drop-in will help me design and build a swappable LED modular P60.

Details to emerge soon.

Section 2 updated a bit, full Section 3 update in the next few days.

Section 3 updated.

Hmmmm. What tools/machines do you use to make these?

Especially the Ag torch.

You are one amazing guy Tofty. Those 3D printed lights are outstanding. Do you 3D print the threads as well? Also the silver, can this be 3D printed also?

Sorry Guy's i should have explained how it's all done in Section 3 (which i'll do in a bit).

ChibiM, i have a lathe and a milling machine which i use to make the machined torches.

The 3D printed torches are made in a variety of different ways, just not by me (see below).

MRsDNF, thanks a lot.

All the 3D printed torches require no further finishing whatsoever, just assembly, so the threads are fully useable when they're posted to me.

The silver is not technically printed, it's cast using the lost wax method. It's the wax model that's printed.

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

I don't have to do anything except 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 (the brass is actually from another 3D printing company called i.materialise) torches were cast as i mentioned above then finished by removing sprues, polishing and/or plating.

Shapeways also offer a stainless steel material which i've been using to make some 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 heat in a kiln to burn away to glue and fuse the stainless particles together. At the same time the object is infused with bronze to fill the glue 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.

Man, I feel like I just walked through a museum with great works of art. I’m in awe of your creations.

Thanks ImA4Wheelr, new exhibits added to Sections 1 and 2.

" ... Updates will continue until morale improves. "

Cool

Simply amazing. Wish I can get one and pass it along to my son after me.

Dont stop posting. Thats about all I can say. Words dont define with what I have again seen. That dive light, wow. Thanks.

That Ag Torch would look/work a whole lot better if it was in my pocket… J)

Thanks a lot everyone, section 5 has just been updated along with a few other small things.

Oh looks like updates are no longer required after all, never mind, forget i said anything.

All in good time, i'm slowly working on making such a scenario a reality, very slowly.

Oh OK i'll continue then, i'm confused now. Cheers.

I hope you wear a belt cos otherwise your trousers will be round your ankles in no time, it's not very pocket friendly.

bit lost for words there, talk about thinking out of the box. Other than the sound of my jaw scraping around on the floor, I was particularly interested in the Fens bog wood. I grew up there (and left as quick as I could), but I’ve never heard of that before. I’m guessing it’s old wood dug up from when it was a marsh/ bog before the land was reclaimed? Or is it from the other side of the sea wall where it’s been brought to the surface by the RAF bombing the monkeys out of it (about the only excitement to be had around there)?

Two questions: which machine?
which CAD/CAM SW?

Thanks a lot Race, hopefully some of the Section 5 lights will come to life eventually.

Cheers Matt, i don't know a great deal about bog woods other than that they have to be carefully dried to avoid splitting so i suspect it's from outside the fully reclaimed areas. The Fens isn't an area of the country i've ever visited, which i suppose rather helps make your point.

For 3D CAD i use Solidworks but i prefer to draw in AutoCAD then transfer them over. For things like 3D printing Solidworks is great because it will identify any open features or small overcomplicated sections so you know the model is correct and printable before you upload to Shapeways or other similar sites. I've never had any cause to use CAM software so far as i have no CNC machining access.

The machines i use are just hobbyist spec:

Myford Super 7 long-bed lathe, 3-phase motor with variable speed control.

Axmister milling machine, can't remember which exactly but one of the cheaper ones.

Now you know why i only make one-offs.