Thank you very much for sharing your build .
And especially for the remarks about stippling the reflector . I love floody lights and I will now get to stippling .
Jack have you tried just using diffusion material over the lens or is that too floody for you?
I usually spray some window frosting spray on the inside of the lens . Depending on how heavily you apply it , it can turn a thrower into a floodlight . You do , however , lose a lot of lumens with this technique .
I simply wondered if stippling would produce the beam profile i wanted with out the loss of too many lumens .
Old -Lumens says it produces too much flood , I say not enough .
PCC over on CPF did some comparitive beamshots for me and going by his beamshots , it would appear that I will have to use lens diffusion to achieve the ideal beam profile I want .
My favorite beam profile is one in which the hotspot gradually blends into the corona , which then gradually blends into bright spill .
For my thrower applications , I prefer a pencil of light with very little spill .
In this instance , I would like to use my Mag for close up work , and the strong hotspot makes that difficult .
Link to these beamshots? I'm curious to see. I also like floody lights and agree the Mag LED is rather pathetic due to the lack of bright spill.
Edit - Great handiwork Old-Lumens! Shame it didn't last. It's a work of art though!
-Garry
Jack,
You will find with the LED Maglites, that they will have a more pronounced hot spot, due to the deep reflector. It might be possible (I don’t know without looking it over), that you could use an Incan reflector with a LED Maglite. Stippling the shorter reflector, would produce more like what you are looking for. I believe the “profile” of the cammed section on a LED and incan are different, but I believe the hole ID is the same and the profile on the cam could be recut to match the LED reflector. I just don’t know if the overall stack up would be the right height, or at least a workable height. I can look at that if you like.
Oh, Jack, what you need is a Mule. That would be about the most even light distribution. One could easily be done, well easy to me. If you want one of yours modified to be a mule, let me know. All it would cost is shipping to and from.
That’s what I love about blf, the “mates helping each other out” attitude. It’s as good as going the pub and chatting out a problem, with a possible result of someone saying “i’ll come round and help”.
It’s just brilliant.
But I do like a hot spot . Just a diffuse one .
And if I need a pure flood , I can simply remove the reflector entirely . ( Which I have done ) . And if the head of the flashlight is removed entirely , you have pure mule .
If the head and reflector were to be made much shallower it would likely have a beam profile more in line with my idea of a perfect beam for short to medium distances .
The only flashlight I currently own with a nearly perfect beam for short distance is my Balder SE-1 .
I would love to have a Mag with a beam like that .
Jack,
Do you like the beam profile of a flood to throw light, when it’s adjusted to flood? Well, that would not have a hot spot, but more like pure flood, never mind.
Jack, which emitter do you have in your SE-1? I've always wondered about picking one of them up.
-Garry
Garry , I have the 3C tint . And I wish I was good at taking beamshots , because the beam profile of this light is something to share . It really is near perfect . No artifacts of any kind and no clear delineation between hotspot , corona , and spill . Just a smoooooooth flow of neutral sweetness .
Truth be told , if Balder made this light with a reversible clip and a high CRI emitter it would be an unbeatable EDC .
+1
Even though it failed, it still looks awesome and shows great talent!
Hi O-L
That tower sure came out beautiful. Your skills with hand tools still amazes me though I should know you by now.
I am so bummed that the screw broke! This light is so well made. Do you think 2 small ball bearings would reduce the friction induced on the reflector cam/bushing and the bushing/pipe cutout wall enough that it would last or does it really need a steel center to hold? Because small ball bearings are not that expensive.
The original “screw” is a shoulder bolt (tiny) and it has some type of roller head, since the head turns independent of the center bolt, so I really feel it’s just that the copper is way too soft. If I ever decide to redo it, I will use a steel sleeve with copper in the center.
OLd-lumens, I saw you refer to a “mule” How does this apply/what is a mule flashlight?I don’t believe I have heard that trerm used twoards a flashlight before.What would you do to a Maglight to make one?
A mule is a flashlight without a reflector. This means it is just pure flood.
What he said. :bigsmile:
What I would do, would be to make a flat heat sink that is almost flush to the top of the body and mount the LED on it. Then I would cut the head, so that the new height is just a couple mm taller than where the inside threads end. Finish off the edge and place the original lens on top (glue it in the end). Then just screw the head on and the LED is protected. The lens might have to be sprayed with clear krylon (stippled), or with that “frosted glass spray”, if it’s too bright or if the center spot is too distinct. There have been a lot of these lights done by different people. Over at CPF you might find more hits, by doing a “mule” search there.
You know, now I might have to do one this fall. Hey, I’ve got three green Maglights D, AA, AAA and they are going to be my threesome build this year. I might just have to do “3 Mules for Sister Sarah” 
0:)
Am I allowed to call dibs on the threesome now?
If I can be little offtopic (I dont like to open new topics for everything), is it hard to mod 2D incadescent Maglite to a LED flashlight. One friend has it and ask me if I can do it - I really dont know, I’m afraid there would be to much work. And would have to find some 3,0V XML driver, no?
Beautiful craftsmanship as usual, O-L! My only thought I had since your first post on your plans is where does the heat go? I think Maglite doesn’t make them brighter is due to heat transfer or lack of it. Once your copper heats up it has no way to shed to the body or head.