QTC flashlight - from scratch (non battery-crush)

[Harry999]

Seriously it looks great as it currently is as a prototype!

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[Mattaus]

Seriously it looks great as it currently is as a prototype!

+1. Obviously a bit hard to see from photos but it does look good.

 

[TheFraz]

^ Thanks guys! Here is a pic of the somewhat finished 123 light next to the bigger one with Mack looking on...

 

[Mattaus]

I like how you've incorporate a sort of brightness level indicator into the rear half of the lights (if those increasingly large notches are what I think they are).

Is there a matching notch on the front end? These look HA anodized as well...you must have access to a serious work shop!

 

[TheFraz]

I like how you've incorporate a sort of brightness level indicator into the rear half of the lights (if those increasingly large notches are what I think they are).

Is there a matching notch on the front end? These look HA anodized as well...you must have access to a serious work shop!

Good observation - yes, those notches are a sort of indicator of the operation of the light. No matching notch yet...still in the tweaking stage...

I wish I had access to a serious shop! This is garage mechanics....benchtop lathe and mill with some GunKote. And a little baking for curing in the house oven when I can get away with it...:devil:

 

[Mattaus]

is garage mechanics....benchtop lathe and mill with some GunKote. And a little baking for curing in the house oven when I can get away with it...:devil:

Well impressive stuff regardless. I've just started learning how to use a lathe and my appreciation for what some members here can create went up infinitely after my first session.

And yes I've been banned from using the house oven for any non-food related baking :-(

 

[TheFraz]

Thank you...I'm self taught myself. Best way to figure it all out imo is to crank it on and start having success/making mistakes. Well, that and Google.. Threading was especially intimidating at first...only took a few ruined scraps to get it going! One of these days I'm probably gonna be forced into some sort of outdoor oven...

 

[Mattaus]

Well even though I can make basic parts on the lathe now I still tend to pay people for custom work. Your QTC lights look great and if you ever decide to make and sell a AA based light I'll be all over it - I have 10 brand new Eneloops and no light to use them in (mistake on my part) and the driver less, switchless design of these lights would be perfect...although I prefer single AA and 1.2V won't do much :-/

 

[TheFraz]

As soon as I get these thing functioning exactly the way I envision, I'll be more than happy to do a production run for those interested. I just want to make something that people will enjoy/appreciate/ find useful. I should have several battery configurations available. Hopefully I can get one working like you are looking for - I'm waiting on new parts to come in now for a beta prototype..

 

[Mattaus]

As soon as I get these thing functioning exactly the way I envision, I'll be more than happy to do a production run for those interested. I just want to make something that people will enjoy/appreciate/ find useful. I should have several battery configurations available. Hopefully I can get one working like you are looking for - I'm waiting on new parts to come in now for a beta prototype..

Sounds excellent. Less parts to break in these sorts of lights which makes them very good for camping/hiking etc.

 

[Harry999]

That is exactly why I am interested as well. This looks like a potentially great emergency light. I love simple twisty lights especially those with a progressive UI. With less moving parts I feel more confident in the light.

With a smooth ramping QTC based control it will be a nice EDC as well...

I admire you skills. I could not do any of that. My limit is filing out the holes on a Ti clip to fit it on my Jetbeam E3S.

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[^Gurthang]

Really impressive work Fraz, very well finished. I'm curious where you're sourcing the QTC and waiting to see more of you work.

 

[PhotonFanatic]

. . .

As far as the way the qtc brightens and dims this prototype, it works very smoothly with no flickering or artifacts. A good example if you have a QTC pill - make a circuit with wires running to and away from an LED. Put the pill on the + end of a battery and the - wire on the negative end of the battery. Press the + wire into the QTC directly, it gives you an idea of what the material is capable of. Ramps like butter when you don't have to worry about movement of the pill or shearing force. I'll try to make a little better video showing the operation if I can get a little time tonight.

. . .

Care to elaborate a bit on the interface you are using between the QTC and the positive and negative leads? How are you avoiding abrasion as you mentioned--is the contact from the +ve end of the battery a piston, i.e., no twisting, just pressure to the QTC?

 

[TheFraz]

Thanks for the compliments! Sorry it's taken me a bit to respond - been pretty busy lately. To answer your questions, I got the QTC a while back from an online vendor (that I cannot remember the name of lol...although it says "Rapid" on the plastic bag they came in, if that helps). Yes, I'm going for very few moving parts and as little soldering as possible. I want it to be very durable. As for the QTC interface, it has taken a lot of R&D to get it right. All the parts for the user interface/engine have been fabricated. It seems most solutions that look good on paper don't look or feel so good in operation. I'm still working out final bugs on my engine design now (have given it several thousand twists to try for any failures that might happen) and hopefully I can tweak it to the point I feel it very unlikely to have any abnormalities when reproduced (can't go into too much detail yet, but I'll take some pictures of the final engine). The main trick I wanted was to have constant contact with positive and negative springs to the battery so it wouldn't rattle when the light is in the 'off' position.

And since I like pictures, here's the QTC123 next to a LD10 for a size reference:

Now I'm waiting on my parts/aluminum to arrive for my final couple models. I also wanna add some warmer LEDs...I just really like the warmer colors that have come out recently.

 

[Mattaus]

Use Nichia 219s for your LED. I love those emitters. Any consideration for other metals like copper or even titanium? Sorry if this has been covered....I'm on my phone and searching is a pain.

Also count me in if you produce the CR123 versions.

 

[TheFraz]

Yeah, I'd definitely like to try the new Nichias out...I haven't seen one being used yet but I've heard nothing but good things. And yes, I'd definitely consider other metals. It shouldn't be too hard to incorporate them once I finalize the design.

 

[Lumenz]

Any updates on the progress? I will be monitoring this thread. I have been getting the Peak QTC lights but they are not exactly what I was hoping for. I like the smoothness of operation of your flashlight.

 

[TheFraz]

Any updates on the progress? I will be monitoring this thread. I have been getting the Peak QTC lights but they are not exactly what I was hoping for. I like the smoothness of operation of your flashlight.

Thanks for the interest! Sorry it took a while to respond. Finally got my materials in. Got a chance to get on the lathe tonight and finished the optic holder/heat sink for the next prototype.

On paper the bug fixes look good...we shall see. I've been using the other 2 prototypes like crazy and they are holding up great. Hopefully I can put some pics up later for this model 2.0 light. It should be better in every way than the 1st one.

 

[Harry999]

Look forward to the pics.

 

[persco]

Wow. What a great thread. Impressive work, Fraz. I'll keep a close eye on your progress.