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DG Ti Light -- Completed

PhotonFanatic

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 17, 2003
Messages
2,337
Location
western Massachusetts
UPDATE 1/21/09:

The Double Grooved Ti Light is finished.
:D

This twisty used a Seoul P4, bin U2SW0H, driven by a NG750 driver, which can accept either primary, or rechargeable CR123 batteries. It has a 2mm thick mineral glass lens, O-rings, and a Khatod stippled 20mm reflector. In the front of the light 12 silicon nitride precision ball bearings were inserted, not only for looks, but to safequard against the light being left on accidentally while placed on its head. The body of the light is 6AL4V Titanium.

DGFinalLightonMirror.jpg


Sitting on a mirror, to show the light escapement. There is really only one layer of ball bearings. :devil:

DGFinalHeadOn-1.jpg


DGFinalSlantRt-1.jpg


DGFinalVertical-3.jpg


Hopefully the customer likes it and pays for it. :devil:

If not, it goes on eBay. ;)

++++++++++++++++++++++++



DGALProto-5.jpg


DGALProto-2.jpg


DGALProto-1.jpg


Eventually this will be a twisty Ti RCR123 powered light, with a 20mm reflector installed, along with a P4.

The feel in the hand is sublime. :devil: Whatever that means. :crackup:

And, that's not fully polished yet, either--just a quick buff with some tripoli to get rid of most of the machining marks.

********************

Update 1/5/09:

Yesterday and today, I worked on the Ti pieces for the DG light. Here are a few pics to show the progress:

DGFinalAxialGroove.jpg


Here the final axial groove, one of twelve, is ready to be cut.

DGAxialsDone-2.jpg


All done on the axial grooves, now it need the circuferential grooves added:

DGCuttingCircGrooves.jpg


While there are fewer of those grooves, going around the piece, they take longer to do, since the length is quite long! Plus, I do each groove at varying depths of cut, with the final passes being the thinner cuts.

And here's how the two grooves intersect:

DGCloseUpEnd.jpg


And the two pieces screwed together:

DGAllGroovedOut.jpg


Ultimately, when buffed and polished all those lines will be obliterated. :devil:

BTW, see the difference between the AL and the Ti versions--besides the fact that the AL was polished?

********************

Update 1/7/09:

Nothing too exciting, just some work on the LE today:

DGThreadingLE.jpg


Cutting the threads on the driver module, aka Light Engine or LE.

DGCheckFitOnLEThreads-2.jpg


Quick test of the fit of the threads--tried to keep it snug for better heat transfer.

DGPCBBore.jpg


Last action was to bore the space for the driver board, including the lip for the PCB to rest on.

Would have done more, but I'm awaiting some tooling. Plus, something else arrived which distracted me--unfortunately it wasn't my wife. :devil:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

UPDATE 1/18/09:

Today I got around to parting the head and the battery tube from their stubs. First up was the battery tube, which had been sitting still for lack of a tool, which finally arrived. Here is the completed battery tube, after being parted off from the stub, and then screwed into the head:

DGTailcapParted-1.jpg


Then, the head was similarly parted from its stub and the light exit bore was enlarged to its final size:

DGBoringLightExit.jpg


And here are both parts fitted together again, but without the stubs:

DGMachiningDone_BBs_toDo.jpg


Next up was to drill some holes that would be home to some silicon nitride ball bearings on the front of the head:

DGBallBearingHolesDrilled.jpg


Next, the front of the light was sanded down and polished, since once the ball bearings are installed, you can't do much more work on the metal. The light was then cleaned and was ready for the installation of the ball bearings. Here is a shot shortly after I had started that:

DGHeadBBsBeingInstalled-2.jpg


In case you are wondering what Wahli means, that is the name of the manufacturer of my lathe. :D

And this is the front of the light after all the bearings were installed:

DGBBsHeadOn.jpg


The idea, of course, is that if you place this light head-down, and accidentally leave it on, the light will leak out from under the head, thanks to the gap created by the ball bearings:

DGShowingBBGap-2.jpg


Miniature crenellations, anyone? :cool:

Next comes the building and installation of the converter and the lens and reflector, but for now, here's the almost completed light:

DGSemiAssembledonTi.jpg


DGSemiAssembledonTi-2.jpg
 
Last edited:

brucec

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
683
Location
New York
Re: DG Aluminum Prototype

Looks awesome! It's amazing how you get the head and body to align so well!
 

DaFABRICATA

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
3,946
Location
Michigan
Re: DG Aluminum Prototype

WOW!:eek:
Beautiful work!!
I love the BIG knerled look....kinda reminds me of the M6 body.:eek:oo::naughty:

You have some amazing skills!:thumbsup:
 

griff

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 22, 2007
Messages
1,917
Location
Kansas
Re: DG Aluminum Prototype

U N B E L I E V A B L E
FRED!
Good Luck in 2009
 

PhotonFanatic

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 17, 2003
Messages
2,337
Location
western Massachusetts
Re: DG Aluminum Prototype

Looks awesome! It's amazing how you get the head and body to align so well!

That's simply a matter of luck, although one can't be too far from having things lined up when there are twelve divisions of the circle.

However, it is usually possible to tweak almost any twisty to align properly--either by slicing a bit off the end of one of the tubes, or by using diamond paste to remove small amounts. It's almost too easy to take too much off--better to leave it short and let it wear in.
 

datiLED

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 9, 2006
Messages
2,022
Location
Atlanta, GA
Re: DG Aluminum Prototype

Wow. I had to stare at it for a few seconds to realize that the light was two pieces. You have been turning out some serious eye candy lately.
 

jch79

**Do Not Feed The Vegan**,
Joined
May 2, 2006
Messages
3,661
Location
On the asphalt.
Re: DG Aluminum Prototype

What does DG stand for?

She's a beauty Fred - and I kinda dig the "satin" finish of it! The seam is, well, seemingly seamless! :duh2:

:twothumbs john
 

phoneguy

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 23, 2003
Messages
242
Location
St Louis area
Re: DG Aluminum Prototype

You have some serious talent.
It needs an Egyptian theme... looks like little pyramids.

Bryan
 

hamheart

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
262
Re: DG Aluminum Prototype to Ti Reality

:popcorn: :D :paypal: :devil: :party: :huh: :thumbsup: :drool: :naughty: :twothumbs: :cool: :clap: :rock::bow: :buddies:
 
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