FEELER: Dark Sucks, Carbon Fiber bodied Alpha

archer6817j

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Anyone have interest in one of these? This will be a carbon sleeve epoxy bonded over an aluminum body. This will be a tad lighter than the standard Alpha. Please give feedback on whether you want the aluminum to be "raw" or nickel plated like my other lights. I recommend the nickel plate for long term durability.

The light (as pictured) will be in the neighborhood of $300.00 This covers the cost of the additional machining on the head and the cost to have custom carbon tubes manufactured to my specifications. The light in the photo is just a mock up. This is not a final price since I still need to get the exact cost from the tube manufacturer.

Thanks!

Jason

carbon-perspective.jpg


carbon-side.jpg
 
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archimedes

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Looks great!

What about hard chrome plating for the exposed metal? Might give it more of a "hot-rod sports car" theme....

EDIT: Or, even better, DLC coating for a two-tone black-on-grey (carbon-on-carbon!) look :D
 
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nfetterly

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Very nice. Nicest looking head yet as well out of your iterations. I've had the boom reflector on 2 (custom) lights so far and have been VERY happy with the beam (one is MC-E, the other was Osram 6-die). My only concern would be on tint - my taste goes more towards neutral (~4500) or slightly warmer. Any chance of opening the LED tint up to options?
 

archer6817j

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I have 4000k MCE and 5000k XML on hand, as well as xpg high CRI. I'm looking to get some very specific bins direct from a Cree dealer in the next month or so :)
 

nfetterly

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I have 4000k MCE and 5000k XML on hand, as well as xpg high CRI. I'm looking to get some very specific bins direct from a Cree dealer in the next month or so :)

That xpg high CRI is REALLY nice! Sounds like you're heading in the direction I like!

Incidentally - not interested in Raw aluminum at all. EN, Chrome, HAIII.... are all good...
 

cw_mi

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Jason,
the carbon fiber is sick ! I really like the looks of it.
 

whizdumb

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That is the best looking head I've ever seen on a light.. Love the design (specifically how the long relief cuts through the fining turn into the bezel crenelation at the end) . Keep this up cuz it's a winning design in my book...
 

archimedes

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How much extra might it be if you were to offer DLC?

The more I think about a "Carbon-Squared" in High-CRI, the more difficult I may find to resist....
 

archer6817j

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How much extra might it be if you were to offer DLC?

The more I think about a "Carbon-Squared" in High-CRI, the more difficult I may find to resist....

Actually I have some samples at a PVD coating company in LA as we type. Aluminum is no problem, they just "cook" it at a lower temperature.

I'll be getting samples in TiN (gold), TiCN (grey), TiAlN (dark grey), and DLC (black). I have no clue what the cost will be yet.

When I get the samples back (they are different grooving) I can take some photos with the carbon just to se how te colors look :)
 

archer6817j

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I don't suppose a copper head is an option....?

Do you mean a raw copper head? If there is enough interest I can have them done at a machine shop. The copper is too abrasive for me to do it on my machine. It will basically ruin all of my tools. I'll put my copper head on the carbon body today and take some shots :)
 

nfetterly

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Actually I have some samples at a PVD coating company in LA as we type. Aluminum is no problem, they just "cook" it at a lower temperature.

I'll be getting samples in TiN (gold), TiCN (grey), TiAlN (dark grey), and DLC (black). I have no clue what the cost will be yet.

When I get the samples back (they are different grooving) I can take some photos with the carbon just to se how te colors look :)

Ahh, PVD, remember that now. I would be in for sure - BIG preference for DLC, but AlTiN would do.

Presumably the tail would be coated the same as the head....
 
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badtziscool

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I really like this head design. And as someone previously said, I especially like the relief cuts that give the head its crenelation. And the CF body looks great, but I wonder how it would look like if it was naked CF.
 
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