MBI Core Ti - (world's thinnest??) Titanium Flashlight Pendant - (work in progress)

[Bigmac_79]

Hi DBC,

@Everyone,

Feedback please
...

- If the initial choices for the first run don't include custom anodizing colors, but you're planning to offer that later, I would probably wait until later.
- Engraving is a great option, and my guess is that the majority of people who might want engraving are those who've been following this for a while and will want to be in on the first run.
- Having a pre-pay for pre-orders with engraving is probably essential, and I would probably say just have everyone pre-pay who wants to reserve one (either engraved or blank), to make things easier on your end.
- If all of the first 200 want engraving and are willing to pre-pay for it, it's probably no big deal that the first batch won't include any blank ones.
- Including a Ti chain as an accessory sounds pretty great to me, depending on the cost it would add. If it's going to be six weeks to produce the first batch, I'm guessing that adding the chain wouldn't add much wait time to the process?

[the_guy_with_no_name]

TGWNN,

Ive been following the development of the Core ti for while without posting and its great to see how close production is. Personally i dont think the chain is needed for the first run. Also has it been decided on what thickness is being offered?

Cheers

Hi Clam,

Thanks so much for posting and

Sorry, I forgot to mention the thickness.
Version 1 will be 4mm.
Thanks for the feedback regarding the chain.

- If the initial choices for the first run don't include custom anodizing colors, but you're planning to offer that later, I would probably wait until later.
- Engraving is a great option, and my guess is that the majority of people who might want engraving are those who've been following this for a while and will want to be in on the first run.
- Having a pre-pay for pre-orders with engraving is probably essential, and I would probably say just have everyone pre-pay who wants to reserve one (either engraved or blank), to make things easier on your end.
- If all of the first 200 want engraving and are willing to pre-pay for it, it's probably no big deal that the first batch won't include any blank ones.
- Including a Ti chain as an accessory sounds pretty great to me, depending on the cost it would add. If it's going to be six weeks to produce the first batch, I'm guessing that adding the chain wouldn't add much wait time to the process?

Hi Mac,

Thanks very much for the feedback.
I do believe I'll be able to anodize by the time the first batch is ready, though I might consider limiting that to blanks and then post some photos so you can be sure its the color you want.
Perhaps a pre-pay for the first production run would make it simpler, but I might also consider holding 50 blanks without pre-pay as I'm not a big fan of the pay & prey kind of stuff I've seen to date via cpf. Whilst most of the custom makers on cpf I've purchased from have been professional and speedy, I truly hate the "unknown" part.
I will as always maintain high transparency no BS policy on the exact status and specify a firm delivery schedule before the pre-sale.

A chain won't add any delay, and would arrive before the CoreTi's do, but I am concerned about increasing the base cost so I think the chain is best kept an optional choice.

tgwnn

[climberkid]

I will blindly follow you into the realm of Ti. Blasted, chained, and paid for. :-)

-Alex

[Hamaremon]

Hey Tgwnn,
I'll probably be purchasing one of each finish in the first run, and wait to see your later offerings first before getting trigger happy with Paypal Not particularly interested in engraving or anodizing, but regardless, I don't mind pre-payment - whatever you decide works best for you! Also, I'm not so sure about the ball chains... I don't have a better option in mind, so that may be what I end up using, but I'll have to look at some more pictures before deciding. Even if you don't have the chains available for the first run, it's not a deal-breaker for me.

[the_guy_with_no_name]

I will blindly follow you into the realm of Ti. Blasted, chained, and paid for. :-)

-Alex

Thanks Alex

Hey Tgwnn,
I'll probably be purchasing one of each finish in the first run, and wait to see your later offerings first before getting trigger happy with Paypal Not particularly interested in engraving or anodizing, but regardless, I don't mind pre-payment - whatever you decide works best for you! Also, I'm not so sure about the ball chains... I don't have a better option in mind, so that may be what I end up using, but I'll have to look at some more pictures before deciding. Even if you don't have the chains available for the first run, it's not a deal-breaker for me.

Hi Hamaremon,

Thanks.
I will post some pics with chains, so you get an idea.
Can't promise yet but hoping to be able to offer 2 styles of chains as an option.
Perhaps a ballbearing and then one more.


tgwnn

p.s. twas another hard day's night, and still so much to do....

[DBCstm]

Great news Guy! I don't know about the ball chains, will probably go with a curb chain instead as I like the ultimate strength of it. But definately count me in for one of your first anodizing experiments! I love the effect at 73 or 74 Volts!

Ok, I'll start this up knowing full well the complications the inquest may bring....what if, instead of engraving on the back, 2 or 3 letters were "masked" to produce a different color during anodizing...ie: purple body with gold letters? Hmmmmmm.......................

At any rate, I definately want to go with your anodized version...be that first run or 2nd or 3rd production. Prepaid is fine with me, just say when and where!

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Great news Guy! I don't know about the ball chains, will probably go with a curb chain instead as I like the ultimate strength of it. But definately count me in for one of your first anodizing experiments! I love the effect at 73 or 74 Volts!

Ok, I'll start this up knowing full well the complications the inquest may bring....what if, instead of engraving on the back, 2 or 3 letters were "masked" to produce a different color during anodizing...ie: purple body with gold letters? Hmmmmmm.......................

At any rate, I definately want to go with your anodized version...be that first run or 2nd or 3rd production. Prepaid is fine with me, just say when and where!

Hi DBC,

Thanks.
That's certainly an interesting idea about doing the letters that way. Not so sure its possible for me to do in any volume as each letter needs to be cut out and precisely positioned, meaning I could imagine doing just a few per day at most. Would be fun to experiment with though.

tgwnn

[RCantor]

So does the anodizing get scratched off? Polished off? What's the best thing to coat it with to avoid scratches? What's a curb chain? Thanks.

[the_guy_with_no_name]

So does the anodizing get scratched off? Polished off? What's the best thing to coat it with to avoid scratches? What's a curb chain? Thanks.

HI RCantor,

A deep scratch would show the original raw Ti color.
With enough wear and abrasion, the anodized layer might fade but I'm not certain if or how much.
Maybe someone with a well used, Ti anodized "thing" could post about that?

There are various coatings you could try from epoxy's to polymers.
I think GL had mentioned one previously for Ti.

Curb chain:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curb_chain


tgwnn

[DBCstm]

This pill bottle has been heat anodized for several years, have one just like it on my key chain that's been riding with my keys for at least 3 years and is still the sky blue color. This one is on a ti curb chain for my wife to wear.

[the_guy_with_no_name]

This pill bottle has been heat anodized for several years, have one just like it on my key chain that's been riding with my keys for at least 3 years and is still the sky blue color. This one is on a ti curb chain for my wife to wear.

Thanks DBC,
You killed two birds with one Ti

tgwnn

[DBCstm]

Some different styles of Ti chain can be found here http://mrtitanium.com/TitaniumChains...Ch18.24.LC.GBG this is where the above curb chain came from. I opted to spread a link and connect the chain without a clasp, as the clasp is always the weakest link when worn continually (shower, swimming, working and sweating)....the spring in the clasp breaks eventually, you may or may not lose the pendant on the chain when it does!

[DBCstm]

You are quite welcome Guy! Anything for the Lumen Master!

[the_guy_with_no_name]

You are quite welcome Guy! Anything for the Lumen Master!

Thanks

Some days I am its master, and yet others I am its slave.....

Currently working on summarizing "the offer" and price and so forth.
Should be able to post the details tomorrow.

tgwnn

[DBCstm]

This one taken moments ago of my keychain pill fob. You can see where direct contact with the key ring has worn the blue down to gold at the very top edge of the bottle, all in all though the entire thing is holding up very well...especially considering the contact it gets with keys on a daily basis.

[DBCstm]

Ahh, a monster has been created! lol I found out how to electro-anodize Ti and did up just about all my Ti stuff! The pill fob in the above picture is now a very pretty gold with a blue top. The pen beside it is an even prettier gold, also with a blue top. The clips match their items. And my IlluminaTi has a deep blue/purple body! I even went so far as to get out my Mission Beta Ti folding knife and, yep, dunked it! The blade is an awesome green, hand polished by moi, and the bead blasted scales are a deep purple/black with edges of deep purple, the clip matches the blade on the end but shifts towards the deep purple at the mount. I'll get some pics in daylight tomorrow if anyone is interested.

Borax, in water, with a series of 9 volt batteries do a wonderful job...takes seconds and it's done. The voltage chart is pretty much spot on, it's almost too easy to get just the color you're looking for. With the exception of the Beta Ti blade on the knife...it went green without the high voltage, go figure!

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Ahh, a monster has been created! lol I found out how to electro-anodize Ti and did up just about all my Ti stuff! The pill fob in the above picture is now a very pretty gold with a blue top. The pen beside it is an even prettier gold, also with a blue top. The clips match their items. And my IlluminaTi has a deep blue/purple body! I even went so far as to get out my Mission Beta Ti folding knife and, yep, dunked it! The blade is an awesome green, hand polished by moi, and the bead blasted scales are a deep purple/black with edges of deep purple, the clip matches the blade on the end but shifts towards the deep purple at the mount. I'll get some pics in daylight tomorrow if anyone is interested.

Borax, in water, with a series of 9 volt batteries do a wonderful job...takes seconds and it's done. The voltage chart is pretty much spot on, it's almost too easy to get just the color you're looking for. With the exception of the Beta Ti blade on the knife...it went green without the high voltage, go figure!

Hi DBC,

Awesome

Look forward to seeing the photos!

tgwnn

[Cataract]

yes, pics please!

[DBCstm]

This was soooo easy! The hardest part was getting the Borax completely dissolved. I simply daisy-chained 9 volt batteries together in different quantities to get different colors. The chart I already posted will give you a good idea of what voltage does what...dunk the part with the positive connected to it and it literally changes colors right before your eyes, in mere seconds or even less! Keep in mind that the McGizmo Ti gates are about an inch long, the pill fob is 3/4" long and 7/16" wide, the pen is 2 1/2" long and about a 1/4" wide, the knife is 9" long with a 4" blade from the scales, the flashlight 2 3/4" x 1/2".

[DBCstm]

And NO, that is not a reflection on the blade...it is actually that color green!

[the_guy_with_no_name]

And NO, that is not a reflection on the blade...it is actually that color green!

Great photos DBC!!

Anodizing Ti is such a magical process isn't it.

Im very tempted to just go ahead and anodize one of the proto's with whatever is at hand

tgwnn

[DBCstm]

Thank you Guy. Yes, magical is a good term for it. I've found a power supply made by Mastech called a Variac Auto Transformer that would give consistent results. My improvised taping of 9V batteries does hold some risk, as they heated up pretty good through this process! I did, however, stick with it until true magic was found....just got through with another attempt on the pill fob and found a pearlescent purple/blue that is unbelievable! It's one of those color shift kinds of things you can't really take a picture of as it changes depending on the angle of light. Outside in the sun it becomes a bronzish purple that actually shows the metal grain! Love it! Also anodized a ring that has a brilliant peacock blue appearance with a small band of purple on one side.

Anyhoo, the whole point in all this is to find out just how doable the anodizing part is, and I'd say it's a pretty repeatable process with proper equipment. The Variac is offered in a smaller unit that goes up to 150V that is actually on sale for only $44! Thinking about getting one of those bad boys to keep my Ti in tip-top shape! lol I don't know how much you want to do yourself or if you want to leave it to the shop, but it is a pretty reliable process given a standard in material. I've used many different types of Ti with variable results. The pill fob I know for fact is 6Al4V surgical grade Titanium alloy. The knife is a propietary Beta Titanium that Mission developed to be able to hold a decent edge on the blade. Pen, light, ring, chain-mail rings.....who knows what grade it is?But t all turned out very well and by getting large quantities like you're doing it would be easy to repeat a color. I didn't even clean the part after polishing with Wenol, just buffed it with a soft cloth and dipped it.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with and of course the finished product. One more piece of Ti for my wearable collection! lol

Keep up the good work, hope some of this has helped you in some way.

[DBCstm]

This shows the new look of the pill fob, and the purple side of the ring. I'll also try to add a link to look at the upper right pic in a close-up at ImageShack to see how the anodizing brought the grain structure out in the Titanium. Pretty cool stuff! http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...0100close.jpg/

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Thank you Guy. Yes, magical is a good term for it. I've found a power supply made by Mastech called a Variac Auto Transformer that would give consistent results. My improvised taping of 9V batteries does hold some risk, as they heated up pretty good through this process! I did, however, stick with it until true magic was found....just got through with another attempt on the pill fob and found a pearlescent purple/blue that is unbelievable! It's one of those color shift kinds of things you can't really take a picture of as it changes depending on the angle of light. Outside in the sun it becomes a bronzish purple that actually shows the metal grain! Love it! Also anodized a ring that has a brilliant peacock blue appearance with a small band of purple on one side.

Anyhoo, the whole point in all this is to find out just how doable the anodizing part is, and I'd say it's a pretty repeatable process with proper equipment. The Variac is offered in a smaller unit that goes up to 150V that is actually on sale for only $44! Thinking about getting one of those bad boys to keep my Ti in tip-top shape! lol I don't know how much you want to do yourself or if you want to leave it to the shop, but it is a pretty reliable process given a standard in material. I've used many different types of Ti with variable results. The pill fob I know for fact is 6Al4V surgical grade Titanium alloy. The knife is a propietary Beta Titanium that Mission developed to be able to hold a decent edge on the blade. Pen, light, ring, chain-mail rings.....who knows what grade it is?But t all turned out very well and by getting large quantities like you're doing it would be easy to repeat a color. I didn't even clean the part after polishing with Wenol, just buffed it with a soft cloth and dipped it.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with and of course the finished product. One more piece of Ti for my wearable collection! lol

Keep up the good work, hope some of this has helped you in some way.

Thanks DBC,

No matter how many 9V battery's I use, always seems to end up a gold color
A quick polish and it seems the color is easily removed (though Im only using dissolved salt, no borax here)

I checked out the Mastech but the output is AC not DC.
I'm waiting on a DC unit, supposed to be back in stock on the 10th.

tgwnn

p.s. great photos again!

[DBCstm]

Mastech does have one in DC, but it only goes up to 60v (they have several but 60V is the most powerful) I ended up with the purple tones at around 82V with the batteries....at least that's what they measured before I started. The hot voltage colors took some doing, a deep gold or blue is fairly easy, the brilliant gold to green to purple is progressively more difficult. I watched some video's found online and it would seem that the better, more stable power supply gives by far the best results as does the proper solution. I have no idea what percentage of saturation I was getting with the Borax, just dumped some in and stirred it up, and I do believe the box I have here is truly ancient! One of the tricks that they mentioned in the vids I watched was to use Ti alligator clips and not to let anything but Ti be in contact with the solution. I was first using bare copper wires to suspend the part, but the higher the voltage the more growth on the wires! So I put the wire to a set of pliers and used the stainless steel pliers to submerge the part, with better results and far less bubbling of the solution. So it would appear that contaminants play a big role in getting the clear colors. Hope some of this helps.

This unit supplies up to 100V in a very regulated and stable manner that would hold up to heavy use. The video I saw had one of these in an AC version being used to anodize aluminum and it held a rock solid Voltage setting for hours. http://www.mastechpowersupply.com/dc.../prod_111.html This one's about $300 and in stock.

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Mastech does have one in DC, but it only goes up to 60v (they have several but 60V is the most powerful) I ended up with the purple tones at around 82V with the batteries....at least that's what they measured before I started. The hot voltage colors took some doing, a deep gold or blue is fairly easy, the brilliant gold to green to purple is progressively more difficult. I watched some video's found online and it would seem that the better, more stable power supply gives by far the best results as does the proper solution. I have no idea what percentage of saturation I was getting with the Borax, just dumped some in and stirred it up, and I do believe the box I have here is truly ancient! One of the tricks that they mentioned in the vids I watched was to use Ti alligator clips and not to let anything but Ti be in contact with the solution. I was first using bare copper wires to suspend the part, but the higher the voltage the more growth on the wires! So I put the wire to a set of pliers and used the stainless steel pliers to submerge the part, with better results and far less bubbling of the solution. So it would appear that contaminants play a big role in getting the clear colors. Hope some of this helps.

This unit supplies up to 100V in a very regulated and stable manner that would hold up to heavy use. The video I saw had one of these in an AC version being used to anodize aluminum and it held a rock solid Voltage setting for hours. http://www.mastechpowersupply.com/dc.../prod_111.html This one's about $300 and in stock.

Thanks DBC,

I changed my solution to powdered laundry bleach, much better results and was able to get blue.
still some more experimenting to be done but here's one result.

depending on the angle of the light, it looks dark grey or blue.




thanks again,
tgwnn

[Got Lumens?]

Very Cool Guy!
I'll be in for a bead blasted one, no engraving.
What ever happened with the tubbler finish? Is that still in play, or has it been shelved for a another time?
GL

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Very Cool Guy!
I'll be in for a bead blasted one, no engraving.
What ever happened with the tubbler finish? Is that still in play, or has it been shelved for a another time?
GL

Hi GL,

Thanks.
Looks like very few tumblers available here.
Wanting to explore that but a lot going on right now.

Once things are underway, I'll look at getting one, unless I find the perfect one before then.

tgwnn

[the_guy_with_no_name]

The production prototype candidate is on route, expected to be here in 1-2days.

The main enhancement I'm looking to verify is the updated membrane switch, and that it is smoother, requiring only modest force to switch on.
If it is according to plan and without issue, my plan is to post an update (and send one to subscribers by email) to announce a start of pre-order shortly (a few days) thereafter with every detail including timing, pricing, shipping, options, what's included etc.

I am somewhat hesitant in regards to pre-order with my main concern being that I hope it meets your expectations, but as a minimum, if you want a custom engraving on the button (or the non-button side) then I need to get this information in advance and the engraving done at the workshop before it departs so a pre-order seem like the most efficient way to handle it and avoid sending things back and forth for engraving.

Planning to allow pre-orders for the non-engraved CoreTi's also, mainly for those who want to be certain of getting one of the very first units. Of course, waiting till the first production batch is ready before considering an order is perfectly fine too (but please understand engraving will not be an option for those).

If my anodizing experiments go well, I do "hope" to offer a few units anodized but at this stage I can't say for certain if that pan's out (at least for the first batch). As I'm still a novice anodizer at best, my plan for that is to anodize, post the photo's of each unit, and you could choose the color (as I expect anodized finish will be slightly unique) but I will try to accomodate your choice of color if it is within my ability.

tgwnn

[Got Lumens?]

Hi Guy,
That's Great news! Perhaps rather than having a color choice, just list a picture for each light, or groups of simularily colored lights? Then you can post on the sales server, and update availabliity in real time on each group or single annodized light.

Thank You for taking the time and investing the money to make this unique light, even more unique, and one of a kinds.
GL