New to fourm Intrested in doing general mods and machine work

Im new to this fourm .Iam a superintendant of a machine shop in my area and would like to start doing some mods custome parts and general machine work(machining,milling,boring,bead blasting etc.)I have had a intrest in lights,sience my 14yr carrer as a Deputy Sheriff in the New Orleans area. Iam now retired from the Dept. and am a supervisor for a machine shop .I would appricate any sugestions anyone might have ,an would be glad to help with any questions. Thanks

:welcome: COONASSLIGHT

That's a term I haven't heard since I was on a tour of the swamps, the guide who also claimed to be a coonass and said he had a recipe for everything in the swamp.

Cheers Norm

Welcome to CPF. Make some 18650 Natural Hard Anodized bodies that can be legoed to Surefire bezels and tailcaps. Put me on the list.

Go Tigers! (Who Dat too!) Your shop is located on the Northsore or Soutshore? Welcome to the end of your money! :devil: LoL, The language used on these pages takes some getting used to, they all speak hi tech custom flashlight modder :duh2: language and it takes a while to understand what their talking about. I have not been here a month and I would not care to discuss how many new lights I have and also have on the way...

Welcome, get up and running so I can send you my hard earned $

Things that I see fabricated on here:

• custom alum light "strike bezels"
• custom alum light "knurling and finning"
• custom anodizing in a rainbow of colors (alum and TI)
• custom cerakote application, even in glow in the dark colors

The volume of hi tech machine work I see here is amazing to say the least, being in the aerospace industry (lockmart) for over 20 yrs its crazy what these young whipper snappers can produce :bow: Its not uncommon to see custom led ti or alum torches run $400 and up! :huh:

Again :welcome:

tigerledz said:

Things that I see fabricated on here:

• custom alum light "strike bezels"
• custom alum light "knurling and finning"
• custom anodizing in a rainbow of colors (alum and TI)
• custom cerakote application, even in glow in the dark colors

Again :welcome:

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I would agree with all that and include boring and custom coating services at a reasonable price...obviously the lower the better since many of us are strapped for cash these days in this dump of an economy. I love my hobbies as much as the next guy, but there are limits. :twothumbs

Look at the parts that Leef used to make. Those don't last long when they come up for sale.

Look at the parts that Leef used to make. Those don't last long when they come up for sale.

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+1

All Leef parts were made to an extraordinary standard of excellence. No one has yet filled the void that Leef left when he stopped machining.

Welcome! You can go for volume and low prices and/or go for high end stuff. There are custom flashlights for sale for $1700. Look through http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ustom-amp-Modified-Flashlights-Buy-Sell-Trade There seems to be a lot of folks who want Mag bodies bored to take 2 side by side 18650 cells. There's tons of things people want. You could even design your own lights that take standard drop-ins (search for P60 and D36).

Someone pointed this out in a recent thread & it's worth thinking about:

If you build or manufacture parts/accessories/complete lights/etc. you'll never be concerned about messing up someone's prized flashlight.

If you cut & thread, mill, bore, or mod a light in any way there's always the possibility that Murphy will visit & the results may not be as desired. Most of us who offer machining services use the Retail Rule - if I break it I pay to replace it. This is less an issue on a $100 aluminum light than it is on a $500-$1000 titanium custom.

There are lots of talented machinist in the MMM forum who are happy to help you get started: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ted-Materials-Mechanical-Machining-Discussion

Yes I live and work on the south shore.Yes i have looked around a bit and there are some amazing lights on here . Being a full-time machinist I know what goes into making some of these custom's . These guy's must have alot of free time to do the kind of work I've seen on some of these lights. I could sure use some of those guys working at my shop . I can tell you first hand , good machinist are few and far between these days . It really is becoming a lost are , especially with everything being CNC nowadays .

COONASSLIGHT said:

I could sure use some of those guys working at my shop . I can tell you first hand , good machinist are few and far between these days . It really is becoming a lost art, especially with everything being CNC nowadays .

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If y'all have some openings, I may be able to assist, pm your email and I will see about getting you some resumes. Aero/Defense work in this area is drying up, I now a lot of people in this field...Welcome again.