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Bead blasting McGizmos

tino_ale

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2005
Messages
1,646
Location
Paris, France
Bead blasting McGizmos (added Ano option)

Hi guys,

Edit : jan-2015 : Added anodization options. Price breakdown.
EDIT FEB 2016 : disassembly not offered anymore, only taking bare parts until further notice

Some of you requested bead blasted finish on their favorite McGizmo, but for reasons Don has thouroughly expressed in other threads (and which I totally understand), BB finish it is not currently offered by him.

For those who are eagerly willing to get their titanium blasted anyway, I can do it for you.

Prices breakdown :
- Disassembly/cleaning/reassembly : $15 per light. EDIT FEB 2016 : not offered anymore, only taking bare parts until further notice
- Bead-blasting : $15 per small light (1-batt size) or $20 per larger light (2-batts size)
- Anodizing Ti : $15 per light.
- Return shipping : $10 (uninsured) covers up to two 1-batt lights, if more and/or bigger, increased to actual cost.

Price includes PP fees. Clip and screws treatment included (if you want it).

I do glass bead blasting, 100 microns beads, shot at 100-120psi. Light, fine, smooth finish. See examples in this thread.
Complete bead blasting only.
Light-engine equiped lights only. Disassembly of RAM lights not supported as the heatsinks/reflectors are potted.

See below the Ano colors I can do.
169s48p.jpg


Attention ! Capturing the "real" color of titanium is nearly impossible with a camera. The picture above cannot render the actual result but it is the best I can do.
My eyes tell me :
- "champagne"/bronze : 10 to 18V
- purple (kinda, more a dark purplish blue) : 22-24V
- blue : 28V, light blue 30V
Anodizing BB Ti results in a very dull color, do not expect a vibrant and "clear" colour. That can only be achieved on raw machine or polished finish which I don't do.


Cheers !

Boring : terms and conditions.

Disclaimer :
Some risks are involved. You are the one who carry them. Like if you use uninsured shipping to send the parts to me. FYI the included return shipping is uninsured and not trackable. Insured is available at cost if you wish.

I advise you declare your package as a gift and declare a low value like 20 euros or so (if sending uninsured). This will help avoid thefts. I will do the same when returning the package to you. Again, just to be clear, you are the one who carry the risk of having to pay custom fees, in both directions, should it materialize.
 
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yoyoman

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 15, 2012
Messages
2,345
Location
Switzerland/Scarsdale
Hi Tino, I'm in Switzerland and I am planning to get a Makai in mid-July. I think the best approach would be to receive the light, check it out and then mail it to you. Would that work for you?
 

tino_ale

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2005
Messages
1,646
Location
Paris, France
Hello Yoyoman,
It is up to you. You could spare one shipping charge (Switzerland > France) if you asked Don to ship the light directly to me, even unassembled would spare you another $5, but you'll have no chance to see your light with the raw machine finish first. Besides, I don't know if Don would be comfortable with this goofy way of dealing with the transaction with you. I certainly don't want to add any trouble or headache to his business.

Bottom line is : it makes no difference to me but it does to Don and you. So I'll leave that decision on your side. :)
 

yoyoman

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 15, 2012
Messages
2,345
Location
Switzerland/Scarsdale
Hi Tino, I agree that it is probably better and easier (for everyone, especially Don) to have the light sent directly to me. That way I sign for it and the rest is just between us. Does the mid-July timeframe work for you? I'm going back to the States to visit friends and family in August, so you could have plenty of time to do bead blasting.
 

tino_ale

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2005
Messages
1,646
Location
Paris, France
It is limited to complete bead blasting, sorry.

I cannot re-machine parts to bring a raw machine finish to some selected areas of the parts.
Using electric tape to mask some areas is possible but I don't master this method (positionning the tape can be tricky) to the point where I want to work on other's parts. For example, I could not offer the same bead-blasted pattern as Don has done in the past.
 

yoyoman

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 15, 2012
Messages
2,345
Location
Switzerland/Scarsdale
Hello Tino, My funny money comes in mid-July and will order the Makai as soon as I get the funds into the right account. I'm thinking of bead blasting a Haiku XML before that. If you pm me your address and payment details, I can ship the Haiku tomorrow. Thank you for offering this service - it should work great for me. I almost wish I could take the train to Paris and watch!
 

Megatrowned

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
444
Location
Wisconsin
Do you have any pictures of your bead blasting? I will be visiting Paris later this year and could hand deliver my light :sssh:
 

tino_ale

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2005
Messages
1,646
Location
Paris, France
Ok, I've received and processed yoyoman's light. Here's how it goes.

The light as received. It looks near mint, a few light marks. Nothing that won't go away after bead blasting.
The blue ano BB Haiku is mine and shown as a reference.
33a9n2v.jpg


Dissassembly. The screws are removed using a precision hex wrench that won't strip the screws (never happened to me so far). The flont glass is taped (outside) so the IR coating (inside) is never touched/damaged by any tool or even smudged by my fingers.
5nkcyg.jpg


noisf7.jpg


16jhfgh.jpg


The clicky requires a special tool for a clean removal.
30u8xgo.jpg


fcv6aa.jpg


The Ti parts are thouroughly cleaned to remove any grease/lube that would mess my BB media.
2nqcpe8.jpg


Some shallow marks from the original finish.
1zz6i3s.jpg


Blasted finish as opposed to the original machine finish. Note that my BB finish is quite close to the clip original BB finish (mine is just a tad darker).
4pup37.jpg


e716xd.jpg


Once blasted the parts are cleaned again prior to reassembly. O-rings and rubber boot are cleaned too.

29414dl.jpg


2iiba5y.jpg


For a split of a second, I *thought* that I lost the tiny o-ring from the reflector. :huh: Fortunately it wasn't, my eyes just didn't catch the tiny sucker that's all.
nxm63d.jpg


I coat the o-ring with a very light dose of krytox, that way the front glass and rubber boot retaining o-rings snap into place much easier; and there's no twist in them once in place.
352hr0l.jpg


A squirt of krytox to lube the o-ring and threads.
15cyjgo.jpg


Fully reassembled, the light get's a last clean. Double check everything, test, done.
2j1keqd.jpg


2yl199t.jpg



I hope the finish will match the customer's taste. BB does scratches, like raw machine finish titanium does, IMO both take patina nicely over time. My own Haiku is anodized blue and I must admit I'm surprised how well it holds.

Anyway, cheers
 
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