Integrering reflector in light shell

maxomolo

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Planning a new flashlight with an aluminum shell made in a CNC lathe. I was thinking about carving the actual reflector from the shell interior. What do you think about that? Has anyone done something similar or is it a bad idea?
 

Ozythemandias

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Only way I can that working is with a pill system, I think you'd be better off with a separate reflector and an integrated shelf.
 

archimedes

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Yes, some inexpensive older small flashlights have just used the raw aluminum from behind a 3mm or 5mm emitter as a "reflector" .

I can't easily think of any examples using a power LED.

If the surface polish gets damaged for any reason, replacement is certainly inconvenient, in that case.
 

maxomolo

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The front glass will be glued, so there will not be any way to change the reflector anyway.
 

Ozythemandias

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He means a separate light engine "module" (often, but not invariably, threaded)

Yes.

The downside of this is that the heat will often bottleneck at that junction of the pill to body. An integrated shelf sandwiched by the mcpcb and driver is more efficient when it comes to heat handling.
 

Keitho

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I've always thought electroless nickel would work pretty well if you got the surface finish really good, and found a good plater. In fact, EN on the whole light would be fantastic. Geometry of the reflector is pretty critical, though, especially if you're building a thrower. Plus, the design and heat flow issues above might steer you towards a separate reflector.
 

maxomolo

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I've always thought electroless nickel would work pretty well if you got the surface finish really good, and found a good plater. In fact, EN on the whole light would be fantastic. Geometry of the reflector is pretty critical, though, especially if you're building a thrower. Plus, the design and heat flow issues above might steer you towards a separate reflector.

Heat transfer is not an issue, I have already done test on prototypes that showed this was solved, reflector design is my biggest known issue.
 

fivemega

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Planning a new flashlight with an aluminum shell made in a CNC lathe. I was thinking about carving the actual reflector from the shell interior. What do you think about that? Has anyone done something similar or is it a bad idea?

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?232353-2-5-quot-THROW-MASTER-by-Fivemega-(2)

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...M*g-Charger-2-5-quot-Throw-Master-by-FiveMega

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?239973-Ver2-Deep-M*g-Reflector-by-Fivemega

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...SED)-FM-3-5-quot-M*g-C-amp-D-head-by-Fivemega

I've always thought electroless nickel would work pretty well if you got the surface finish really good, and found a good plater.
No matter how well you do reflector nickel plating, chrome plating or gold plating, nothing will be even close to aluminizing.
Chrome plated reflector can only reflect 60~70% of emmited light while aluminized reflector does more than 90%


What is this design accomplishing?
Less weight, less cost and much better heat management.
 
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maxomolo

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Awesome mods.
What is the point of aluminizing if it is already made from aluminum?
 

DIWdiver

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Aluminizing doesn't mean pure aluminum. It is a coating that shine much better than any metal and stays like that for very long time.

Okay, so I spent a while on g00GlE and everything I see talks about pure aluminum. Can you say some more about how a reflector is aluminized?
 

light-modder

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It's kinda funny while reading the op I thought of fivemega. And who should stop by and respond?

Anyway my two cents is to do a removable/replaceable bezel that is the reflector, like the version 2 deep mag reflector. This would also allow the use of an integrated shelf for the mcpcb and driver. But either way would be cool in my opinion. Whatever you decide keep us updated and have fun.
 

DrafterDan

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Right? We've got the original poster with some apparent skills and a CNC machine who has posted only a handful of times in 3.5 years.

Let's see some work in progress photos!
 
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