Texas Poker by Photon Fanatic

[Zandar]

For the love of something, stop! Just stop torturing us Dale. Were all drooling here! It's clear you've gone over to the "light" side with your addiction. I think an intervention is the only reasonable course of action now! Whatever you think, please remember it's not really your child. For now just keeep saying "I can put it down anytime I want too". I'll be on the first plane out, and yes l'm bringing my "baby" too! I can't seem to put her down either. I'm in control, no really I am! Aren't I......?

 

[DBCstm]

I think perhaps it's Fred that's in control.

I have joined my mom, she has titanium knee replacements and I too now have a Titanium implant!

 

[DBCstm]

Forgot to mention, took a tail amperage reading (so to speak) and was getting consistent .71A readings on high, couldn't get a reading on low with my DMM but it's definately pretty low (about twice as bright as a 3mm led on a single 2016)

Dale

 

[DBCstm]

Too pretty a day, couldn't resist...


DBC_May 04, 2013_120302 by genie in a black box, on Flickr


DBC_May 04, 2013_120500 by genie in a black box, on Flickr


DBC_May 04, 2013_121207 by genie in a black box, on Flickr


TP 12L by genie in a black box, on Flickr

There's just something about a Photon Fanatic light!

 

[dlmorgan999]

Too pretty a day, couldn't resist...

There's just something about a Photon Fanatic light!

Nice pictures of a great light! :thumbsup: I think I'm going to have a add a Photon Fanatic light to my to-buy list.

 

[DBCstm]

Just a little mode comparison. I have Med set on level 4 or about 40% of Hi. You can see here that Lo is low enough that the camera settings also took in ambient light. Difficult to shoot these shots with the range what it is...Lo is very low indeed and very nice with dark adjusted eyes! Notice how much light is on the Texas Poker itself, lit with an EDC+ Triple Nichia 219 in Lo mode, which is also pretty darn low in it's own right but not lower than the Texas Poker's low.

In the photo, Med and Hi look pretty close together but it's deceptive....the Hi beam is a bit brighter and notice too that the shadows are quite a bit darker, so it really is a bit less than half the full output. I find this level 4 to be very useful as it puts out quite a bit of light and at the same time allows a longer run time without worry of the heat build up. I'm finding myself setting the memory on Lo close to bedtime so if the light is needed in the middle of the night the preset is already Lo so as not to be blinding when I turn it on. And in the middle of the night, Hi is pretty dang intense!


Texas Poker Hi Med Lo by genie in a black box, on Flickr

 

[Mattaus]

Those photos....multiple exposures and blended frames? They look nice! Almost surreal. Sorry, getting a bit off track and just being impressed by your photography skills now lol.

 

[DBCstm]

Well, the last one in the group where the TP is laying with the Efest cell, that's 12 shots with the focus moving down the length of the light so that it's all in focus, called a focus stack, then merged. The shots above showing the beam are 2 different focus shots, one for the beam and one for the TP with a different flashlight providing the light on it. I wanted to suspend the TP on a 9Ga wire then remove the wire but it was proving problematic getting the TP to stay in the exact same place while changing modes.

Even thought about tossing it up while on high and shooting a series of shots while it spun through the air, but just couldn't bring myself to do it!

 

[DBCstm]

Anyone know how long Rennaisance Wax should last? Seems I'll be applying it every week or so. Polished it up again today and reapplied Rennaisance Wax...twice this time but only externally. Spun it up with the cordless hand drill and used Wenol and a decade old flannel shirt. The copper fins were darkening in the grooves. Looks good that way, but it's still too new to allow it to tarnish! lol I've had it 1 week yesterday. Comes in handy quite often as well, gonna be enjoying this one for a long time to come. And the beam on Hi when outside is Still surprising! Lot of light in a very small package.

Thanks Fred!

 

[dlmorgan999]

Anyone know how long Rennaisance Wax should last?

I've been wondering about this as well. It seems it's not lasting as long as I thought it would. Maybe it's a matter of using a bit more, or using multiple coats?

By the way, I use Wenol for all my titanium lights, but I've found that Nevr-Dull works very well on copper (better than Wenol, and seems to keep the tarnish away a bit longer).

 

[DBCstm]

dl, I believe the accompanying paperwork with Rennaisance Wax recommends a light coat, allowed to dry then buffed...followed by a second light coat. I tend to get carried away, so tried a lighter coat this time and let it haze before buffing then did it again, making sure I got into the grooves between the fins. I figure I'm just gonna be hard on it as I wear it around my neck and it sits dead center of my chest...and this is, after all, Texas! Plenty of heat makes for plenty of sweat. Thing might turn green on me this summer! lol

I'm actually entertaining the idea of having the heat sink Gold plated. Pros? Cons?

Oh, and when polishing Ti or SS whether it's with Wenol or Flitz try using a newspaper page, an old gunsmith trick taught to me a decade or so ago when I was polishing guns with a gunsmith buddy of mine.

Dale

 

[dlmorgan999]

Oh, and when polishing Ti or SS whether it's with Wenol or Flitz try using a newspaper page, an old gunsmith trick taught to me a decade or so ago when I was polishing guns with a gunsmith buddy of mine.

Dale

Interesting. I haven't heard that one before. I'll have to give it a try.

-- Dave

 

[DBCstm]

How about an accessory for my new light? A matching battery carrier for the keychain...An ammo box for the Texas Poker?


BBC-1 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

BBC-3 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

 

[tjswarbrick]

Cool carrier!

I applied a coat of Ren Wax to my Maratac AA about 4 months ago. I did NOT polish it first. I didn't have the sense to take before/after pics, but after 2 months it looked the same as my memory of it. Now, it is noticeably darker.
When I next decide I have a piece of copper I want to keep from tarninshing, I will polish it up, and follow their directions: light coat, allow to "set", another coat. Then treat it like my car - polish it up and apply a new coat of wax every quarter, depending on use and conditions of course. But I haven't tried it yet to know for sure if that'll work.

 

[climberkid]

Dale that just blows me away!
It's a perfect matching set.

 

[DBCstm]

I'm trying out a plastic spring on top of the driver from Lee Spring Co. The spring is .375 diameter by .375 long, too long...but cut down to one coil it works splendidly to keep the battery pushed back from the driver in the off position. It also works to give a smooth silky easy to operate feel on the twisty. Of course, Fred made me take pics or it didn't happen! Sorry Zandar, call it torture or supreme pleasure...here's another look at Fred's threads...

First the spring:

TP Lee PSpring l19 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

And a look at it installed in the Texas Poker:

TP Lee PSpring l6 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

A different angle for perspective:

TP Lee PSpring l8 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

And a closer view to help induce thread drool:

TP Lee PSpring l22 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

Anyone other than myself drooling yet?

TP Lee PSpring l16 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

I wonder how much it hurts to have so much talent?

TP Lee PSpring l26 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

Dale

 

[climberkid]

Good question, Dale. How much does it hurt?

 

[DBCstm]

Dog ask me cow should I know? I got no talents!

All I can do to remember which way to turn a twisty to get light...

D³

 

[DBCstm]

The Texas Poker is joined by it's battery toting sidekick the Battery Bunker. Seen here with a couple of Benchmade knives that also happen to be my favorites...the AFCK with 3.9" ATS34 blade and the Nimravus Cub with 4.5" M2 blade. Each of these are very serious blades and beyond shaving sharp. (They want to take the skin UNDER the hair!)

DBC_May 12, 2013_160636 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

More beautiful work from Fred, this Battery Bunker has a seriously polished copper end cap that has a perfect radius on it. Don't know how you do that on a lathe but tricks are the name of the game at Photon Fanatic!

DBC_May 12, 2013_160933 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

A happy 3some on Fredricksburg Red granite. This is the granite that makes up Enchanted Rock. My oldest son Chad was very impressed with the monolithic dome of Enchanted Rock and we used a slab of this as the base for his 8" thick 40" tall shape of Texas memorial stone. This particular piece is a bench. The Ti curb chain and Ti gate clip keep my Texas Poker ready to grab at all times, with the Battery Bunker also similarly mounted on my keychain ready to supply more power when needed.

DBC_May 12, 2013_161322 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

Another view, giving perspective:

DBC_May 12, 2013_161352 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

The cap off the Battery Bunker showing the Efest IMR10440 inside:

DBC_May 12, 2013_161532 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

The Texas Poker surrounded by it's HF backup, in Ti and Cu. The Ti HF sports an XM-L T5 and the CU HF sports an Nichia 219.

DBC_May 12, 2013_162121 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

Daily carry, both HF's on the keychain with a Ti pen and Ti pill fob of my own make.

DBC_May 12, 2013_161825 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

As a side note, the Battery Bunker's center tube also fits the HF's so that in an emergency either of them may also be employed with the larger 10440 cell. They are in 10250 Nuke trim as seen.

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Great photos, Dale.

As for the 'perfect' radius on the copper end of the Battry Bunker--it's not a well-kept secret at all--it is done using the appropriately named, Radius Cutting tool. There are lots of videos for that tool on You Tube, btw.