1D Mag the easy way, a DIY using hand tools..

[StefanFS]

I had a pewter 4D Mag lying around waiting for that extreme hotwire mod that was never going to happen. Instead I decided to make my own shorty MiniMegaLite running on one LiION D or one emoli etc. It had to have room for some cells in that category.

Step one. Remove all threads on the inside of the head. It needs to be flush. I used my Dremel clone and various tools for it.

Next hacksaw your batterytube to desired lenght. Make sure the cut is true.

I wanted it as short as possible and still be able to utilize D-LiION or emoli. ~142 mm felt right for this. I also wanted the tube smooth for the cool look and feel.

Some filing and the parts are flush, not tight and not loose. Later on I fixed the parts with JB-Weld.

Starting the drilling for the switch. An easy way to get it right is to hold the tube in exact line with a light source to get the correct position to drill and mark it in a few dots along the tube. Measure the inside compartment above the switch and under the heatsink used to make sure your choice of driver fits. Then find a spot to drill along the tube. Start with a small drill and increase tho hole in increments. I opted for using a switch cover sold on DX and KaiDomain, 14 mm. That means a hole that's 14 mm. It's necessary to remove a few mm from the post in the switch boot. Trial and error. It takes a while to position the switch boot perfectly.

Mark the position for the ground screw by centering the switch assembly and turn down the ground screw really hard. Then drill very gently with a small diameter drill bit in that mark. A fraction of a mm.


I opted for an optic and four Cree R2 driven in parallell, a total of 2.8A. Fixing the stars with AA epoxy and using the head for pressure. I used a Multi-Sink from user download for this light.

A detail of the sink and the switch with the AMC7135 based driver setup. It's a 2 level multimode setup.

Finished. The head, barrel and switch assembly are fixed in place with JB-Weld as I wanted a very stable and robust light. It's possible to drill some holes and use screws to fix the parts instead. UCL glass lens from Flashlightlens and a shorty spring from KaiDomain

This type of mod works for lights that use fixed focus, like my optic here, or SSC P7/Cree MC E based Maglites.

 

[DUQ]

That's very cool Stefan. I'm gonna try that sometime.

 

[AlexGT]

Pretty good results for only using hand tools!

Thanks for sharing!

AlexGT

 

[Northern Lights]

Starting the drilling for the switch. An easy way to get it right is to hold the tube in exact line with a light source to get the correct position to drill and mark it in a few dots along the tube. Measure the inside compartment above the switch and under the heatsink used to make sure your choice of driver fits. Then find a spot to drill along the tube. Start with a small drill and increase tho hole in increments. I opted for using a switch cover sold on DX and KaiDomain, 14 mm. That means a hole that's 14 mm. It's necessary to remove a few mm from the post in the switch boot. Trial and error. It takes a while to position the switch boot perfectly.

What an excellent idea. I was looking for a method to shorten a light without a lathe, this is it.

I figured I could chuck up the tube on a mandrel and spin it in a drill press and apply a hack saw blade held in a vice to get the cut...
That might work to grind the threads out too.

But I do not quite understand how to align the tube and light to get the hole position. Please explain some more.

 

[StefanFS]

What an excellent idea. I was looking for a method to shorten a light without a lathe, this is it.

I figured I could chuck up the tube on a mandrel and spin it in a drill press and apply a hack saw blade held in a vice to get the cut...
That might work to grind the threads out too.

But I do not quite understand how to align the tube and light to get the hole position. Please explain some more.

The aligning part is about getting the right position on the curve/circle that the tube really is...

 

[lumafist]

Fan.....!!!!

Respekt...!




Frickin hardcore work...!
I love stuff like this..!


You should have cut it shorter though!
I have mine doing a 18500....:twothumbs


Very nice work AND clean....:twothumbs

 

[tx101]

instead of the side switch, how about installing
a tail switch :devil::devil:

 

[lumafist]

instead of the side switch, how about installing
a tail switch :devil::devil:

 

[download]

:wow: StefanFS, Powerful modding force! :thumbsup:
I would like to recommend to add warm tint led inside, it turns the real world rendering near perfect.
It brings white as WC & Incan color as the same time. ( I used Q3 WC & P3 7A like incan tint.)

 

[Sgt. LED]

🙂 How much?

 

[rizky_p]

Excellent idea :twothumbs

 

[VidPro]

wow i never would have thought, i could almost do that at home, and save $40. course mine would look just a bit rougher 🙂

now your just a few steps away from making the motorized Aspherical adjusting focusing mod, where the mag head glides up and down on the tube.

 

[f22shift]

i like it.
i was trying to think how to make a shorty for cheap. i was wondeirng if you get a pipe cutter, would it cut the barrel or is it too thick.

a tailswitch would be nice to make it even shorter.


or if you cut under the switch and the length of the barrel you want, could you jb weld the 2 pieces( i gues more on the inside to look better cosmetically)

 

[StefanFS]

About using a tailcap switch.
Sure, that's a nice feature and it shortens the light even more. But I like the excellent Mag switches, they are robust and work for decades. Especially in this light where I wanted to achieve maximum reliability and robustness. Driver and wires etc. are potted with silicon glue. This was a first experiment, now I have to find a lathe and some other equipment.

 

[tx101]

Just me think out loud .... 😀
tailcap,a home made momentary switch, D2flex and a P7 emitter :twothumbs

 

[spc]

thats a great idea! Just focus your emitter then bond the head on..
Now how about a tail-cap-clickie how to 😀

 

[Northern Lights]

thats a great idea! Just focus your emitter then bond the head on..
Now how about a tail-cap-clickie how to 😀

Fairly easy. Drill a hole in the tail cap put in one of the tail cap covers sold by Dx or KD as these have wide skirts or if you get fancy you can notch the rim for the Mag cover.
Put a Judco switch, btw you can get these in momentary which is what you need for the D2FLEX,
similiar to this:
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=504PB-ND
on a round board cut with a circle cutter (board material available from electronic shops), plexiglass can also work, and drop it in. A "C" clip without a notch in the wall of the tail cap will hold it in the tail cap ok. This light is fitted in that manner, it uses a mag cover but the after market switch cover would have been better:

The type and depth of the cover determines how the cover will sit, out or recessed.

 

[tx101]

Wanna make a tailswitch 😀

LOOK HERE

 

[ma_sha1]

Nice one,

I was going to cut one myself for 1D p7 using my table saw,
but I didn't want to glue the head & lose the focusing.
I would had to cut the tube in half, keep the thread on both end &
join the tube back in the middle.

For Quad led, it doesn't matter, as you can't keep the focusing function anyway.

 

[Northern Lights]

Nice one,

I was going to cut one myself for 1D p7 using my table saw,
but I didn't want to glue the head & lose the focusing.
I would had to cut the tube in half, keep the thread on both end &
join the tube back in the middle.

For Quad led, it doesn't matter, as you can't keep the focusing function anyway.

With the single P7 on the LOP reflector sold by KD and DX it does not focus very well any way. Dead down bottomed out onto the LED gives the best hot spot, no donut.

I had one where the head was hanging on a burr on the sync and I thought it was all the way down, it was 1mm or less than all the way down and the beam pattern was horrible compared to three others, two I built and one MTE all 4 with that reflector. Just that little bit up from the bottom spread the hot spot way out. It was a great flood but not that much of an imporved flood to give up the throw. I finally found what that difference was, it was so slight I did not see it readily. Once the reflector was down where it belonged the beam was corrected.
With that reflector you do not need and probably will not want to focus it.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12229
BTW- The vendors sell this reflector with a P7 already in it as an altermative product. That with the P7 all ready in it does not heat sync as well as the DIY syncs sold such as the H22A.

My MTE has a thermal cut out and uses that small sync if you can call it a sync. It does cut out long before the the P7s on the D2Flex thermal cut out and H22A react to temperature. Usually the H22a syncs so well it does not trip the D2Flex thremal protection at all.