Copper and Current Designs - Hinton AA/14500 pocket light

[calipsoii]

Hey CPF!

I've been working hard over the last few years building my "perfect" pocket light. The prototype has been clipped to my pocket for months now and I just love it. I'm putting together a small run of Hinton pocket lights and wanted to post here in case anyone else is interested.

Some photos of the prototype in 303 stainless steel (click for larger images):

Manufacturer: Copper and Current Designs (that's me!)
Model: Hinton

• 15VP v5.2 user-programmable 1xAA/1x14500 driver hand-built by myself
• Two UI's: ramping and discrete levels
• Constant-current regulation
• Low-voltage protection on both AA/14500
• 1 to ~200(AA)/400(Li) lumen output /w Cree XP-L2 HD
• Reverse-clicky with tail-stand capability and metal switch boot
• Deep-carry stainless spring steel pocket clip
• Double-coated AR UCL lens
• Solid brass heatsink with copper Sinkpad MCPCB
• Run #1 will be 30 pieces in solid Titanium, machined by Jordy Wallace of FocusWorks EDC
• Emitter will be buyers choice: if we can source it, I can install it
• Price will be $325USD

If this light is something you'd be interested in, I'm opening the interest list on Tuesday April 6th @ 1800 UTC here:

https://interest.copperandcurrent.com​

Any questions, please feel free to post here, send me a PM, or email me at [email protected]!

Best regards,

- calipsoii

 

[archimedes]

I'm guessing you mean April 6 (not March 6) ? I'd like to be added to your list, if possible, in any case ....

Will these be serialized ?

 

[calipsoii]

I'm guessing you mean April 6 (not March 6) ? I'd like to be added to your list, if possible, in any case ....

Will these be serialized ?

Ah, good catch sorry about that! The list will indeed be opening April 6th. I wasn't planning on serializing these, no. If I try to stamp them by hand it'll look like a kid wrote it with crayons, and engraving/milling adds a bit more cost than I can afford (I'm financing this entire first run out of pocket).

Once things open up on Tuesday I can put an entry on there for ya Arch, though do let me know if you register yourself and beat me to it.

 

[archimedes]

Cool, will be in touch soon then, regarding emitter options and such[emoji106]

 

[nbp]

Beautiful light! Great to see the fruits of all your tests and protos and experimenting paying off in such an elegant package.

 

[calipsoii]

Thanks nbp! As I mentioned, I've been carrying the prototype for many months now, using it daily, and it performs just as I expect it to through many battery changes and lots of daily wear. I'm hopeful others will feel the same! This run is somewhat unique in that I don't turn titanium on my lathe so to get a batch made in Ti is a special treat for me.

 

[daffy]

Jordy has made the Cylon recently too bad i was out of $$ very nice and unique light.

 

[calipsoii]

Jordy has made the Cylon recently too bad i was out of $$ very nice and unique light.

His machine work is phenomenal and I'm super excited he agreed to take on the project! Plus I take a small bit of pride being able to work with a fellow Canadian on it.

 

[gravelrash]

These look great Mike! I'm interested in some flavor of lowK/high-CRI - the 219b sw35 would be great.

 

[calipsoii]

These look great Mike! I'm interested in some flavor of lowK/high-CRI - the 219b sw35 would be great.

That's the exact emitter I've been using in my prototype for ages now. It's a delight at night time - nice and warm with very good color rendering.

 

[greatscoot]

SIGN UP NOW!!!

 

[calipsoii]

1800 UTC bump!

If anyone was thinking of registering their interest for the Hinton, the list is now open.

 

[calipsoii]

We have 24 (amazing!) people who've expressed interest so far - I'm hoping to find 6 more so we can hit 30 and I can call up Jordy and get this project rolling. If this light sounds up your alley feel free to pop your name on the interest list, or send me a PM/email with any questions!

 

[badtziscool]

Let's go CPF! I haven't been this excited about a custom light in a looooong time.

Wasn't there a video of the driver in operation? Demonstrating the ramping and other features?

 

[calipsoii]

Let's go CPF! I haven't been this excited about a custom light in a looooong time.

Wasn't there a video of the driver in operation? Demonstrating the ramping and other features?

You bet! I don't know how many people do Instagram but I try to post updates there weekly as I tinker on my projects. Here's a short clip showing off the discrete vs. ramping UI:


I don't have a Hinton-specific video yet, but the Leash Lantern uses an abridged version of the same programming menu, so this video talks about programming the circuit. Might give a general idea of how it's done.

 

[greatscoot]

Any updates?

 

[calipsoii]

Hi @greatscoot, thanks for checking in!

Time's super hard to come by these days, so about once a week I try to get some updates up on my social media:

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/CopperAndCurrent
• https://instagram.com/copperandcurrent

Should you do the whole social media thing, please do stop by and check out the updates and say hi!

Progress is slow and steady on Hinton Run #1. Here are a few updates from the project so far.

Some people asked what the beam looks like in the reflector so I shot a quick comparison:

Building all the drivers took about 2.5 months of evenings. Boy they take a while to make!

Also took a while to cut all the wire leads and get them all soldered on:

Each driver gets a manually-machined brass battery contact (click for video):


The switches have all been assembled:

Each Hinton gets a brass driver pill (click for videos):



External machining of the titanium hosts is being done by Jordy over in BC. He did a STELLAR job on the knurling and the hosts look fantastic. The prototypes are in the mail and should arrive at my door any day now:

I have some internals that I still need to machine, a few springs to cut and shape, some clips to bend, and then I'll be asking Jordy to run the entire batch.

 

[Flynn's Arcade]

If another run is ever in the works, count me in.

 

[greatscoot]

Mine arrived today and it still gets dark early.

 

[KaIIe]

If another run is ever in the works, count me in.

Me too