cutting glass lenses?

[Robocop]

I have looked at our dealer here and found that they no longer show the glass lens in stock for the original ARC-LS. I looked around other places and cant seem to locate any good lenses that will fit. I have 4 LS models I am thinking of placing up for sale however would like to replace the lenses in them first. They have been modded with better emitters and reflectors and just dont seem complete without a glass lens.

I have some bigger glass lenses that I was thinking of cutting however my local options only sale kits to cut glass on a larger scale. Is it possible to somehow cut small circles from a bigger glass lens....any tricks of the trade or simple scoring tools I could use? Even the tools I found online are pretty costly and cant seem to cut circles down to the small size I need.

I actually found a video on my search that showed this guy cutting glass with scissors underwater. He said it was possible only underwater as the water kept the glass from breaking due to the density of the water......well that does not work as I found out the hard way....:laughing:

 

[LumenHound]

Cutting glass under water...

What about using a flat mineral crystal watch face lens?

 

[KuKu427]

Might as well upgrade while you're at it...
http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlinecatalog/displayproduct.cfm?productID=1904

 

[LukeA]

I would grind them with a disk sander.

 

[R@ndom]

In an old thread from early this year some member offered free ls lenses. Try searching.

 

[Th232]

Not sure about cutting glass lenses, but have you seen this place?

http://www.ofrei.com/page_157.html

The variety is just about ridiculous!

 

[PhotonFanatic]

What diameter and thickness do you need?

 

[roguesoul]

I've worked with glass. Making stained glass windows. There is two steps for making a piece. First is to cut the glass with a glass cutter. Second is to smooth the cut edges with a diamond drum sander. There are glass shops that can do the piece for you. http://www.google.com/search?q=stai...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

 

[Robocop]

I appreciate all of the links and I never thought to try a watch shop which may actually work. As far as what size I need I really cant remember what the LS takes however I do remember it was listed on flashlightlens.com where it is no longer shown.....I think it was 19.4mm or very close to that.

I actually did visit a few glass places locally and every one of them did not seem interested at all in making any small lenses. Most of the shops I spoke with advised it is not worth it for them to bother with the small stuff unless it is a very large order of at least 250 lenses.

I may try the watch shops and thanks again for the information.

 

[The Dane]

2 questions:

1) Whats Your adress?

2) Will You do me a favor in return?
(I need a M*g or two. A 6D cost under $20 in the US but when it enters Denmark it apperetnly gets a thin cover of Unobtanium and ends around the $100 mark. Of course I'll pay all expenses on Your side )

I made one up for You to check:

I ground it in my lathe:

PS it's a DX lens I ground down!

 

[darkzero]

Robo, how many do you need? I still have some left. I use 19.7mm in the Arc LS. 19.4mm is way too small, I wouldn't use smaller than 19.6mm.

 

[Robocop]

The Dane if I can not find something local I will keep you in mind and I appreciate the gesture. The lens you show in your post may actually be a little too small.

DarkZero I have found one lens from an older modded light that actually fit and now I have 3 of the Old style LS. The plastic lenses are actually in good shape however if I sale these glass would be much more desireable. I would be happy to pay for any you have. I have sent a message to an online watch shop asking about sizing and have not received a return mail as of yet.

On a side note does anyone know why flashlightlens.com stopped offering the LS lens? Is it because they are hard to get or more so because they are not very popular anymore?

 

[The Dane]

The Dane if I can not find something local I will keep you in mind and I appreciate the gesture. The lens you show in your post may actually be a little too small.

In Post# 9 You stated 19.4mm I'm off by 0.03mm.
But the great thing is that any stated diameter can be met

 

[darkzero]

DarkZero I have found one lens from an older modded light that actually fit and now I have 3 of the Old style LS. The plastic lenses are actually in good shape however if I sale these glass would be much more desireable. I would be happy to pay for any you have. I have sent a message to an online watch shop asking about sizing and have not received a return mail as of yet.

On a side note does anyone know why flashlightlens.com stopped offering the LS lens? Is it because they are hard to get or more so because they are not very popular anymore?

Probably cause they're not popular anymore. IMO the ones they sold were too small but they work. I used to mod alot of them as well as others but I haven't got a request to mod one in months. Not sure if others have.

I use mineral glass lenses in all my LS mods so I had alot at one point. If you end up needing some shoot me a PM.

 

[FlashKat]

These lenses work very well.
http://www.toolsgs.com/cart/browse.asp?subcat=258&pg=2

I read you don't use your Raider anymore, but if you ever need extra lenses for your Raider 9DX let me know, since I have some that are 3mm thick.

 

[Robocop]

DarkZero thank you for the offer and if my online order does not work out I will let you know. FlashKat my Raider has been retired to a spare in my dutybag and my only complaint on that light was the glass lens....I broke several on duty and each time had to buy an entire new bezel just to get a new lens.

I wish I had known of the 3mm spares you had back then as I still very much like the Raider. Mine was the D36 Turbo head version and the lenses you have....will they fit the larger 36mm head of the Raider?

 

[FlashKat]

Robocop- Yes these will fit the D36 turbo head. Send me a PM if you are interested in some.

DarkZero thank you for the offer and if my online order does not work out I will let you know. FlashKat my Raider has been retired to a spare in my dutybag and my only complaint on that light was the glass lens....I broke several on duty and each time had to buy an entire new bezel just to get a new lens.

I wish I had known of the 3mm spares you had back then as I still very much like the Raider. Mine was the D36 Turbo head version and the lenses you have....will they fit the larger 36mm head of the Raider?

 

[precisionworks]

Most commercial glass shops use a vertical wet belt sander like this one:

http://burrking.thomasnet.com/item/belt-grinders/model-960-251-wet-grinder/item-1132?&seo=110

With the grinder priced over $3k, and diamond belts at $300 each, this is not the typical home shop setup. But it is fairly common in a glass shop, and they should be able to grind the OD to whatever diameter you need.