Designing an LED flashlight for Kickstarter

[mckeand13]

Which material is that? Al or Ti?

Either way, that looks sweet!

 

[rickyro]

Nice photos and great looking light! Congrats!

 

[KuanR]

The machining looks fantastic along with the tritium fin. I can't wait to meet up with you to get this light

 

[gunga]

Looks awesome!

 

[4rmless]

I am so in on this kickstarter.

Did you consider making the fins and pill a single piece of copper for the ultimate in thermal transfer? I guess it means externally exposed copper, but it'd look pretty cool (see the Sinner Ti-XC), even more so if you can get a black nitride coating.

 

[Coltrane]

I don't like clips. Will remove it anyway. It breaks the design of the flashlight.

 

[mckeand13]

I would highly suggest that for the lights that aren't getting trits, that the grooves be cut much shallower. I think it would look awkward with deep grooves, thin fins, and nothing filling the gaps. It would certainly be a pocket fuzz collector as well.

Could you post a rendering of the black anodized AL with shallow grooves?

Thanks.

 

[shrike2222]

Great light!

I hope see it soon on Kickstater!

 

[jashhash]

Hi everyone, great to hear all of your feedback. Since I have a prototype on hand I've been trying to tweak the wire clip with a pliers but no matter what I do it just doesn't feel right. I pretty much gave up on clip design #2 and will be going towards clip design #3 (more details to follow). The trouble with clips is it's really hard to get it just right since you can draw it in CAD but then when you actually use it...

So in response to some comments:

mckeand13 asked:

Which material is that? Al or Ti?

These first samples are stainless steel.

4rmless asked:

Did you consider making the fins and pill a single piece of copper for the ultimate in thermal transfer? I guess it means externally exposed copper, but it'd look pretty cool (see the Sinner Ti-XC), even more so if you can get a black nitride coating.

I considered this but it's my personal preference for the fins color and finish to match the entire flashlight. The fact that the copper slug is soldered directly to the LED should be more than enough thermal management.

mckeand13 asked:

I would highly suggest that for the lights that aren't getting trits, that the grooves be cut much shallower.

Yes I agree, deep fins with nothing to fill them would look odd. At first I had the idea of using tiny glow powder filled glass tubes, but this turned out to be too messy (messy is difficult to control on a mass manufacturing scale). My manufacturer came up with the idea of filling the space with some 3mm diameter aluminum rods which looks pretty cool. A bit like the gatlight from long time ago. I like his idea and will be implementing this in the non-trit versions.

 

[jashhash]

alright here is clip design #3. I'm using the same attachment concept as clip #1 but leaving the wire ends unwelded. The wire thickness has been increased from 1.5mm to 1.7mm to make it thicker/stronger/stiffer since there is only one wire on the clip part rather than 2. Attached on the wire ends are 5mm diameter stainless steel balls to protect the exposed wire end.

 

[snowlover91]

I have an idea for the clip design which may work and be quite easy to design and implement. One of the best and easiest designs to use would be something similar to the Nitecore EX11.2. It has a screw on clip which simply has a design similar to what you already have for the tail cap area. All that would be needed is for one of the find to be solid except have two small threaded holes and you could put a nice screw on clip. I think this would be superior to any clip on design and would prevent lost pocket clips while increasing durability. Here is a link to a few pictures showing how it screws on and I think it would work great on this light with a similar design.

http://budgetlightforum.com/node/3918?destination=node/3918&c019_name=99

 

[rickyro]

alright here is clip design #3. I'm using the same attachment concept as clip #1 but leaving the wire ends unwelded. The wire thickness has been increased from 1.5mm to 1.7mm to make it thicker/stronger/stiffer since there is only one wire on the clip part rather than 2. Attached on the wire ends are 5mm diameter stainless steel balls to protect the exposed wire end.

I think this design #3 may fail even further. Maybe it is better that you come back to the traditional screw on design, such as McGizmo, Zebralight and many others are doing. With this design #3, you may lose many potential buyers. Just my personal opinion.

 

[rickyro]

Or maybe you can add two screws on the bottom, beside the button, to help fix the wire clip in the design #1. Just like Spyderco is doing with their wire clips. But I don't know if you can find enough space there.

 

[gunga]

I like snowlover91's idea. A backing plate would allow a McGizmo or other clip to bolt on. Design #3. Ugh. That is really hideous. A bolt somewhere might help (like Rickyro's suggestion ).

 

[snowlover91]

I like snowlover91's idea. A backing plate would allow a McGizmo or other clip to bolt on. Design #3. Ugh. That is really hideous. A bolt somewhere might help (like Rickyro's suggestion ).

The ex11.2 design is perfect IMO because you don't even need a backing plate. It simply is two tapped holes and you align the clip and put the screws in! Super simple, works great and is very secure. It's a great design and something similar would work well on this light without really affecting anything at all. A pocket clip is one of the most important parts of the light and if it's not sturdy or reliable it will turn away many potential buyers. Many lights with clip ons I think twice about and have to REALLY like the light to buy it.

 

[gunga]

The problem is that the tailcap is already machined, right? Or can we still do tapped holes?

 

[rickyro]

The ex11.2 design is perfect IMO because you don't even need a backing plate. It simply is two tapped holes and you align the clip and put the screws in! Super simple, works great and is very secure. It's a great design and something similar would work well on this light without really affecting anything at all. A pocket clip is one of the most important parts of the light and if it's not sturdy or reliable it will turn away many potential buyers. Many lights with clip ons I think twice about and have to REALLY like the light to buy it.

Totally agree with you. The design of ex11.2 is simple and practical. McGizmo's design is similar. But I don't have my Haiku beside me so I cannot check if those two screws penetrate or not. I think Eagletac D25a is also using the same desgin.


For a AA light, I think a strong and reliable clip is a must.

AAA light, a key-chain connection is good enough. Clip is not necessarily big. But Promethus clip for Peak is very simple and nice, not adding too much volume.

18650 light, for a compact design, clip is good, such as SC62 from Zebralight, or even HDS 18680 and Malkoff MD2; for a tactical design, such as ElZetta Beta, clip is just too small, a lanyard is preferred.


But for a AA light, it is a perfect size to be carried mostly by clip. For a AA light, if it features no reliable clip, I would rather not buy it.

 

[rickyro]

The problem is that the tailcap is already machined, right? Or can we still do tapped holes?

It was already tapped with a narrow slot there seeing from the pictures. Maybe two threaded holes with a litter bigger diameter than the width of that slot can be additionally tapped to install the clip there.

 

[rickyro]

Hi everyone, great to hear all of your feedback. Since I have a prototype on hand I've been trying to tweak the wire clip with a pliers but no matter what I do it just doesn't feel right. I pretty much gave up on clip design #2 and will be going towards clip design #3 (more details to follow). The trouble with clips is it's really hard to get it just right since you can draw it in CAD but then when you actually use it...

So in response to some comments:

mckeand13 asked:

These first samples are stainless steel.

4rmless asked:

I considered this but it's my personal preference for the fins color and finish to match the entire flashlight. The fact that the copper slug is soldered directly to the LED should be more than enough thermal management.

mckeand13 asked:

Yes I agree, deep fins with nothing to fill them would look odd. At first I had the idea of using tiny glow powder filled glass tubes, but this turned out to be too messy (messy is difficult to control on a mass manufacturing scale). My manufacturer came up with the idea of filling the space with some 3mm diameter aluminum rods which looks pretty cool. A bit like the gatlight from long time ago. I like his idea and will be implementing this in the non-trit versions.

The last one is a good news. I like the Gatlight design. Maybe I will choose this one if you can change the clip design. Or maybe can you make the rod material to be the same as the body? For example, if it is titanium, the rod is also titanium so that the patina and deterioration will be the same. This may bring some problem with the sourcing, but I think it is worth to do that.

$130 for mill finished raw titanium with aluminum/ (or titanium? if possible) rods

 

[SA Condor]

I agree with everyone else. I don't like the new rendering of the clip at all! They've provided some good suggestions already, so I don't need to add to that part of the conversation.