trivergata
Enlightened
Does anyone have any advice on reflector design? I'm working out the details on a combo heatsync and reflector for a mod I've done, and am not sure how the depth of cone and angle of cone effect the light pattern. Any advice?
designing reflectors
- Thread starter trivergata
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
Leeoniya
Enlightened
actually check out this thread: custom reflector design
myself and another CPFer are going to be designing custom drill bits for this very purpose.
i have also posted a parabolic calc excel file you are welcome to use.
for a POINT light source, the ideal reflector is parabolic, it gets more confusing and harder to focus sources like a Lux 5 giant square die in a small reflector package. the deeper the reflector, the more light it will focus. sidespill is what you get as a result of the reflectorbeing too shallow or the light source not lying it the focus of the parabolic reflector. size of the reflector largely depends on how close your lightsource isto a single point relative to the reflector. the final diameter is governed by the depth and how much light you need to capture. this also dictates how much sidespill you will have for a given reflector.
read up on conic sections. i think you'll find it useful.
myself and another CPFer are going to be designing custom drill bits for this very purpose.
i have also posted a parabolic calc excel file you are welcome to use.
for a POINT light source, the ideal reflector is parabolic, it gets more confusing and harder to focus sources like a Lux 5 giant square die in a small reflector package. the deeper the reflector, the more light it will focus. sidespill is what you get as a result of the reflectorbeing too shallow or the light source not lying it the focus of the parabolic reflector. size of the reflector largely depends on how close your lightsource isto a single point relative to the reflector. the final diameter is governed by the depth and how much light you need to capture. this also dictates how much sidespill you will have for a given reflector.
read up on conic sections. i think you'll find it useful.
greenLED
Flashaholic
Wow, that's a nice spreadsheet, Leeoniya! Now I only need to learn how to apply the solution to an Infinity head. Could you please help me with the details? I noticed that Infintiy's head is a simple cone and wanted to "spice it up" a little and get a narrower beam (it doesn't have to be laser-like focus). How would I do that using your spreadsheet? What values should I change? I would to the shaping by hand (Dremel?) only.
My situation:
I currently have only the dome of HD Lux protruding from the hole in the center (and I'd like to keep it that way if at all possible and still get a tighter beam projected). Is boring a larger hole for the Lux to be "higher" into the reflector so the focal point is OK unavoidable? I'm guessing the wide flood beam of an Infinity mod is due to a combination of the Lux missing the focal point and the reflector not being the right shape. Right?
My situation:
I currently have only the dome of HD Lux protruding from the hole in the center (and I'd like to keep it that way if at all possible and still get a tighter beam projected). Is boring a larger hole for the Lux to be "higher" into the reflector so the focal point is OK unavoidable? I'm guessing the wide flood beam of an Infinity mod is due to a combination of the Lux missing the focal point and the reflector not being the right shape. Right?
Nubo
Enlightened
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2004
- Messages
- 461
The difficulty with a dome LED, as I understand it, is that most of the light is already being "focused" to some degree by the dome, and thus never gets a chance to hit the reflector. But, my lack of general knowledge is only exceeded by my lack of LED knowledge, so I'll sit back and wait for someone else to provide a better answer.
trivergata
Enlightened
Wow - I was hoping for something alot simpler - I'm not sure that I can machine a parabolic curve. I just might be dumb enough to give it a go, though.
Thanks
Josh
Thanks
Josh
greenLED
Flashaholic
trivergata, andrewwynn (fellow CPFer, sp?) made some parabolic reflectors by hand for his brass mod. He used a Dremel tool IIRC. I'd like to learn how to calculate these things so I can try to make one myself. ...well... more like, destroy one myself if I judge by my last modding attempts. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif
