Finally got round to doing my SF M1 mod.

[marcdilnutt]

After being too scared to open it and thus leaving it in a drawer for two years i finally picked up the courage to hold my M1 over a gas flame until it nearly burst into flames, finally overcoming surefire's weld-like threadlock. Having got it open i test fitted a few components and decided to order a McXRE19 and a Madmax lite to go with the Q5 WC Cree that i already had. I toyed with the idea of turning my own heat sink but then read in someone elses post (i cant remember who) that they chucked up a star mounted cree by the silver ring and turned the star down. I embarked on this course of action, destroying one emitter in the process, and ended up with a perfectly centered cree on a heatsink that is a nearly perfect friction fit in the M1 head. I used the old emitter board to make a ground contact and soldered it all up. The new converter board fits snugly into the hole where the original positive contact spring was, then the negative contact board, then the emitter on its heatsink. It all fits together very nicely. Now for the pics!

 

[Brozneo]

And beamshots etc??

 

[marcdilnutt]

I will try and do some, i only have the camera on my phone though so it might not work too well.

:Edit:

Here we are, first is McLux PD Lux 3 T bin on low, then the same on high, then my Cree M1. All the same camera settings but underexposed to highlight the differences. The wall is about ten feet away.

 

[ICUDoc]

Good job- I still love the appearance of the M1!
Did you do anything to the aperture of the head that will hide a lot of the (generous) output you are getting? What's the drive current?
Looks lovely- did you turn the star down in a lathe?

 

[marcdilnutt]

I used my pillar drill, and took it very easy after i broke the first emitter! It only took about ten minutes to turn down in the end. I have no idea what the drive current is, i cant find the specs for the madmax board. I couldnt get the lens out, and didnt want to destroy it, so i havent opened the aperture yet. Any ideas how to get the lens out?

 

[ICUDoc]

The lens is easy to get out if you are happy to wreck it. The hard part is a replacement.
I put the lens-end of the head against one face of a vise with some leather to prevent scratches. Thean put a piece of dowel into the head with its end against the lens and its other end against the other face of the vise. Winding the vise shut pushes the lens out via the dowel. The lens is polycarbonate I think and so very tough and comes out in one (twisted and cracked) piece.
I have pushed in a polycarb replacement and o-ring and it works OK but I am sorry I have forgotten the source I used!

I prefer to use a lathe to bore out the aperture and leave the lens intact, but it's tricky. I use some silicon to protect the lens from swarf and take my time- 10 or 15 mins I guess.

 

[milkyspit]

Marc, congratulations! That's a very nice, and novel way to install everything inside the M1. :thumbsup:

To get the full benefit of the reflector you need to widen the bulkhead under the lens and that probably means replacing the lens, too. I don't have a magic source for suitable polycarbonate lenses, either... in the past I've used whatever was in the parts box and have been fortunate to find some that fit. The lens is the real bummer of this whole mod.

That notwithstanding, great job! The M1 is a special light, one of the nicest designed by SF IMHO. In modified form it really becomes a nice piece of man jewelry, so to speak.

 

[marcdilnutt]

Thanks Milky, thats very kind of you to say so. I am not even going to attempt to get the lens out until i find a replacement, i dont want to be left without the light. Wish me luck!
Marc

 

[Essexman]

Nice intreasting mod, thanks for taking ther time to share the details. I really like the turning down the Cree star idea.

Off topic - Is that someone sleeping on the sofa whilst you took the beam shots ?

 

[marcdilnutt]

Thanks for the compliment, i wish i could remember who did that originally but their name escapes me. That is our bed in that picture, messy but empty!
Marc