Mag-Light orange peel reflectors?

[Doug3581]

I am hot-rodding a 3c maglite; I have already ordered an ever-led for it. I'm also curious about getting a non-focusing orange peel reflector for it--though I will have to see how the ever-led does first.

I have already found the posts concerning the reflectors available from http://www.light-edge.com/
.....
How are these reflectors constructed? Are they aluminum or plastic? Sputtered or actual orange-peel surface? Also, has anyone done beamshots of these different light-edge reflectors compared? The site doesn't even have pictures of the products themselves....
~

 

[Brighteyez]

I think they're made from machined aluminum and while my assumption would be that the surfaces are textured rather than spray painted, I'm not sure of that part. I think the owner is a member here under the screenname of Lightedge. You might want to drop him a PM with your questions or shoot him an eMail at his site.

 

[litho123]

I can answer the question ... as Lightedge and I collaborate on reflectors.

They are machined aluminum and have an opening (ream) of .377". The OP surface is applied to the reflector.

For pictures and beamshots, please review the following threads. While it deals mainly with the stippled finishes, you will find beamshots/reviews pertaining to the OP family of finishes as well.

How about some beamshots?

Here are links to beamshots / evaluations:
Please let me know if I've missed a thread and I'll add them here for everyone's benefit.
juancho - Stippled Evaluation: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ead.php?t=95736
CroMAGnet - OP / Stippled Eval: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ad.php?t=103681
NikolaTesla - Stippled Preview: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ead.php?t=93992
MayCooper - Reflector Eval: http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=130305
Yooper - Reflector Eval: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ad.php?t=112370

I don't know the diameter of the ever-LED, however, I can tell you that the Mag LED drop-in module does NOT fit thru the .377" opening. You would carefully need to enlarge it to fit.
Hope this helps!

 

[Icebreak]

Good answer. Good answer.

100 pts awarded to litho123.

I don't know what can be bought or had with these 100 pts but they are yours, Greg.

- Jeff

 

[Brighteyez]

Actually it was your name I was trying to remember.
What do you mean when you say that the OP is applied to the surface? Is it a texture that permanently ingrained into the surface or a texture that is applied on the surface of the reflector? How about the Stippled reflectors?

And perhaps you could make a suggestion for a reflector type. I'm looking for something that will just smooth out the spot (LOP?) and then maybe another that will produce some flood along with the beam, something like the reflector from a SL20 (LS?)

I can answer the question ... as Lightedge and I collaborate on reflectors.

They are machined aluminum and have an opening (ream) of .377". The OP surface is applied to the reflector.

 

[litho123]

Brighteyez said:
Actually it was your name I was trying to remember.
What do you mean when you say that the OP is applied to the surface? Is it a texture that permanently ingrained into the surface or a texture that is applied on the surface of the reflector? How about the Stippled reflectors?

And perhaps you could make a suggestion for a reflector type. I'm looking for something that will just smooth out the spot (LOP?) and then maybe another that will produce some flood along with the beam, something like the reflector from a SL20 (LS?)

=============

The stippling treatment is not a physical texture done to the reflector's metal surface itself. Rather it is something that is added to the applied coating which gives it the OP or stippled characteristics.

There are several ways that folks have tried to smooth out the beam.
- lightly haze/frost the bulb
- textured reflector (OP or stippled)
- diffusion lens

will post more later...

 

[Alin10123]

Good answer. Good answer.

100 pts awarded to litho123.

I don't know what can be bought or had with these 100 pts but they are yours, Greg.

- Jeff

LOL

 

[litho123]

third try to post this!

====================

There are several ways that folks have tried to smooth out the beam.
- lightly haze/frost the bulb
- textured reflector (OP or stippled)
- diffusion lens

(continued)

BULB:
Some folks have acid etched the bulb (fully or partially) or sanded the surface to try and smooth out the beam. It works to some extent, however, I personally don't like the results. Other folks though LOVE the output!

REFLECTOR:
There is a tradeoff between throw and beam quality. The reflector coating you select will determine the general beam profile. You can't have both.
The better the throw, the more artifacts it will have.
As the coating gets heavier, the smoother the beam will become, and the less throw you will have.

In order from most throw (#1) to smoothest beam (#7)...

#1 SMOOTH is a mirror finish, just like the stock Maglite reflector. It has the best throw complete with all those ugly artifacts.

The Orange Peel (OP) family starts to smooth out the artifacts...
#2 Light / #3 Medium / #4 Heavy Orange peel

The Stippled family of coatings takes over where the OP coatings stop and produces the most surefire like beam.
#5 Light / #6 Medium / #7 Heavy Stipple

LENS:
flashlightlens.com has the LDF (Lens Diffusion film) coating for the lenses. If I recall correctly, it is similar to a medium-heavy stipple in terms of output. However, with the heat generated by the "hotwire" bulbs, I don't believe that it will survive long-term use.


So, that's what folks are doing to help smooth out the beam. As to which coating/method will work the best, that's up to you

Icebreak - Thanks for the points! :lolsign: I'll try and redeem them in the future.