My First Homemade Flashlight

Green Lantern

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
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69
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This is my first homemade flashlight. It took me about two months to construct. This is partly because this was my first flashlight and I made a lot of mistakes, but also because I gave up on it for a while. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures of my first homemade light, and maybe can offer some questions, comments, or a suggestion on a good name for it.

The main idea behind this flashlight was to build a powerful light that was encased in a natural material. Most flashlights these days are made out of metal or plastic. I wanted a light that would look good sitting on a bookshelf or for display on a ledge. I decided to go with bamboo because it has a cylindrical pipe shape and the natural plugs are great for the cap I made. Bamboo is the perfect shape for a flashlight, and it is really inexpensive (2 dollars for a meter long stick) because it grows very fast. As a plus because it is fast growing it has a low environmental impact.

The flashlight uses a 130 lumen Luxeon Star K2 LED. I used a resistor to regulate the voltage. That isn't great, but remember it is my first light. The flashlight uses 2 3v CR123A batteries. The clickey switch (always an important part) is an average device you can find at your local Radio Shack.

There were a couple failed attempts, but in the end everything worked. Now I have a flashlight that is not that great or powerful, but something I can say I built myself. I think thats a good first try, considering I'm a Freshman in High School. All the pictures and their captions will explain the building process. Take a look!

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The first step was to actually saw a decent length of bamboo pipe to encase everything in. It was purchased from a local store that only sells all kinds of bamboo for any purpose. Since bamboo is the hardest of all woods I used a hacksaw to cut through it.

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I cut off a plug from the bamboo and set a PVC pipe in it that would fit 2 CR123A batteries, a resistor, and a spring perfectly. In this project hot glue was my friend.

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The LED in all of its glory... I attached it to an aluminum heat sink with super glue and some mounting hardware from Radio Shack. When I turned on the LED the heat sink seemed to be taking the heat, so the connection must have been good.

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After several failed attempts I managed to attach wires to the LED. Between my novice soldering skills and the tiny solder pads it was pretty difficult. I got them on securely eventually.

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Then the LED was attached onto the PVC. I drilled holes in the side of the PVC to run the wires through. The resistor is mounted onto the inside of the PVC, right above the batteries.

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Next I mounted the PVC inside the bamboo pipe. If you could not tell, I had to get another pipe of bamboo because the other one had too small of a diameter. I secured the PVC in by cutting up a wine cork and sanding it down to size. I placed these cork slices on the sides of the PVC, securing it in the center. A hole was drilled in the top of the bamboo for the clickey switch. Everything was then soldered together. I used a spring to secure the battery in place and to attach the wire to. Because of this the battery is very hard to get out, as you have to move the spring out of the way when you want to change the batteries. As a plus, it is a simple design.

The finished product:

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If anyone is interested, take a look at the "blueprints." The quality is not so good because of my scanner. The original idea for a name was The Woodsman, which explains why that is written at the top. Click on the images to enlarge them.





I added up the cost of all the parts. Total comes to about $26.87. If there is a huge interest for me to sell a very small batch I might consider making one or two more and selling them for about $35 to $40.

Edit: See a later post for more information on the new flashlight design I might be making and selling.
 
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:twothumbs: I applaud your thinking, and doing something different that the norm! :clap: What a neat idea!! Love the picture of the light in front of a baby bamboo plant! :thumbsup:

Time to grab some :popcorn: to see whatcha come up with next! :cool:

john
 
Good job Green Lantern! That's thinking outside the box. What resistor value did you use? Cheers, Jeff

I used a 1.5 Ohm 5 Watt power resistor. For information on how I decided to use that check out this thread.

I bought two of them off eBay for six dollars. If you are interested in the link to the eBay page look at the thread I linked to.

Thanks for all the feedback so far!
 
Wow that's a beautiful light. Similar to McGizmo's Mule, as it has no reflector. Did you consider putting a reflector on it, or was it always gonna be reflector-less?
 
Wow that's a beautiful light. Similar to McGizmo's Mule, as it has no reflector. Did you consider putting a reflector on it, or was it always gonna be reflector-less?

The plan was always to have it be "reflector-less" but only because I knew it would be easier. I originally planned for it to have a glass lens and maybe an optic, but I never got around to finding one to fit the bamboo. One of the main problems with working with a natural substance is that they are never uniform, which would make finding the right reflector and lens size difficult.
 
Way to go! Nice idea to use bamboo, it does look very natural! Keep on building and sharing your experiences with us:thumbsup:
 
Great stuff, Green Lantern! I LOVE seeing builds like this!

BTW, I recognize the on/off button... haha... a soft-touch Rat Shack... got one to improve one of my mods!
 
Thats one neat light!! Looks like some light made by the guys on American Survivor!! :twothumbs
 
Appreciate the creativity :thumbsup:
I really like this bamboo flashlight.
 
I have come up with a better design for a bamboo flashlight. This one will include a reflector and a glass lens, and have a smaller diameter as well.

The Lens:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10646

The Reflector:
http://www.besthongkong.com/product_info.php?products_id=168

The LED:
http://www.besthongkong.com/product_info.php?products_id=168

The reflector would be attached to the inside of the lens and would fit inside the pipe. The lens would be mounted onto the top of the pipe.

Here is the picture of the pipe I would use. Click on it to enlarge the picture. I would cut it short on the line I drew in pencil.



I will be selling these if anyone is interested. These would cost anywhere between $20 and $30.

If this gets any interest I will draft up blueprints for review and publish complete specifications before building the lights and selling them.

-GL
 
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Talking about concealed flashlight :naughty: Nice Indeed.

Now could someone make a Hotwire using Bamboo? :crackup::poof:
 

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