New and upgraded Fraz Mechanical Smart Materials flashlights

[Lane32x]

Upgraded design and some new info at the sales thread here: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...-Flashlights-(formerly-QTC-Non-Battery-Crush)

Absolutely awesome. Love the design(s).
How much of a "hotrod" is the nugget? Have you checked temperatures at all at the head or the body?

*edit* meant to ask about the Lumenite. But the nugget looks fun too.

 

[TheFraz]

Absolutely awesome. Love the design(s).
How much of a "hotrod" is the nugget? Have you checked temperatures at all at the head or the body?

Thank you. No, I have not checked the actual temp on the Tiny Nugget. I suspect it is somewhere in the 700 - 1000 lumen range on a fresh 18350. It seems to be a bit dimmer than the bigger lights and so far I attribute that to the battery chemistry of the 18350 batteries I've used, and the smaller/floodier optic. The Tiny Nuggets use the same emitter as the Lumenite and Big E.

All 3 lights will get quite hot if left on full bright and unattended for long periods (which I don't recommend). They will only get warm if left on high in the hand. They are all heat-sinked well with machine screws anchoring the copper MCPCB to the heat sink, and there is a little extra 'beef' in all of them because of the mechanical nature (lack of circuitry or temp cutoff modes) of the light.

That being said, the Lumenite 26350 and Tiny Nugget are very bright for their size. Especially the Lumenite 26350 - I suspect it'll do north of 1200 lumens and much more throw than my original Qzark designs.

-Fraz

 

[Lane32x]

I looked at the pictures a second time and the Lumenite was definitely the one I was thinking of.
Someone posted a pic of it over on a Mark Zuckerberg site and I can't stop thinking about it. Ha ha.

 

[TIP AND RING]

I'm looking forward to this design and it's evolution. Simple works and simple lasts. Most folks who have never machined anything, don't understand the scale of whats involved. It's time and money consuming to say the least. The devil (and profit margins) is in the details. It's not a easy road. Thanks for the time and effort.

 

[TheFraz]

I looked at the pictures a second time and the Lumenite was definitely the one I was thinking of.
Someone posted a pic of it over on a Mark Zuckerberg site and I can't stop thinking about it. Ha ha.

Glad it catches the eye :thumbsup:. Making more right now!

 

[TheFraz]

I'm looking forward to this design and it's evolution. Simple works and simple lasts. Most folks who have never machined anything, don't understand the scale of whats involved. It's time and money consuming to say the least. The devil (and profit margins) is in the details. It's not a easy road. Thanks for the time and effort.

Thank you! It's been a lot of fun/stress designing this thing. The thing I've noticed most is how hard it is to make things simple. If I come across a problem I always try to redesign rather than add a new part (a band-aid), to make sure the possible failure points stay minimal.

 

[TIP AND RING]

Thank you! It's been a lot of fun/stress designing this thing. The thing I've noticed most is how hard it is to make things simple. If I come across a problem I always try to redesign rather than add a new part (a band-aid), to make sure the possible failure points stay minimal.

"The most complicated skill is to be simple."
― Dejan Stojanovic

:goodjob::thanks:

 

[lion504]

Will the tiny nugget run ok (maybe just lower lumens) with a CR123 in an 18 mm spacer? Thanks.

 

[TheFraz]

Will the tiny nugget run ok (maybe just lower lumens) with a CR123 in an 18 mm spacer? Thanks.

Yes, it will run (at much lower lumens) with a CR123. With an SST20 and it's 3ish forward voltage it should work decently well actually....something I will try out. Probably won't even need the spacer. I'll report back when I try it out!

 

[TheFraz]

Posted this in the sales thread, but figured it would be good content for here too. The new wireless design - being able to 'lego' in a new LED with no wires and minimal time, much like replacing an old incandescent bulb (not to mention the durability advantages). The pic below is shown next to a traditional wired-contact-point LED which was the old design of my smallest light. I'll post more details soon in both threads.

-Fraz

 

[peter yetman]

Good thinking Batman.
P

 

[TheFraz]

Good thinking Batman.
P

Thanks Pete! I just hope the wires aren't ra's al ghul or supes or even something more nefarious.

 

[Bimmerboy]

The new wireless design - being able to 'lego' in a new LED with no wires and minimal time, much like replacing an old incandescent bulb (not to mention the durability advantages).

Now THAT'S freakin' cool. Will the optic be just as easy to change?

With something like this, it'd be great to experiment with various emitter/optic combos.

Nice body designs too. Good looking lights.

 

[id30209]

Oh yeah...if design of optic retaining ring is changed for more user friendly tools, i could go for another one

 

[TheFraz]

Now THAT'S freakin' cool. Will the optic be just as easy to change?

With something like this, it'd be great to experiment with various emitter/optic combos.

Nice body designs too. Good looking lights.

Thanks . The light is machined for that particular optic (it has a very specific focal point above the LED it has to hit, so it has a self-seating shelf machined into the body of the light). Changing the LED out will be a simple process - I'll post a video of it when I get some time.

Oh yeah...if design of optic retaining ring is changed for more user friendly tools, i could go for another one

This one will be very user-friendly to access the internals of the light. No specialty tools required.

 

[TheFraz]

Here are a couple pics of all the components of the new Tiny Nugget. This is definitely a breakthrough design for me (and even looks a bit weird without any wires). This light will be capable of complete disassembly with the pictured tools (pliers and an allen wrench). Most of the components are CNC machined specifically for this light. The assembly process should greatly reduce our production time and hopefully allow us to catch up on orders very soon. I've got some footage of me assembling one of these lights which I will edit and post soon.

This light is finally meeting my original vision of a 'lego-assembly' type light that maintains the brightness-variable functions of a PCB driven light. Also, the solder connection points were some of the only things I've ever been able to get to fail in torture tests. No worry about that anymore.

-Fraz

 

[Agpp]

That's VERY interesting.
I also dreamed about a flashlight that could be assembled without soldering, I really like what I see...though I don't fully understand what fits where and why.

 

[TheFraz]

That's VERY interesting.
I also dreamed about a flashlight that could be assembled without soldering, I really like what I see...though I don't fully understand what fits where and why.

Thanks . It was a long time in development to get this to work. Here is a video of me assembling the components so you can get a better idea of how it fits together. I'm gonna try to keep this thread updated more on the development of these lights (along with YouTube and Instagram content). The sales thread will also be updated with content but less tech info.



-Fraz

 

[Agpp]

Thanks, the video explains everything, though I had to watch at quarter speed.
Really, I haven't seen a concept this nice for a long time.

 

[peter yetman]

Isn't it nice when it works first time?
P