New design (in progress)

[dnlwthrn]

So last year about this time, I picked up a 3 Cree kit from Cutter with the Fatman driver. I spent a TON of time playing with designs, and even made a basic housing on the lathe at work. However, my goal was to make a housing on the CNC. Having never done anything like this before, and only being able to work on it during my lunch break, it took far too long.

Today, however, I started a proof test of my design. I'm hoping to start cutting the actual parts by early next week (provided the mill isn't being used for real work at that point).

Some photos:

Close-up of the pocket for the led array and lense:

Starting the rough-cut on the outside of the housing:

I'll try to get more photos up when I flip the stock and machine the back half. Not sure if that will happen today or not. It takes a LONG time to machine that much material, and I have the program set for aluminum stock, so its a lot slower than it could be in the foam. The material I'm using for the test is called Last-a-foam, and works really well for this type of testing...

 

[Jamesdh266]

Looks interesting. Cant really see what the finished light will be like yet though.

Good luck

 

[LukeA]

Why do you have to set the feed rate for aluminum to cut foam?

 

[dnlwthrn]

I'm only using the foam so I don't waste aluminum if something doesn't work correctly with the program. Therefore, I'm running the exact program that will be used on the aluminum. Like doing a dry run, just using material to make sure it looks like its supposed to.

I got kicked out of the mill, so I haven't run the back half yet. When I get the foam version done, I'll post a photo of it. I don't have Pro/E to use so there's no 3-D model to post a screen-cap of.

 

[dnlwthrn]

Ok, the first parts have been made. Its a two part process, involving machining one side and then flipping the material to machine the back side. In doing this, I left a thin web of aluminum to be cut out later. However, I made this too thick, and the finished product looks like crap... I'll post a pic later (if I can bear to show it off. Maybe if I can come up with some way to clean up my poor dremel work it will still turn out.

Thankfully, I made 4 pieces and only screwed up the first one. I'll try something else with the others tomorrow.

 

[hootsmon]

Don't leave us in suspense! Pics please.:poke:

 

[dnlwthrn]

Sorry it took so long... :D

I just got the first (or really second) part cleaned up and ready to show off.

Once again, this is for a triple Cree light, and will work with either the bFlex, Maxflex, or Fatman drivers. I'm still working on the back cover and a trim ring for the front (not a lot of free time right now...)

Photos:

The bracket is from the Batteryspace bar mount. I also have their helmet mount, which is interchangeable with this.

Issues right now: Its SHARP! I'll have to sand/polish the edges of the fins, as they could easily cut you. Still have to tap the holes for the cover/trim ring, figure out what to do for waterproofing, and actually wire it up in the housing.

 

[hootsmon]

That's superb! Well done indeed.

 

[NovaNath]

Looking good there.

Don't forget that you could use a small 45 deg cutter to put a shamfer on in the mill.
Also, you could have made a feature out of the join, by leaving a web of ali between the two halfs where you profiled the outside (does that make sense?). This has the bonus of making any miss-match un-noticable!

Was it a 1/4" cutter you were using? I find for deeper stuff that going to full depth in Z then profiling in can be quicker than pecking, and you don't just wear-out the bottom 1/8" of the cutter so they last longer too.

HTH
Nathan