As you may have guess by the title, this isn't a "flashlight review" but hopefully it will be ok to tell you about this finely crafted little bezel which was offered by RPM in the Customs & Modified sales thread.
Here is RPM's Sales thread with product description:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192432
In short, this is a Ti bezel created for the SureFire M3 head. RPM offers them in both polished and bead blasted finishes.
I opted for the polished finish because of it's easy repair characteristics. If it gets scratched or nicked, I can easily re-polish it to make it look close to new again. With the bead blasted finish the only practical repair is to re-bead blast it, as trying to polish out a bead blasted Ti part is very labor intensive.
I had originally requested two of these bezels but since supply was low and CPFer demand was high, I decided to take one for the time being and let someone else have a shot at one. At this time RPM has plans to produce more in the future, including a Ti bezel for the M6....woohoo! I can't wait.
As you'll see from the pics, the machining and polishing of this part are of extremely high quality and craftsmanship. It was a pricey little bezel but when you see the work that went into it you'll understand why.
First off, I was of course impressed with the finish of this product. Machining marks are very minimal and the polishing is uniform. The crenelations are all perfectly cut and nothing was over polished resulting in soft edges or deformities. I was amazed at the quality of the threads too. I don't have an abundance of Ti flashlight parts but so far this has the most perfect threads of any Ti flashlight or bicycle part that I've seen. Very nice!
For some reason I didn't realize that the bezel removal tool (available from RPM separately) was made from aluminum. Prior to receiving the bezel, I had thought that it was going to be a high density Polymer part. When I opened the package and saw that it was a machined aluminum piece I was very pleased. The tool itself is nearly as nice as the bezel.
Now for the pics:
Ti bezel with removal/installation tool
bezel mounted on M3 bezel, M6 Body
profile
another close up
stock bezel and tool after removal
slight deformation after removing the ridiculously tight stock bezel
As you can see there was some slight damage to the radiused ears of the removal tool. I don't believe this was because of a design or weakness issue with the tool because the fit was incredibly perfect when placed into the detentes. I believe that the slight deformation was due to the unbelievably tight fit of the stock bezel, which also appeared to be secured with red loctite...or some other form of the same thing. Honestly, the force required to loosen it could have been as high as 35-45 foot-pounds to remove the stock bezel. Hopefully mine was just the odd one as I haven't heard of others having difficulty. My two minute job quickly turned into a 15 minute job out in shop. After realizing how tight the stock bezel was on there I decided to just take my time and do things carefully so that I didn't damage my pristine M3 head. After some slight heating and some carefully applied serious torque the stock bezel came off. I cleaned the thread locking compound from the head and thoroughly cleaned the lens. I applied a small amount of German Optimol white, assembly paste to the Ti bezel threads and carefully tightened the bezel with my fingers initially. I snugged it down with the RPM bezel tool and the fit was perfect...probably better than the stock bezel with minimal gap.
The main reason that I decided the replace the stock bezel is because I always seem to wear the finish off the stock HA bezel, no matter how careful I am. I have nothing against using my lights but I do try to take good care of my things and I do appreciate it when they stay looking new. With this Ti bezel I'll never have to put up with a worn M3 bezel again.
I'm very pleased with the Ti part and think that you will be also. If your considering it, I think it's worth the money.
Here is RPM's Sales thread with product description:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192432
In short, this is a Ti bezel created for the SureFire M3 head. RPM offers them in both polished and bead blasted finishes.
I opted for the polished finish because of it's easy repair characteristics. If it gets scratched or nicked, I can easily re-polish it to make it look close to new again. With the bead blasted finish the only practical repair is to re-bead blast it, as trying to polish out a bead blasted Ti part is very labor intensive.
I had originally requested two of these bezels but since supply was low and CPFer demand was high, I decided to take one for the time being and let someone else have a shot at one. At this time RPM has plans to produce more in the future, including a Ti bezel for the M6....woohoo! I can't wait.
As you'll see from the pics, the machining and polishing of this part are of extremely high quality and craftsmanship. It was a pricey little bezel but when you see the work that went into it you'll understand why.
First off, I was of course impressed with the finish of this product. Machining marks are very minimal and the polishing is uniform. The crenelations are all perfectly cut and nothing was over polished resulting in soft edges or deformities. I was amazed at the quality of the threads too. I don't have an abundance of Ti flashlight parts but so far this has the most perfect threads of any Ti flashlight or bicycle part that I've seen. Very nice!
For some reason I didn't realize that the bezel removal tool (available from RPM separately) was made from aluminum. Prior to receiving the bezel, I had thought that it was going to be a high density Polymer part. When I opened the package and saw that it was a machined aluminum piece I was very pleased. The tool itself is nearly as nice as the bezel.
Now for the pics:
Ti bezel with removal/installation tool
bezel mounted on M3 bezel, M6 Body
profile
another close up
stock bezel and tool after removal
slight deformation after removing the ridiculously tight stock bezel
As you can see there was some slight damage to the radiused ears of the removal tool. I don't believe this was because of a design or weakness issue with the tool because the fit was incredibly perfect when placed into the detentes. I believe that the slight deformation was due to the unbelievably tight fit of the stock bezel, which also appeared to be secured with red loctite...or some other form of the same thing. Honestly, the force required to loosen it could have been as high as 35-45 foot-pounds to remove the stock bezel. Hopefully mine was just the odd one as I haven't heard of others having difficulty. My two minute job quickly turned into a 15 minute job out in shop. After realizing how tight the stock bezel was on there I decided to just take my time and do things carefully so that I didn't damage my pristine M3 head. After some slight heating and some carefully applied serious torque the stock bezel came off. I cleaned the thread locking compound from the head and thoroughly cleaned the lens. I applied a small amount of German Optimol white, assembly paste to the Ti bezel threads and carefully tightened the bezel with my fingers initially. I snugged it down with the RPM bezel tool and the fit was perfect...probably better than the stock bezel with minimal gap.
The main reason that I decided the replace the stock bezel is because I always seem to wear the finish off the stock HA bezel, no matter how careful I am. I have nothing against using my lights but I do try to take good care of my things and I do appreciate it when they stay looking new. With this Ti bezel I'll never have to put up with a worn M3 bezel again.
I'm very pleased with the Ti part and think that you will be also. If your considering it, I think it's worth the money.
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