My father in law has always envied my lights, so I decided to make one for him as a Christmas present this year. It had to be a AA light since he is no flashoholic. Lithium battery was out of the question. The parts are machined on a 7x14 mini lathe from 6082-T6 aluminum. I used these parts:
-4 18mm O rings
-Cree XRE WH tint
-Driver http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7880 modified to single mode
-16mm reverse clicky tail switch (cheap DX item)
-14 mm rubber cap
The light engine, made from brass, and tail switch are held in place by threaded disks made from free machining steel. O-rings everywhere to make it weather proof.
The dimples are inspired by Fred Pilon(PhontonFanatic) use of these in his fantastic lights. I try to machine decorative elements in multiples of 3 to make is easy to put it back in the lathe chuck. I do not own an indexer, so I used my rotary table to put the grooves and dimples 40 deg apart.
The tape between the three parts prevent them from unscrewing during milling. Guess how I know:oops:
I tried to anodize the completed light, but it wouldn't take the dye. I gave up and stripped the anodizing and polished it. It turned out that the sulfur acid was to cold, making the cells in the aluminum oxide to dense to penetrate. Lesson learned! I need a thermostat/heater for my anodizing bath.
Finished light! Its wrapped up and waiting under the Christmas tree. Hope he likes it!
-4 18mm O rings
-Cree XRE WH tint
-Driver http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7880 modified to single mode
-16mm reverse clicky tail switch (cheap DX item)
-14 mm rubber cap
The light engine, made from brass, and tail switch are held in place by threaded disks made from free machining steel. O-rings everywhere to make it weather proof.
The dimples are inspired by Fred Pilon(PhontonFanatic) use of these in his fantastic lights. I try to machine decorative elements in multiples of 3 to make is easy to put it back in the lathe chuck. I do not own an indexer, so I used my rotary table to put the grooves and dimples 40 deg apart.
The tape between the three parts prevent them from unscrewing during milling. Guess how I know:oops:
I tried to anodize the completed light, but it wouldn't take the dye. I gave up and stripped the anodizing and polished it. It turned out that the sulfur acid was to cold, making the cells in the aluminum oxide to dense to penetrate. Lesson learned! I need a thermostat/heater for my anodizing bath.
Finished light! Its wrapped up and waiting under the Christmas tree. Hope he likes it!
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