SFARC light - 2 lights in one - it works!

[McGizmo]

SF and ARC heads mated to ARC LS 1 X AA battery housing.

The Battery housing has been counter bored to accept a 123 in the same relative position to the Arc head as usual less a 1/8" gap that will be filled by a + button and jumpper lead which will cary the + to the SF head on the other end. I should be able to complete the innards tomorrow evening.
This mod is flawed given the SF head will need to screw in and out for switching. If I can get the dimensions of the innards right, the on/off position can be attained while there is still contact between the SF head and the O-ring on the battery holder.
Ideally, the SF head would have a long skirt for the o-ring bore seal like the LS head does.
This mod is ok for concept and I think the concept is sound and has merit. However, using the existing components doesn't cut it. I will prove to myself that it works and then the 1 X AA goes to the junk bin.

A double ended flashlight capable of throwing and tossing makes sense to me. With attention to the geometry, the SF head could be interchangeable with a LOTC if I got the accronym right. (you know the lock out tail cap switch thing)

 

[yclo]

Amazing!!

Now if only I had the equipment and the ideas that you have... and lots of Ti...

YC

 

[Silviron]

Pretty darn neat!

 

[Darell]

Don - Do you ever sleep? If you do, is it with your lathe?

I wish you lived just a wee bit closer so we could hang out. Maybe some of that "cool-idea-and-skill-ness" would wear off on me.

 

[McGizmo]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:
Don - Do you ever sleep? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, but I have wierd dreams.....

Anyway:

Arc LS:

Sure Fire E1:

For the sake of Elvis:

To do it right, one would start from scratch but I think it would be nice to have a long distance spot and short efficient area light in one. IE: I'd take an Arc AAA head over the tail switch on a E1E.
EDIT [ or on a LS to keep it in the same family

]

 

[hotfoot]

Don,

Neither more beautiful, nor stranger a creature I have seen than this *AMAZING* fusion of the Arc and the SF!

Oh wait...there's that cow thingie...

That's it, that's it - how much does a lathe cost?!! I want a lathe!

YOU DA MAN!

 

[BigHonu]

Don,

What a creative mind!

Maybe you can piece together 2 123 packs so that the LS and E1 can each have a dedicated power supply.

Aloha


Hotfoot,

I have a friend who is trying to get rid of his old South Bend lathe to make room for a new one. I think it should only cost you a couple thousand or so...

 

[Graham]

Brilliant! In every way!

The only way I could think of to improve on that idea would be to do it with an E2 or something bigger, perhaps. Having the LS on the end like that would be great.

Graham

 

[d'mo]

FANTASTIC!

Don,

Any thoughts about doing a "production run?"

 

[hotfoot]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BigHonu:
Hotfoot,
I have a friend who is trying to get rid of his old South Bend lathe to make room for a new one. I think it should only cost you a couple thousand or so...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks, BigHonu - if not for the huge flashlight debt I'm already in stopping me, I actually *seriously* gave the South Bend some thought! A really bad case of the flashamodism is on the cards for me - until I started thinking about how much it'd cost me to ship the lathe here :P

I figure it'd be cheaper to email Don and ship him both an E1 and an Arc-LS 123 tube for a spin (ahem - "spin", get it?) on his wundermachine instead

Another thing - when you examine at the 123 tube, its actually LOOKS like its supposed to belong on the E1, the color match is uncanny! Funnily enough, the E1's own body matched the LS head perfectly too

 

[McGizmo]

Thanks for the kind words guys. The SFARC light using existing components is flawed. My main concern is using the SF head as its switch. As I mentioned earilier, you aren't guaranteed a water tight seal in the off position. A proper head would have a longer skirt like the LS head so you would have a good bore seal on the O -ring for the range of the off to on positioning of head to body.

I do think this exersize points out a call for considering having each end of the light functional as a light source.

Going on Big Honu's suggestion, what do you think about an Arc model that has stretch body that would contain two 123's, internally both would have their - pole contact a fixed partiton in the body (butt to butt as it were). You would have a LS head on one end and an ARC single LED head on the other. For esthetics sake the 1X LED head would have an OD matching the the barrel. This would even allow for a lanyard attachment ear. (I like lanyards)
Essentially, you would have an LS with a spare battery on board and/or an ARC 1X LED that would burn for one long time.

I've called it an ARC 1X LED instead of referring to the ARC AAA head as I assume that the AAA head may not be compatible with 3 volts.

Of course since this is all speculation, I would vote for replacing the fixed internal - bulkhead with a joint that would allow rotation of each side of the body. This rotation would be a three position switch:
1) both batteries - pole isloated from the body (off)
2) the battery for the 1X LED is connected (1X on)
3) the battery for the LS is connected to the Body (LS is on)

With this arraingement, both heads could be firmly tightened and seated on the body. You would twist the two halves in a 123 sequence for opperation.

In closing, the CPF collective mod of mating a SF E1 body to an ARC LS head is a viable and straight forward mod with certainly acceptable results. This SFARC light points to potential double ended possibilities but with existing components the mod doesn't do justice to the quality and integrity of the combination.

Regarding a lathe: I would be lost without one. During one point when I was between lathes, I found that with a good drill press and an inexpensive X Y table I had a poor man's mill/ lathe combo. I could only chuck up to 1/2" stock in the drill and using a vice clamped to the X Y table as a tool holder was slow and cumbersome for set up. None the less, I could turn simple parts.

Example: For the SF E1 shoulder reduction to fit the LS head. If Aragorn wanted to do limited production and has a drill press with an X Y table, he could get one part made by a local machinist. This part would have a reduced shank to fit in the drill chuck and a female thread socket that the SF body would screw into. The SF would turn in the drill and a cutting tool could be fed into the shoulder to the right depth. At this point the chuck could be lowered and the shoulder would be turned.

 

[lightlover]

Ok Don, Ok - but will it come in McTitanium ...... Or Carbon-Fiber ?

lightlover

 

[McGizmo]

Jahn,

I guess that would be up to whoever makes the bloody thing

BTW, It's already avilable in a parallel universe with a beryllium housing. In fact, I have it on good authority that that is where the unexplained photons (light particles Darrel) are coming from in those strange light interference tests. Seems people over there can't stop playing with their flashlights and due to some sub atomic quark interaction with free agents in the beryllium cause the bleed off of photons (yes Darrel) into neighboring universes.

I've also been told that Peter's lights are bleeding off into yet another universe and wreaking havoc with TV reception, primarily durring Benny Hill reruns. You know the PG halo? There's nothing wrong with the LS; part of the spectrum has gone else where.

Your name and origin demanded this response. Sorry

 

[Darell]

Look at that! It only took 86 posts for Don to begin babbling incoherently and off-topic in his own thread. Excellent.

Yeah, like a guy of *my* stature would get confused as to what "Photons" were. Sheesh. (you see how this non-funny humor works now, right?)

 

[McGizmo]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:

Yeah, like a guy of *my* stature would get confused as to what "Photons" were.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

In a previous thread, I made schollarly reference to photons and you thought I was referring to the keychain light, bub.

Off topic? I went off planet!
Incidentally, I'm no longer worried about being 86'ed from this Forum; I'm banking on it.

 

[Stainless]

Two heads ARE better than one. Anybody care to speculate how many Y-E-A-R-S it will be until a mainstream manufacturer gives it a try?

 

[txwest]

Don,
Flaws or no flaws, the idea is great. The flaws can always be worked out. TX

 

[Darell]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by McGizmo:
In a previous thread, I made schollarly reference to photons and you thought I was referring to the keychain light, bub.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yup. That was the part that was supposed to be funny. See, I DID get confused before. ha ha. Yeah, I was probably too subtle, my bad.

 

[McGizmo]

OK CPF'rs:

Let's say you want an EDC that has two heads.
What's on each end? Using KT's system of levels, I assume we would all agree on having the two heads meet different level requirements or maybe not. Maybe somebody wants a white LS on one end and a Cyan on the other. What do you think of a truly modular system where you have incandesent as well as solid state heads that all have the same thread and seal arangement so they could mate to a double ended power pak.

What would you chose?

I would go for LS on one end and a single LED wide angle "candle" on the other for EDC. ( Of course I want an M6 with a LS candle in the tail for my other light that waits in the van and home for times when needed.

 

[hotfoot]

I'd opt for either a 5W or 1W White LS on on end, and a beacon-like 360 degree viewable red/amber LED on the other end. It could be a white too, but the ability to add a colored filter would be a must.

The LS end should preferably be dimmable, and if a diffuser could be attached - swell!

Must be lanyardable too