Here's a new SST-50 light designed around the AW IMR 26500. The emitter is the 4500K version, which produces a very natural rendering outdoors, at least to my eyes. The OP reflector throws a very strong hot spot with some spill that has a well-defined edge. This is definitely not a floody light. The three-level driver runs at about 4.1A on High, 1.1A on Medium and .16A on Low. Needless to say, High is very bright. The 6061 aluminum body and tail cap are finished with Sniper Gray Cerakote (there is one very slight flaw that is hard to see - think of it as a reminder that this piece is hand made rather than being turned out by a robot
). The matte surface provides a solid grip. The crenelated bezel and grip ring are phosphor bronze, which has a warm tone that is redder than brass and looks very rich.$450 conus
Ill take it posted here takes precedence over a PM.
As always, a big chunk of metal is gradually shaped on the lathe. Here, the body is down to the approximate final size and the tail cap threads have been cut.
The tail cap is roughed out , threaded and trial fit.
Then the body gets turned around and the head is tapered and threaded.
The bezel and rings came out of the same piece of phosphor bronze.
A grip ring takes several operations on both the lathe and the mill.
The tail cap is carefully set up on the mill so that the rotary table turns it very true. If this isn't done correctly, the flutes will be poorly matched.
The light engine is made up of several parts.
When running at about 4A, it's important to get heat away from the emitter. Soldering it onto a copper heat sink is an efficient way of accomplishing this.
The copper piece is pressed into a larger aluminum heat sink that mates closely to the inner bore of the body tube.
The driver is the familiar 2.8A ShiningBeam unit juiced up with a parallel 4x7135 board.
The reflector is threaded into the completed light engine.
The second o-ring at the tail keeps the grip ring from moving.
Also included is a ring that is about flush with the body and tail cap. The flush ring is a little more subtle than the grip ring and gives the light a more elegant look.
A brass retaining ring holds the McClicky switch in place.
The switch boot is recessed to allow tailstanding.
Quite a few parts go into one of these projects.
While the Cerakote is a pretty dark gray, it is a bit lighter in person than it appears in the photos.
The beam shots show some really nice throw and a tight, intense hot spot.
