Ti is some amazing stuff

[Roccomo]

I dropped my LS20 hard onto the tile floor in my bathroom two nights ago. Total damages were: one nicely chipped tile, a mild 'push' on the lower side of the tail section with tiny 'roll' of Ti towards the bottom bevel and a roughly indented 'grind' up at the bezel end with the Ti scuffed to its natural dark gray color. I don't have a pic of the damages to the light because I didn't notice them till lunchtime at work yesterday.

So, I looked around my desk trying to figure out what I could use to fix the two dings. I work in an office so there are no tools available and certainly no sandpaper or polish. I grabbed a business card. Its texture was slightly rougher than paper. Figuring that I didn't have anything to lose I spent about 20 minutes 'sanding' the 'push and roll' on the tail section with the back of that card. It completely removed the problem area without leaving a polished, shined or differently textured spot in its place. I couldn't have planned a better result:thumbsup:

With that great success and experience as a Ti fixer ;-} I could tell that the scuff up at the bezel was going to require something a bit more gritty than my business card. This damage was more like you'd see when dropping something on concrete. An almost black area with a lot of tiny deep dents/scratches very close together, about 2mm by 3 mm. I looked around my desk again and grabbed a legal pad. The cardboard back seemed to have the required roughness so, holding the light like a pencil pressed to it, I started working on it. Little by little the black rough area started to be replaced by smooth Ti. By the end of my lunch it was getting to be a lot harder to tell where the damage was. End result is that my LS20 looks as good as when Don first shipped it to me. Added bonus: The Ti fixed up nicely without displaying two high polish spots that, to me, would have been an eyesore equal to the original damage.


On a totally unrelated note. I removed the H2 vial from the piston and filled the routed area with FastSteel. I considered filling the route with the same epoxy Don uses but this stuff was under $5.00. It's been a month and though I wasn't sure it would work at all it seems to be ok and I like this better than the H2 vial:

 

[Henk_Lu]

Just great! I wouldn't have imagined that you could have that success with a business card or a legal pad...

You're the first person I meet on CPF who doesn't like trits though! :nana:

 

[Roccomo]

Yeah, I would have liked to be able to get the LS20 without trit. Just like my avatar (XR 19)

 

[fyrstormer]

I just sand down the top of the Norland on top of all my PD lights, and then polish the button with a Dremel, and it feels like a solid piece of metal while leaving the tritium marker right where it is.

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Yeah, I would have liked to be able to get the LS20 without trit. Just like my avatar (XR 19)

Switch Pistons!! :twothumbs

 

[TranquillityBase]

I just sand down the top of the Norland on top of all my PD lights, and then polish the button with a Dremel, and it feels like a solid piece of metal while leaving the tritium marker right where it is.

More info please!

Wet sand, dry sand, grade of paper?

I have one piston that is NOA convex, it would be great to be able to level it off, and polish it back to clear.

Thanks,
TB

 

[fyrstormer]

Dry sand, 800-grit then 1500-grit automotive paint emory paper. I stick my finger in the piston tube and twist it back and forth until the button is flat, turning the piston on my finger every few twists to compensate for any off-center pressure I might be applying since my finger isn't very precise. When the epoxy is sanded flat, I use a Dremel polishing tool and the red polish that comes with it to polish the button and the top of the epoxy, and then I wash it off with soapy water and a toothbrush.

It comes out like this:

 

[Roccomo]

Switch Pistons!! :twothumbs

I could do that but then I figured it would really **** off the guy I sold it to

 

[Kiessling]

 

[darkzero]

Dry sand, 800-grit then 1500-grit automotive paint emory paper. I stick my finger in the piston tube and twist it back and forth until the button is flat, turning the piston on my finger every few twists to compensate for any off-center pressure I might be applying since my finger isn't very precise. When the epoxy is sanded flat, I use a Dremel polishing tool and the red polish that comes with it to polish the button and the top of the epoxy, and then I wash it off with soapy water and a toothbrush.

Good idea! Polishing plastics & epoxy is not hard & yields better results than many think. How are you avoiding sanding/polishing the piston?

 

[fyrstormer]

Good idea! Polishing plastics & epoxy is not hard & yields better results than many think. How are you avoiding sanding/polishing the piston?

I didn't avoid it. That's why I used such fine-grit emory paper. Don't worry about the piston, I had to sand some rough bits off the sides of one of my pistons, and I wrapped 400-grit emory paper around it and really cranked down on it, and the finish was untouched except for the burrs that were removed. 800-grit followed by 1500-grit will practically polish the piston button for you; the buffing with red polish is just to shine-up the epoxy.

(that being said, the button looks good when thoroughly buffed too. )

 

[darkzero]

I didn't avoid it. That's why I used such fine-grit emory paper. Don't worry about the piston, I had to sand some rough bits off the sides of one of my pistons, and I wrapped 400-grit emory paper around it and really cranked down on it, and the finish was untouched except for the burrs that were removed. 800-grit followed by 1500-grit will practically polish the piston button for you; the buffing with red polish is just to shine-up the epoxy.

(that being said, the button looks good when thoroughly buffed too. )

Ah I see, thanks for the info. Yeah I've seen some piston that have had some buffing or something on lights I've worked on. The ones I own that are like this I finished them with scotchbrite but that needs to be done before reinstalling the trits. I wouldn't want to touch the "perfect" ones that I have. I'm personally not a fan of polished Ti.

 

[fyrstormer]

Ah I see, thanks for the info. Yeah I've seen some piston that have had some buffing or something on lights I've worked on. The ones I own that are like this I finished them with scotchbrite but that needs to be done before reinstalling the trits. I wouldn't want to touch the "perfect" ones that I have. I'm personally not a fan of polished Ti.

It doesn't come out to a mirror-finish, at least not at my skill level. It comes out with a lightly-brushed and lapped finish, kind of like the hot end of an expensive CPU heatsink. Anyway, it's an easy decision to trade the original finish on the button for perfect smoothness under your finger, assuming you use the button very often.