Glow paint: "disaster to serendipity"

Got me a bottle of glow paint. And just like a man with a hammer, to which every problem looks like a nail, everything needed painting. Once I finished my teeth, fingernails and toenails, it was time to start on my flashlights.

I have a 2-D Maglite that I modded a couple of years back with a Hotlips heatsink and a Lux III TWAK emitter. It came out pretty good, except that I was unable to perfectly center the emitter on the heatsink. Even at the best of focus, the hotspot still had a faint pair of "butteryfly wings". I considered "orange peeling" the Mag's reflector using clear Krylon spray, but never did it. The mod also included a UCl lens from FlashlightLens.com - so clear, you can't tell it's there, until it gets dust on it.

I only intended to paint the LED mounting surface of the heatsink, but some paint ran over the edge, so I felt committed to paint the circumference as well. But the paint naturally didn't want to settle on the sharp 90 degree edge of the pedestal. So I added a second coat, installed the Mag's head and set the light face down so the paint, via gravity, would stay on the edge where I wanted it. An hour later, I grabbed the light to see how it turned out. But I was horrified. The mirror finish of the Mag's plastic reflector had become crazed from the paint's curing fumes.

Here you can see what happened, compared to another Hotlips mod:


I was upset at my now obvious stupidity. Until I turned on the light. The crazed surface has now made the hotspot perfect. Larger, but flawless. I'm sure there has to be some loss in illumination, but it is hard to tell. Disaster into serendipity. Got to love it.

A free sputtered reflector cool.

C

I had that happen in the LED tailcap of my GL3 - totally destroyed the plastic LED cover.

Evil, when working with GID paint and/or GID+epoxy, you can line the edges of the are you're working on with some scotch tape or masking tape. In this case, you could've wrapped the pedestal with some scotch tape, creating a "wall" of sorts to keep the pain from dripping down. After it's dry, you peel off the scotch. (Tip from tvodrd.)

greenLED said:

I had that happen in the LED tailcap of my GL3 - totally destroyed the plastic LED cover.

Evil, when working with GID paint and/or GID+epoxy, you can line the edges of the are you're working on with some scotch tape or masking tape. In this case, you could've wrapped the pedestal with some scotch tape, creating a "wall" of sorts to keep the pain from dripping down. After it's dry, you peel off the scotch. (Tip from tvodrd.)

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You have to be careful with scotch tape,some finishing supplies, paint, oil etc will soften the tape and you will be left with some residue on the surface, masking tape is good. but you can get some under the edge if you put on a thick coat. I have some tape that is used for powder coating - it is heat proof up to 375 degrees, but it does a better job than scotch tape.

hint - automotive bug and tar remover will take off adhesive residue and will not affect most surfaces