How to make a cap for a Zero-D Maglite?

Alrighty...I'm in process on a Maglite bike light. I want to use the Mag head and find a cap to fit the hole in the back.

I could in theory cut the barrel of the light down to about 1/2" in length (keeping the stock tail cap) and thread the outside of the new barrel.

-How the crap do I find a die nut large enough to thread the barrel?

-- or --

-I could cut the barrel short on the near end and "tap" the I.S. so the stock cap fits in.

-- or --

-How could I make a cap to fit the hole that's removeable?

To do the threads on the outside of the tube you don't use a die, You single point them on a lathe.

I was worried about that. Any other ideas that don't necessitate a lathe? All I've got are various hand tools and a drill press.

I'm leaning toward cutting the tube off directly behind the Mag head and sanding down the threads on the Mag tailcap so I can just J.B. the tailcap to the nub of barrel with existing O.S. threads.

You've posted this on the wrong forum. This is Buy/Sell/Trade.

Actually, I'd rather modify the existing tube to be an adaptor to attach the tailcap directly to the lamp head...so modified was the best place I could think to start it.

Buying a cap was sort of a "Plan B".:shrug:

Hi Chelboed,

This is the wrong forum for the topic. Best thing to do is PM a mod to request moving it to "Homemade and Modified".

BTW... I can't remember how it was done, and it was a good while ago, but I remember seeing a pic of exactly what you want to do. It was a zero D Mag bike light with, I believe, the stock tailcap mounted in the hole. The thread should be searchable, but who knows if the pic is still up.

Good luck on the build.

Thanks guys.

Yeah, I read that thread the other day. The problem is that the orig. modder epoxy'd the rear end together. I don't want to do that b/c I will most likely be taking it apart now and then and monkeying with stuff.

I'll try to get it moved to the appropriate place though. Thanks.

Ya know...I know this is total Red Green Hillbilly crap, but I may be able to turn my own threads with a drill press, fine tip dremel bit, and a vice. If I set the vice perpendicular to the drill press and clamp the mag head in it, I can bring the drill with dremel bit in it (I have a fine tip bit) down into the barrel of the Mag. I can slowly unscrew the barrel from the head of the Maglite which should in theory give me the same pitch for the threads. Just need to cradle the mag barrel so it doesn't get all wobbly as I unscrew it.




Holy crap, I feel like I'm reaching here:sick2:

there was a thread here on how to buld 1d mag with hand tools only. if you find it you'll see exactly how, but if you don't, this is what i remember;
cut off d mag tube as short as you need from the front leaving tail thread and a cap.
remove (dremel off) thread from the head that is used to screw in the tube, ram or press the tube into the head, you can use epoxy too.

found it.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/227140

donn_ said:

You've posted this on the wrong forum. This is Buy/Sell/Trade.

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It just dawned on me what you were saying:thinking: I'm an idiot sometimes. I didn't put 2 & 2 together and notice that b/s/t meant Buy Sell Trade which is what you were telling me, hahaha. I thought you were telling me to look int he Buy/Sell/Trade forum for a solution that someone already had available.

Sorry man.

I really did post this in the wrong place.

If your building a 0D maglite bike light. I would just dremel away the threads for the tail cap, and then JB weld it in the tube. You probably won't need access to that section anyways...

Well...unless I get bored with this MR16 version and go with a 3xp7 down the road.

chelboed said:

Well...unless I get bored with this MR16 version and go with a 3xp7 down the road.

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Still, won't you be able to access all the guts by unscrewing the bezel?

chelboed said:

Ya know...I know this is total Red Green Hillbilly crap, but I may be able to turn my own threads with a drill press, fine tip dremel bit, and a vice. If I set the vice perpendicular to the drill press and clamp the mag head in it, I can bring the drill with dremel bit in it (I have a fine tip bit) down into the barrel of the Mag. I can slowly unscrew the barrel from the head of the Maglite which should in theory give me the same pitch for the threads. Just need to cradle the mag barrel so it doesn't get all wobbly as I unscrew it.

Holy crap, I feel like I'm reaching here:sick2:

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Dude! This is great, in theory it should work, just unscrew the head and it will mirror the threads, but in all practicality I doubt it will work.

I'd definitely like to see you try, and video the whole thing. Wouldn't it be amazing if it did work, and you had video to prove it!! Ha Ha naysayers!!

I love garage mods!

I love the caveman lathe idea. But seriously... It's hard enough to cut those threads using PROPER tooling. I will be seriously impressed if you manage to make that work!

So long as your heatsink (for an led build) floats in the barrel, surely you can just get all the access you need from the front. So long as you use a screw type gland so you can let plenty of flex through it shouldn't be a problem.

Slickseth said:

the caveman lathe idea

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LOL!

Chelboed - Came up with an idea yesterday right after my last post, and did a quick experiment.

The stock tailcap fits loosely into the hole with a tiny bit of wiggle room, so I grabbed a few different rubber bands to try around the knurled area of the tailcap as a makeshift gasket to hold it in the head, and give a little weather resistance at the same time. I had no flat, ribbon type rubber bands, which is what I really wanted to try this idea with, but using what I had on hand, it seems the idea may work.

If you find the perfect rubber band for this application, it should hold the cap in securely, even with the vibration of bike riding. And if worse comes to worse, drill a hole in the head for a set screw to hold the cap in... no caveman machining needed, which I hate to say, ain't gonna' work for threading.

I may not be explaining my solution clearly, so let me know if I can be more illustrative.

BTW, why is this thread still in B/S/T?

Bimmerboy said:

BTW, why is this thread still in B/S/T?

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My guess is nobody has reported it to a Mod.

olrac said:

My guess is nobody has reported it to a Mod.

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Exactly.

@ Chelboed

C'mon, man... part of what makes this place great is the sense of adherence to a rational set of rules!

I think this is what you're after...