Re-Visited, RCatR design recessed aspheric Mag

I always wondered how member RCatR built his aspheric Mags with the 50mm lens recessed behind the crown, keeping it safe in a headstand. I finally found a 50mm lens, and copied his design:
original thread here

I'm using a Cree XR-E R2 from Cutter mounted directly to a custom recessed heatsink. I use a 1.4A AMC7135 single mode regulator in a stock 3D Mag sleeper.















If I can get more of these lenses, I'd like to build a 1C for myself.

Can you tell us how you built this? I've been thinking of something like this but wasn't sure how to make it.

A 50mm lens drops down to the first step in the head? Interesting. The dive lighting guys like to use the DX 44mm aspheric since they have to keep the lens in the head, and have a window so the water doesnt screw up the index of refraction. Sucks the reflector as a bezel/trim ring will be a dust/fingerprint magnet, but putting a window in front of that would just be a wast of good lux. Though might not be *too* bad if it was a UCL lens with the AR coating.

Is that halo around the hot-spot from the ring on the XR-E? or from the internals on the mag?

beekeeper5 said:

Can you tell us how you built this? I've been thinking of something like this but wasn't sure how to make it.

Click to expand...

The head got machined out, bored to the diameter of the lens, to a depth enough to clear. Then a stock reflector gets machined to be used as a spacer. The heatsink gets recessed down the tube just above the switch.

CKOD said:

A 50mm lens drops down to the first step in the head? Interesting. The dive lighting guys like to use the DX 44mm aspheric since they have to keep the lens in the head, and have a window so the water doesnt screw up the index of refraction. Sucks the reflector as a bezel/trim ring will be a dust/fingerprint magnet, but putting a window in front of that would just be a wast of good lux. Though might not be *too* bad if it was a UCL lens with the AR coating.

Is that halo around the hot-spot from the ring on the XR-E? or from the internals on the mag?

Click to expand...

The lens doesn't fit by itself, I had to bore the head for the lens to fit creating a new lip for the lens to sit on. If I would have bored it down another 2mm, then a UCL lens would fit above the aspheric easily, but I wanted to save every last lumen. The halo is from the Cree ring, just a byproduct of the Cree XR-E. A de-dome or another emitter could fix this.

Double post, oops....
I'll ad some photos here soon.

Very nice mod! All the attributes of an aspheric, but without the risk of damaging the lense. Very cool!

I picked up what I believe is a RCatR Mag C aspherical head a few years ago








but I never got around to building a light around it

Yep, definately a RCatR Mag C aspherical head. Where did the rest of the light go?

The light goblins got it

I have no idea, I just brought the head and lens itself.
I started building the rest of the light but the body + heatsink where diverted
to another build involving a Deerelight DBS reflector