My new cr2 light

After seeing Tvodrd's CR2 light I thought it would be really cool to have a small light that runs on CR2's. My father has a lathe at his house, and I have tinkered with it over the years but never really got into working on it by myself (the last time was 15 years ago.) This weekend I went over to his house determined to learn how the beast works and with any luck come out with my own CR2 powered light. My CR2 is more inspired by the mclux I just put together last week so it has a similar look. I started out with an 8 inch round of aluminum to make the head body and tailcap. I used a R2H MM+ from dat2zip that I had in my minimag for the pill and a cutdown fraen LP optic. After 20 hours of work over the last 3 days, it is mostly done. I just need to do some clean up and polish out some of the tool marks. Here is some pics


Arc AAA, my CR2, and a Streamlight Keymate


L4 and my CR2


beam shot of the CR2 vs Keymate with 5 cells

beam shot of the CR2 vs Arc AAA


beam shot of CR2 vs L4

I'll see if I can get some better pics of the light itself and how it comes apart tomorrow night. Time for bed.

Very nice work!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I'm not familiar with the CR2's. Is that a 3v batt. I'm curious as to how your light would perform with an NX05 in it. Would make for a nice EDC.

Any plans to make more? Maybe something that would accomodate a Pelican Reflector?

What type of switch are you using?

Is there a lense over the optic?

More pics, please. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Nice!

my gosh that's impressive!

very nice work, especially for somone only "borrowing" a lathe! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

sexy design too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/drool.gif

CR2 powered MM+ R2H

Chop - the CR2 is a 3v lithium, about 800ma. They are about 1 inch long and .6 inch diameter. They are mostly used in the APS cameras like the canon elph. I probably won't make more as it took me just over 20 hours of labor. My dad, while poking fun at me for making instead of buying, calculated that at my day job rate, just the labor involved is worth about $800. As for a NX05, I have some on order from dat2zip, and I might turn one of those down to try and fit it in the head. I use one in my mclux and prefer the spill it gives for indoor use. I was playing with both the mclux and my CR2 and the CR2 outdoors has way better throw than the mclux. There is no lense over the optic, and I am debating on using one as the optic is recessed pretty far in that I don't think it will be damaged, but I might still drop in a thin one. And lastly the switch...It can be used one of two ways. The tailcap can be twisted to turn it on by screwing it all the way in, or the head can be screwed out to turn it on like a minimag. Since I had a MM+ R2H sandwich from dat2zip, I designed around that for ease of use, and since it works well with the minimag, I figured that would be the easiest way to switch, although, I may create another tailcap later with a Kroll in it so I can have a clickie too.

Roth, thanks for the compliments. Coming from the "Lathe Monster" means alot. My father has been a machinist for over 30 years (in fact the lathe I used, he bought when I was 9 months old...) Having him around to answer questions I had no doubt had an overall effect on quality. If he wasn't around it probably would have taken me a whole week to figure out how to thread on the damn thing.

Thanks all for looking. When I get home tonight, I'll pull the light apart and get some better shots of how it all fits together.

Re: CR2 powered MM+ R2H

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
(Wait until you check into having it anodi$ed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

Larry

Re: CR2 powered MM+ R2H

unnerv,

Very nice and congratulations! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif The satisfaction of making your own light is very rewarding in itself and I wish more could enjoy the process as well! Good job!

- Don

Re: CR2 powered MM+ R2H

Very Nice.
I like that alot!
Looks like a very good amount of light from a very well made, and designed package.
Looks like and Excellent EDC.

Re: CR2 powered MM+ R2H

Larry - I was looking into anodizing possibly or what I really wanted was a Teflon Nickle plate as it has a really cool color to it, but seeing the costs over the last couple of weeks that I was researching before I started this, I have a feeling it is going to stay Natural with the occational buffing of the mothers aluminum polish. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Don - this was one of the most satisfying projects that I have done in a long time. On Sunday I worked on it for 10 hours straight and didn't believe how the time flew. I think I may have to buy a mini lathe for my workshop as soon as I can afford my own. I wish this could be my day job /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thanks all for checking out my new baby.

Re: CR2 powered MM+ R2H

unnerve,
I have a friend who is a gunsmith/machinist who specializes in building .38 super raceguns. Anyway, one of the more popular finishes with some of the hotshots was to have the gun teflon coated with sort of a splash design. I would imagine that the guy that does my friend's guns could do a light as well and it might not cost too much if I send it over with a gun to be done. I would be like coating a scope mount or something. PM me if you want me to check into it.

Re: CR2 powered MM+ R2H

Tony - that sounds interesting. Is it a teflon coating or is the teflon part of the nickle plate? The reason I ask, is the Nickle teflon plating has teflon in the nickle so the teflon does not wear off. I originally found out about this kind of finish when I was shooting IPSC about 7 or 8 years ago. That was just about the time the .38 super hicap guns like the SVI and Caspians were coming out. That was a lot of fun, but my .45 couldn't compete any more. I'll PM you for more info, thanks.

Re: CR2 powered MM+ R2H

Very Kuwell!

Now that's a compact little scortcher; very nice work. And your first project makes it even more amazing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/huh.gif

However, your statement:

[ QUOTE ]
unnerv said:
On Sunday I worked on it for 10 hours straight and didn't believe how the time flew. I think I may have to buy a mini lathe for my workshop as soon as I can afford my own. I wish this could be my day job /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

You should be warned that, as you noted, lathes and mini-lathes are really time machines. The only problem is they only go forward in time. Suddenly, it's hours latter in the world, but only a few minutes have passed by for the operator. Be prepared to loose a lot of time to the machine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seriously though, that's a great looking project. If that's your first, then you cetainly need to at least put a mini-lathe on your xmas list.

Somebody buy this guy a minilathe! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif

Re: CR2 powered MM+ R2H

unnerve,
You know what, now that I think about it, I think you're right. Teflon/nickel, I'll have to check into. I just remember seeing it. I'm a fan of traditional hard chrome. I'll look into it and if he has one laying around, I'll put a DMM on it to see if it conduct electricity.

Re: CR2 powered MM+ R2H

Excellent work! I like it. A lot /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: CR2 powered MM+ R2H

Just yesterday I was checking out the local electronics store (Jaycar Electronics). And there it was, a mini lathe for sale.

Expensive (at $620 USD), but if I had the money I could probably have just walked out with it. Well more like wheeled it out...

-YC

Re: CR2 powered MM+ R2H

Thanks for all the great compliments. Lambda, I can't believe how the time fly's by. I never even got hungry the whole time I was there on all three days. Sounds like a new way to drop a few pounds. I am hoping the Chrismas bonus is good this year and maybe santa will bring me a mini lathe and mini mill.

Here are a few more pics:

(Blinding) Candle mode


Parts shot

The light is basically three parts: a head which was bored out to hold the optic and o-ring for some water resistance, the body, which has a bored out recess the MM+ drops into and makes contact on the front of the body like a Mag AA. The rest of the body was bored out to the size of the CR2. An oring slot was cut at the base of the threads for the head to seal up on. The tailcap contains a spring and large o-ring to make it water resistant. Simple (until you have to cut it all. To make sure I had enough clearance for threads without compromising the wall strength, I cut 3/4 by 32 tpi for both ends of the light. This by far was the hardest part. Lastly I cut the heatsink groves in the head and tail, mostly because I thought it would look cool. The finishing touch was a chamfer up in the top of the head for the hole for the optic.