DIY LED flashlights

stoneoptics

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 6, 2012
Messages
3
I'm looking to build 2 flashlights here.Flashlight 1compact wide angle/ flood lighting3 mode1 inch OD tubethat runs on a single 18700 or 18650lots and lots of lumensFlashlight 2 I want this flashlight to be more of a thrower with a narrow column of light for long distance use.again 3 modeI would like for this to be a 1 inch OD tube as wellthis can run on 2 18650sobviously lots of lumens here tooProblem is I have no idea where to start. I see there are tons of options out there. LED options. Driver options. Optics options.If yall could give me some tips or personal opinions on how to put these lights together I'd really apreciate it.
 

Hoop

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
316
Location
Spokane, WA
Welcome to cpf!

The easy way to get led lights is to buy them. The harder way is to read existing threads and do a bunch of research about how to build them, then acquire lots of parts and put it all together.

Some questions for you would be: What is your budget? Do you have any machine tools or access to them? You already have the battery charger and batteries? Do you have a soldering iron? How long will you use the lights at a time? Do you care if they get hot?

When you say 1" O.D. tube, do you mean you want to utilize PVC pipe or metal pipe as the housing, or just that it should be 1" O.D.?
 
Top