Hi all,
Was hoping someone at CPF might be able to help me out. I am relatively new to all this modding and DIY flashlights until a few months ago I thought I was the only one who had a slight flashlight obsession. I am a 2nd year Dental Student in Australia and have been shocked at the prices that the manufacturers are charging for LED loupe lamps considering I have 'torches' which would out perform most of these any day of the week and at a fraction of the cost. I figured I would look around the internet to see how this could be a DIY project and stumbled across CPF. So I have a few ideas that I have been constructing over the past few weeks and was hoping for some more direction or re-direction whatever the case might be. Oh and I have already done a thread search and come across a few but most of these were started a few years ago and I would have imagined the technology has changed a lot in the past 5 years.
Essentially the LED Lamp would need to have minimal side spill to avoid unnecessary light in patient eyes with a small hot spot (Diameter approx 5cm at about 420-500mm from the lamp as this is my working length. It also needs to as light (weight) as possible I have seen a professionally manufactured lamp down to 4g but most are around the 15-20g mark. Preference is for a bezel/body that is prefab as I don't have a metal lathe but could possibly find a business to help get the aluminium to the right size after I have worked out the internal dimensions. Good heat dissipation as the last thing anyone wants is a heat source on their face for 8+ hours per day. The ability to dim the light so that this can be suited to the operators preferences. I don't want so much light that it causes retina fatigue or is so bright that it makes looking at mouth tissue difficult to look for subtle changes in anatomy. Good battery life about 8 hours to avoid changing battery packs during a day and I am probably just looking for guidance to match the pack to the output of the light as it will be located in operators pocket so attached to the lamp with power cable. I am not sure if I should use a reflector and an aspherical lens or just stick to one option. The lamp would need to look professional and has to be easily cleaned for infection control as the aerosols from scalers and hand pieces can and does do everywhere... Slightly irrelevant at this point but I would also look to attach an orange filter to limit the blue wavelength which cures restorative materials.
At this stage what I have come up with is:
LED: Cree XP-G2
- Aspherical Lens and/or Smooth reflector (I am looking at my TN31 and look at the throw of that light but less side spill would be even better and it is slightly to large to have on my head all day...)
- Driver Board Honestly I have no idea about how to match this to the LED. I think I have read that I can put this in the battery pack to further assist with decreasing weight and heat from the lamp?
- Bezel/Body an off the shelf would be great but not sure where to start? Can come up with a custom one if really required but trying to keep the price down. I have a Thurnite T10 and would be great if it was about the same size/weight as the bezel on that light. But would need to focus the hotspot much better.
- Battery packs I have some from other lights e.g. head lamps and bike lights but would prefer to buy something just for this application. Have seen the professionally made packs and they are really good (and they should be for the price) but would prefer to source my own.
- Mounting to the loupes. I am not exactly sure how to do this but some brands have a number of different mounts so I would be interested in how I could apply this to my light.
Ultimately I am looking to come up with about 10 prototypes all similar with the plan to trial them over the coming year between me and my friends and hopefully keep us away from needing to purchase other loupe lights.
I am looking forward to any constructive advice whatever it may be. If you feel the need to completely redirect my plans then please do.
Was hoping someone at CPF might be able to help me out. I am relatively new to all this modding and DIY flashlights until a few months ago I thought I was the only one who had a slight flashlight obsession. I am a 2nd year Dental Student in Australia and have been shocked at the prices that the manufacturers are charging for LED loupe lamps considering I have 'torches' which would out perform most of these any day of the week and at a fraction of the cost. I figured I would look around the internet to see how this could be a DIY project and stumbled across CPF. So I have a few ideas that I have been constructing over the past few weeks and was hoping for some more direction or re-direction whatever the case might be. Oh and I have already done a thread search and come across a few but most of these were started a few years ago and I would have imagined the technology has changed a lot in the past 5 years.
Essentially the LED Lamp would need to have minimal side spill to avoid unnecessary light in patient eyes with a small hot spot (Diameter approx 5cm at about 420-500mm from the lamp as this is my working length. It also needs to as light (weight) as possible I have seen a professionally manufactured lamp down to 4g but most are around the 15-20g mark. Preference is for a bezel/body that is prefab as I don't have a metal lathe but could possibly find a business to help get the aluminium to the right size after I have worked out the internal dimensions. Good heat dissipation as the last thing anyone wants is a heat source on their face for 8+ hours per day. The ability to dim the light so that this can be suited to the operators preferences. I don't want so much light that it causes retina fatigue or is so bright that it makes looking at mouth tissue difficult to look for subtle changes in anatomy. Good battery life about 8 hours to avoid changing battery packs during a day and I am probably just looking for guidance to match the pack to the output of the light as it will be located in operators pocket so attached to the lamp with power cable. I am not sure if I should use a reflector and an aspherical lens or just stick to one option. The lamp would need to look professional and has to be easily cleaned for infection control as the aerosols from scalers and hand pieces can and does do everywhere... Slightly irrelevant at this point but I would also look to attach an orange filter to limit the blue wavelength which cures restorative materials.
At this stage what I have come up with is:
LED: Cree XP-G2
- Aspherical Lens and/or Smooth reflector (I am looking at my TN31 and look at the throw of that light but less side spill would be even better and it is slightly to large to have on my head all day...)
- Driver Board Honestly I have no idea about how to match this to the LED. I think I have read that I can put this in the battery pack to further assist with decreasing weight and heat from the lamp?
- Bezel/Body an off the shelf would be great but not sure where to start? Can come up with a custom one if really required but trying to keep the price down. I have a Thurnite T10 and would be great if it was about the same size/weight as the bezel on that light. But would need to focus the hotspot much better.
- Battery packs I have some from other lights e.g. head lamps and bike lights but would prefer to buy something just for this application. Have seen the professionally made packs and they are really good (and they should be for the price) but would prefer to source my own.
- Mounting to the loupes. I am not exactly sure how to do this but some brands have a number of different mounts so I would be interested in how I could apply this to my light.
Ultimately I am looking to come up with about 10 prototypes all similar with the plan to trial them over the coming year between me and my friends and hopefully keep us away from needing to purchase other loupe lights.
I am looking forward to any constructive advice whatever it may be. If you feel the need to completely redirect my plans then please do.
