Got bored today, decided to build a flashlight out of copper pipe.

So yea... today I had the itch to build something and decided on having a stab at making my own flashlight. I had some 3/4" type L and M copper pipe, some 3/4" caps, and assorted parts from dead drop-ins, and a clicky switch... and after a couple hours of cutting, grinding, filing, sanding, and polishing... everything seems to be coming together nicely. The 3/4" pipe is perfect for 18650 batteries and by press fitting a piece of the thin type M pipe that I had cut down one side from end to end, it narrowed the tube just enough for the switch and pill a place to sit. I decided to order a 20mm TIR lens from Carclo Technical Plastics that's made to work well with the Cree XM-L i'll be installing, and that should arrive either late this week or early next week. So i'll post up some more photos once I get those parts installed. So far, here it is.





And if anyone asks, that TIR is not the one i'm using. It belongs in my Surefire E2DL Defender.

:goodjob: Here's some older threads for you to investigate.

Norm

Looking good Andrew. I love these types of builds. Whats the driver your using?

TIR arrived today, so I was able to finally get the last couple pieces made and fit together. I'm still going to add set screws when i get time this weekend. Here are a couple more pics of it all assembled and working.

The driver that's currently in the light is this piece of junk. SpecialFire® 2.2A 1-Mode 16mm 3V-18V Flashlight Driver Circuit Board for Cree XM-L T6 XM-L2 L2 U2 U3 LED
I've been reading a bunch to learn about various drivers but i'm still in the dark (excuse the pun) on which one would work best for this XM-L LED. Am I correct in that I should look for drivers with an input voltage of 3v-4.2v since i'm only using a single 18650? I was just browsing Fasttech and came across this 8x AMC7135 driver which is 3-4.2v and a max output of 2800mA, would this be a good one? I don't mind spending more if there is some "holy grail" of LED drivers that you can recommend for me. I'll probably get two so I can replace the same crap driver I have in my SureFire 6P as long as it's single mode because I modded that lights internals so the drop-in has a copper jacket and full contact with the body since I plan on using it as a weapon-light for the AR I just finished building.
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Excellent build!

I made a few copper and brass lights maybe a year or two back and still use them frequently

The copper is a great heat sync and the size of pipe available just begs to be used for lights.

Excellent
I am a mechanical contractor, and have all the pipe and fitting sitting around the shop
Question - Polishing the pipe with what ? and how are you going to keep the polish ??
why press fit - why not soldering ?

Yes, if you are on a single cell you should look for drivers that have 3.0V and 4.2V within the input range. That's what your battery will do, so that's what the driver should handle. If the driver can handle wider range, that's fine, but it should handle at least that.

Some people prefer to run LiIon cells down to 2.7V, or even 2.5V. This gets the most out of each charge, but reduces the number of charges before your batteries die. Just FYI.

AMC7135 based drivers are not a bad choice for this application. It's possible to do better, but for that form factor and if you want to buy an off-the-shelf driver, it's not likely you'll do better.

On mine, I use 0000 steel wool and Blitz copper and brass polishing cloth.

you did a great polishing job - looking forward to more pictures

Since I have miles of copper pipe in my shop - I am going to attempt to build my own flashlight

yeah.. the polishing looks very nice! just wanting to know how long it keeps that shiny finish.. ? days? weeks? months?

Very nice, I was thinking of doing something similar. Thanks for the ideas, I will be back here.

sunny_nites said:

Excellent build!

I made a few copper and brass lights maybe a year or two back and still use them frequently

The copper is a great heat sync and the size of pipe available just begs to be used for lights.

Click to expand...

can you post some photos of them? I love home made lights.

Hjm

Gotta give props to this!

HandyJoeMann - Don't want to hijack the tread, I'll send you a link to your inbox.

ChibiM said:

yeah.. the polishing looks very nice! just wanting to know how long it keeps that shiny finish.. ? days? weeks? months?

Click to expand...

If you want to keep the light on display, Tuff Glide, a firearm coating/lube, will work. I have had it on a silver item kept out, and no tarnish on it for at least two years now.

However, once you handle it the product will start to wear off.

sunny_nites said:

HandyJoeMann - Don't want to hijack the tread, I'll send you a link to your inbox.

Click to expand...

Did you send the link? If so, I did not receive it.

My apologies, I did send it but don't see it in my sent list. Not sure what happened.

Hopefully I won't offend the OP:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?380919-Home-made-lights


I'll probably make a new post in a week or so. Working on a XM-L version in the same form factor, just waiting on the 3.7 amp mosfets.

i want one! how much for one? this is beyond my skills, hence why i'm asking....

Looking great, OP! Thanks for the pics.