Ankor - A flashlight project with real wood detail

Hi everyone.

I'd thought I would share some pictures of a project I have been working on for a while now and it would be awesome to get some feedback.

The idea behind this project was to create a flashlight that incorporates real teak wood.

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

wow! getting into custom knife territory with the wood I like it! Numbers and beam shots please....

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

Very unique and I like them. They look rather chunky. Chunky was my first thought. Chunky in my pocket. Chunk of Light! Plans for a clip?

Curious if there would be other wood options? I can't imagine how awesome Box Elder in black would look! Or say Bacote, maybe cocobolo & silver?

Battery? CR123? 18350?

Great work. I like them.

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

I don't know if this is the right term, but you need to improve the chamfering on the tail section so that it merges nicely with the wood section.

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

greenlight said:

I don't know if this is the right term, but you need to improve the chamfering on the tail section so that it merges nicely with the wood section.

Click to expand...

This is a good comment. You could also groove the wood to match that tail for better grip (if the wood ring doesn't spin).

obi

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

Chamfered tail. To answer the question posed - my preference is black.

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

Since you asked for comments, I'd like to be honest with my opinions.

- It looks way too big and chunky to be called a "Mini LED Flashlight".

- Overall size, shape, and design does not compliment the wood accent.

- Switch location will make it awkward to operate while holding the light.

- Wood to metal transition at the rear looks unfinished and poorly executed.

- There's no flow or continuity between the front and back halves of the light.

- Change in direction between the cooling fins and wood grain is distracting.

Appreciate you sharing the project with us and I look forward to following its journey.

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

Str8stroke said:

Very unique and I like them. They look rather chunky. Chunky was my first thought. Chunky in my pocket. Chunk of Light! Plans for a clip?

Curious if there would be other wood options? I can't imagine how awesome Box Elder in black would look! Or say Bacote, maybe cocobolo & silver?

Battery? CR123? 18350?

Great work. I like them.

Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the feedback. Sorry for the late reply; it has been a big christmas/new year celebration.

I agree, they are quite chunky. It has been a real challenge to get the wooden sleeve to a thickness that is durable and maintain a sleek look at the same time. I am looking into a few ways to improve this for the next prototype. I want to make it as sleek as possible with the wood incorporated and still maintain durability.

For now, i 'll be staying with teak wood. It's strong and machines really well for the small thickness that is required. Possibility of exploring other species later down the track as I agree there would be some really awesome combinations to play with.

This runs off a 18350 rechargeable Lithium Ion. Can be charged via USB or easily removed for a separate charger.

Once again, thanks for the feedback.

Cheers! Terrence.

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

CelticCross74 said:

wow! getting into custom knife territory with the wood I like it! Numbers and beam shots please....

Click to expand...

Thanks! For now I don't have any beam shots taken, i'll provide them soon.

Light output:
High@320lm, Medium@160lm, Low@40lm.

Beam distance: 85m

Runtime: 130 minutes in High mode.

Thanks again for the feedback

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

I appreciate the comments and couldn't agree with you more. It has been a challenge getting that wood to look sleek with the tail as it's so fragile when turned down to such a thin thickness. I will be making improvements on this for the next prototype. I look forward to seeing what you think of my next design idea to make the head to tail flow a lot better

Obijuan Kenobe said:

This is a good comment. You could also groove the wood to match that tail for better grip (if the wood ring doesn't spin).

obi

Click to expand...

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

seery said:

Since you asked for comments, I'd like to be honest with my opinions.

- It looks way too big and chunky to be called a "Mini LED Flashlight".

- Overall size, shape, and design does not compliment the wood accent.

- Switch location will make it awkward to operate while holding the light.

- Wood to metal transition at the rear looks unfinished and poorly executed.

- There's no flow or continuity between the front and back halves of the light.

- Change in direction between the cooling fins and wood grain is distracting.

Appreciate you sharing the project with us and I look forward to following its journey.

Click to expand...

Nothing beats a bit of constructive criticism Thanks for the feedback and comments, I have taken them all on board and will be looking to improve on all areas in the next prototype.

One of the biggest challenges has been to incorporate the wood while maintaining a sleek continuous flow. My main design change will be to remove the antiroll within the tail section and create anti roll using either a clip or a tail ring. This will allow for a sleeker design and continuity between wood and body. Cooling fins will also be removed, because fortunately the copper heat sink and the body of the flashlight seems to provide enough thermoconduction cooling for this setup.

Looking forward to sharing the rest of the project with you.

Cheers! Terrence

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

Thanks, I fully agree. Improvements happening as we speak. It is a tough decision to remove the antiroll that caused this issue, but it seems it will be the only way to get a sleeker look. I think I will use either a clip or an antiroll ring at the rear in replacement.

Appreciate the feedback! Terrence

greenlight said:

I don't know if this is the right term, but you need to improve the chamfering on the tail section so that it merges nicely with the wood section.

Click to expand...

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

Agreed! Thanks for the feedback, next prototype with improvements is on it's way. Cheers.

nfetterly said:

Chamfered tail. To answer the question posed - my preference is black.

Click to expand...

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

What are the plans for the switch? To me it looks out of place where it's at and might be better in the tailcap or with a different switch shape/design.

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

snowlover91 said:

What are the plans for the switch? To me it looks out of place where it's at and might be better in the tailcap or with a different switch shape/design.

Click to expand...

The switch will be shifted toward the front more. Clicky tail switch cannot work with this due to some features that exist within the tail, so will need to be on the body. Thanks for the comment!

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

I am a sucker for wood. I think this type of project should be off of one or 2 AA's to maintain the smaller diameter of the battery. A tail push button would probably be better since it would need to be longer and thinner to incorporate the wood itself. A 18650 diameter body, but using AA's might be where the ticket is considering the wood needs to be a specific thickness. Iono, I have never designed a light before, but a thinner battery and thicker overall body might be necessary.

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

Thanks for the comment. For this design I'll be sticking with the 18350, due to performance and functional benefits. The switch still needs to be on the body due to some constraints in the tail. Some changes in the new design should create a much sleeker look. I'm aiming to have some designs real soon and will share them with everyone to get opinions

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

Thanks for the comment. For this design I'll be sticking with the 18350, due to performance and functional benefits. The switch still needs to be on the body due to some constraints in the tail. Some changes in the new design should create a much sleeker look. I'm aiming to have some designs real soon and will share them with everyone to get opinions

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

GrainOfLight said:

Thanks for the comment. For this design I'll be sticking with the 18350, due to performance and functional benefits. The switch still needs to be on the body due to some constraints in the tail. Some changes in the new design should create a much sleeker look. I'm aiming to have some designs real soon and will share them with everyone to get opinions

Click to expand...

Charming idea. Looks like a real honest to goodness cigar light. Nice n stubby like 1930's gangsters smoked.

Like it. Like it a lot!! The black one would be my pick. But the silver aint bad at all.

Question:
Any way to have the switch color same/similar to the body? Or is the blue to show at a glance it's an Ankor?

I don't hate that anti-roll at all. Definitely a novel look.
Clips? Nah, don't do it. Round lights are cool. Especially the high end type like yours.

Many times radical tends to draw smirks.
20 years later folks realize how awesome it was.

Re: Ankor - A new practical and beautiful mini LED flashlight

Thanks, I really appreciate your remarks. You're right, it does have a bit of a gangster cigar to it, I never saw it that way. I can see Al Capone whipping one of these out to check that his liquor storage is safe and sound.

To answer your question about the switch, I would really prefer a black colour, but I made the switch so that it illuminates when the battery level gets low and also indicates when the battery is fully charged when connected to the USB charger (red/green).

Although the current design does have it's unique features, I have decided to refine the design to give a more sleek appeal. As for the clip/anti-roll, I am still in thought process on this and could eliminate it altogether to allow for a much more refined and smooth design.

Once again, cheers for your feedback! Stay tuned for the new design :thumbsup:

bykfixer said:

Charming idea. Looks like a real honest to goodness cigar light. Nice n stubby like 1930's gangsters smoked.

Like it. Like it a lot!! The black one would be my pick. But the silver aint bad at all.

Question:
Any way to have the switch color same/similar to the body? Or is the blue to show at a glance it's an Ankor?

I don't hate that anti-roll at all. Definitely a novel look.
Clips? Nah, don't do it. Round lights are cool. Especially the high end type like yours.

Many times radical tends to draw smirks.
20 years later folks realize how awesome it was.

Click to expand...