Bi-Exotic 10180 Flashlight Build Completed (Mokume Gane / Brazilian Rosewood)

Joined
Feb 7, 2014
Messages
746
This is my most recent build based on the previous 10180 prototype introduced a few weeks ago (You can see it HERE). I always loved the look and feel of exotic woods, so why not incorporating into a flashlight. It turned out to be one of the most challenging builds I've done so far. What turn out to be the most challenging part was, machining down the board to a very thin sleeve. To be exact, about 0.015 or 1/64" thin. Besides creating a small sleeve, I faced an other problem to solve. The remaining thickness on the body didn't allow me to create threads as other sleeved lights, so after completing the main body, it was cut and the two parts machined to become a slip fit onto each other. Once this done, the rosewood sleeve was pulled on the body, and the two pieces were soldered back together from the inside. In all it took about 40 hours to make this light, not counting the finish on the wood sleeve, which I re-did 4 times over the course of 8 days, until I was completely happy with the results. It has a great feel in the hand due to the organic material used. An other interesting fact is, that all parts were cut and machined in sequence with the right orientation, so I was able to line up the front three patterns completely, as it was a single piece (The other lights will be machined in sequence as well, but I can't guarantee, the pattern lining up, as it was way too much hassle to do. There will be a "standard" Mokume Gane version of the 10180 flashlight, which will look very similar to the brass prototype. As far as this build, I will make a batch of 10 pieces of these ( I will post more details in a little bit, to explain how to get on the list. These are fully hand built by me so for each piece built there will be a 2-3 weeks lead time. Let me know, what you think:)

For high resolution and additional photos, see my Flickr. album HERE

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This is the exact piece of board, the sleeve was machined out of.

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For a comparison of the thickness, the white piece on the sleeve, is a piece of a standard business card.

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Last edited:
Joined
Feb 7, 2014
Messages
746
Thank You all for the kind words! I'm always thinking about new materials / designs to use, and I have a few surprises in the next couple of months...Thank you for your continuos support, it makes all the effort and hard work worthwhile:)
 
Joined
Sep 26, 2014
Messages
737
George, you are always full of some pretty fantastic surprises....I just need the secret code word to get on the 1 of 10 list....shhhh....I won't tell anyone...lol
 

Offgridled

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 4, 2016
Messages
5,544
Location
Southern California
I live the look of purple heart, once this board runs out, I'll look at some other exotic wood. Thank you, for the compliments:)


Thanks:)
Yes purple heart is beautiful indeed. Im in the hardwood flooring business and have really nice pieces of wood laying around to play with. If your in Southern California area I'd be more than happy to share:)
 
Joined
Feb 7, 2014
Messages
746
Yes purple heart is beautiful indeed. Im in the hardwood flooring business and have really nice pieces of wood laying around to play with. If your in Southern California area I'd be more than happy to share:)

I appreciate the offer, I might take you up on it...I love working with wood as well !:)
 
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