Luxeon star + reflector?

I know this is an old question, but, I have to ask it.

Will I be able to obtain a very tight focus if I use a maglite D ,or minimag reflector with a Luxeon star? (the reflectors of course must be cut somehow.) Does having the Luxeon on a raised platform compulsory?

Thanks for your input.
(is this the right forum?)

ee,
The Mag D with the stock reflector throws a very, very tight beam(cut off the tube on the bottom) My 2D Mag that runs a madmax+ wide open into an R2H Luxeon Star is setup that way. I used an Elektrolumens flat heatsink (the old thinner style with the screw holes) just make sure to sand off the coating on the inside of the tube so it can be forced in.
Up close, there is the traditional Mag hole in the beam but about 2 meters out, it turns into a tight hotspot. I cut off the tube and sanded the reflector down until it looked like this from the side: \/ The reflector should just touch the star board with the head screwed down.
I screwed down the star with thermal epoxy between it and the heat sink and let dry. Then remove the screws as they get in the way of the reflector. The wires that solder to the pad will get in the way also, just take a hammer and flatten the wire so not to add height. It works very well for me and throws out 100-150 meters with the R2H running around 800-900mA at 3.6 volts (~3watts)

I've seen Bentheadtx's R2H mag and it throws real far. A very tight beam. With a MM+ H vf, it should be pulling about 1.1 amps.

It probably out throws my L1-PR-T 917. hmmm.. I'd like to do a side by side test. BHtx are you coming up on labor day weekend to the central USA gathering in Tulsa? You might win the furthest throw contest?

Mag D/C reflectors throw far with luxeons. You can use an emitter (HD) 1w or 5W and a flat heatsink with no raised pedistal and get plenty of focus range. After you cut the back of the cam off of the reflector, (don't enlarge the hole) sand the back side of the reflector (again, don't enlarge the hole or remove any reflective surface). The trick is to sand the thickness of the plastic reflector down thinner so it screws down farther and thus the reflective part is lowered more before bottoming out.

I've done this on both 1w and 5W mods and it allows not only the tightest focus but if you screw all the way it actaully widens out again some, so you know you have the tightest focus with just sanding method.

EDIT: This is with new style D mags. I don't know about the new C mags, but the older C mags the head doesn't screw down anywhere near far enough, so you do have to use a pedistal to raise it. And with the new D's you can actually recess the heatsink quite a bit far into the body. I did this so the head would have most all of it's threads engaged and not screwed out far, so it wounldn't wobble.

Wow! It is so cool that your answers were PERFECT! Thank you guys. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

BentHeadTX said that he used thermal epoxy to stick the star to the heatsink. Since the aluminum of the star is already insulated from the LED power contacts, do I really have to use thermal epoxy to do the sticking or can I use something that is electrically conductive? Any suggestions?(thermal epoxy isn't available here) Would flat head screws still prevent the reflector from reaching its ideal position?
Thanks.

Thanks anyway guys. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif