Dorcy AAA Mod+Pics

I was practicing on removal of anodizing and decided to try a cheaper light first. I was suprised at how well this turned out and I like the new look very much.
I later tried it on an Infinity Ultra modded with a luxeon and had more good results. I used lye and tap water and it took about 2 minutes to strip the color off.
The Dorcy was is one of my mods that I used a spare tail cap for a bezel and the stock reflector was sanded down a little to fit. It has also had the LED replaced with an un-cut MJ LED and the beam was much improved as a result. All in all this is a cool little light and I have very little cost in it....enjoy.

Lookin' Goood.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Do you do that with the LED still in there?

good question, ACMarina, I was wondering the same thing. Does the lye eat plastic lenses and/or o-rings too?

Have you tried Mothers Aluminum polish? They can really add shine to your lighs, I bought mine at Wall Mart for under 5 bucks.

I removed the anodizing after I had removed all the other parts and then dipped it in the solution. After dipping I replace all the parts.
I have became pretty good at removing the reflectors without any damage and I just sand a little off the sides until it will fit inside the tail cap section. The slots that hold the board need to be made a little longer however this takes about 1 minute to do. Once done the board fits inside just like it would normally except it sits a little lower. I then remove the button from a donor tail cap and slide the reflector inside. The tail cap now acts as a bezel and can be screwed down tightly fitting the reflector inside.
I have better results if I lightly rough up the reflector surface with some steel wool and paint it silver. This makes a smooth beam with a more flood like appearance.
I may try to get some pics up later with the entire light taken apart but it is really an easy mod to do. The only negative is that you have to have 2 lights to make one since you use the tail cap of one as a bezel.
I have never tried any good polish however do plan on using my dremel and something to get that mirror look. Personally I kind of like the brushed aluminum or a satin look rather than a mirror finish.
I have about 10 of these little Dorcy lights now and each one now uses the tail cap bezels. I like the thinner profile and the lenghth remains the same.
cgpeanut I have used Mothers Polish when I used to detail cars several years past. You are correct as this stuff is incredible and I may try it on a few of these.
Anyway thought I would share my little creation with you all and thanks for looking.
On a side note the MJ LED mod is an incredible improvement to this cheap little host and I plan to do all of mine with the MJ as soon as I can get an order up.

I did just try some polishing stuff called Met-All however it did not work very well. I am thinking of using a Dremel tool and some polishing bits.
Can anyone give any suggestions on what type of bit or even what type of polishing compound I should use with a Dremel?

You know what would be cool, a bare AL QIII. .

ACMarina believe me I have thought that very thought also. Now that I see this is not very difficult I have began to think of many other lights I would like with this look.
I practiced removing the anodizing on these cheaper lights so I could learn how to do my more costly lights without fear of destroying them.
I have 4 Arc LS lights and each one is very valuable to me. I am now actually thinking I would really like to try this look on one of them. I still do not have enough courage as of yet however I am sure I will try this some time later.
Can anyone say if the anodozing on the Infinity Ultra is the same as what is on the ARC LS lights?

If I could find some Lye I'd do this with my QIII. It'd be sweet!

Robo, the Infinity's have Type II Ano, Arc LS is HAIII. I've thought looooooong and hard about stripping the ano off my LS, but it's "my baby" and I haven't gathered enough courage to do it. I did strip the ano off a 123 twisty. I followed PEU's instructions on how to strip HAII. As usual, I goofed up somehow at the beginning, but my posts will prevent you from making the same mistakes. Overall, I'd go for a more concentrated solution and less stripping time. It takes less than 5 minutes.

ACMarina, if you can't find lye, send me the parts and I can try to do it for you (just pay for shipping both ways).

Incidentally, I use finer grit sand paper and Flitz polish for the final shine. I do all this by hand. It takes much, much longer, but I realized that the Dremel polishing compound leaves scuff marks. I actually use Dremel polishing compound with the regular (cone-shaped) felt tips before I sand with 1500-grit. After the 1500 grit comes the toothpaste, and then the Flitz. .. "bad-a$$ mirror finish", anyone? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif The downside is that the finish gets scratched easily.

A little trick that I tried with a light was to get it as polished as posible (OK, OK, mirror finish). I then rubbed some Dremel polishing compound on the surface, using circular motions. This scratches the light ever so lightly. Then I do the final polish with Flitz to bring up the shine even more. The circular marks will hide any scuff marks (unless they're serious).

I always thought the Ultra had the type III anodozing. Was it only the Infinity Ultra-G that had type III anodozing?
Also where can I get some of that Flitz stuff?
Also I was thinking of using my Dremel however if it does make it to have scuffs I will try it by hand.
I am still not sure about trying my ARC LS however every thread I see that shows one polished makes me really want to....they do look incredible.

Yup, it's the Ultra-G that has HAIII.
I found a *small* tube of Flitz at my local Ace hardware.

Hmmm, I wonder if I can get lye from the pool supply store. They generally get all kinds of chemical stuff for us. .

[ QUOTE ]
Robocop said:
I have became pretty good at removing the reflectors without any damage

[/ QUOTE ]
tell me how! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Nemul it is actually very easy and takes me about 15 seconds to do it as I have practiced long and hard.
I use a c-type clamp with the screw down part as leverage. I have a socket that fits the outside diameter of the bezel however the inside part will just clear the lip. I put the reflector end on top of the socket and place a smaller socket inside the bezel.
I then tighten the screw until it becomes secure enough to barely move and center it with my fingers. If you do it correct a few turns of the handle will simply pop the reflector out from the front. This method causes no damage to the reflector nor the bezel.
I will try to get some pics up later tonight and some sizes on the sockets.

Nemul I just put up another seperate post on how to remove the reflector only....see my other posts in the home made section

checking now!