normally i would take internal pics,but i had no idea what would work or what i was doing, and its locked in good now.
so you might get a description that you can picture in your mind.
first ya got your average everyday tri-star sync, piece of cake right?
get a modamag tristar sync, stick 3 stars down on it, and wire them parellel, run that off of a li-ion battery, and your basically done.
well there is that big hole in the center
what could sombody fit into a hole in that center?
then i was looking at how small the laser modules (that i wanted to play with) were.
the modules were about as tall as a D batttery and if i ran out of space, i had planned on driving the diode with a driver board instead.
the space after you chop off the top of the mag switch, is about the size of a D battery. there was enough room, and if i ran out, i could move the driver board, or change it. and if i still ran out of space, i could thread the mag head down less distance, and lock it in.
the laser module i picked, the top could come off, making the head end of it slightly smaller, there was no optics or even optic cover on the metal cap. it was just a hunk of brass, so there was another item i could pull if stuck on space.
the tri-star sync, was the planned heat sync for the LASER ALSO. but after i got closer to seeing what it was going to look like, and realizing where the heat of the laser is (at the diode itself) i realized there wasnt much chance of the tri-star, providing anough heat sync for continuous operation.
the laser would have been poking out the end, and the optics or reflectors would have to be hacked up. and 1/3 off an optic is bad news.
so i go to the machine shop and ordered up a copper donut @, this would transfer the heat from the laser right at the diode section, to the body of the flashlight. the first one came back, and it was nowhere near tight enough. it only had to be tight enough to be able to use a thermal epoxy, but this was sloppy.
it was then back to the machine shop to get them to comprehend the PURPOSE of the hunk of copper they made. IF i was going to toss out the first donut heat sink, then i would have to design it better, after testing i knew more what would FIT.
so i designed the heatsync with High-Walls. like |_ _| the base you see there would be wide enough to hit the entire diode section of the laser module. and the high walls would increase the thermal transfer to the flashlight body.
The owner of the shop then understood what was going on, and made it so tight it has an orgasm when you stick it in the first time
I mounted the laser module, and adjusted its height by eye, measuring a bit here and there.
the tri-sync HOLE (in the center) which looks quite big wasnt near as big as it would need to be. so i carved it out with a 1/2" drill bit, then had to hand bandsaw each of the stars syncs that would go in, leaving about 2/3rds of thier star.
i had to carefully check each star to make sure that i didnt short out the pcb copper to the base of the star.
then the tri-star just drops right over the laser . . . in my dreams it did
after i got done using dremel and hand round file, i got the tri-star sink to drop over it.
____ <tristar
. || laser module
-- -- copper sync
o o o momentary switches
.|O| original mag switch
that left one issue that (if you try this) you should really know. the laser modules are positive grounded. that means the annodizing (stops electical conduction) comes in really handy.
the copper laser sync AND the hole in the tri-star sync, could not be electrically conductive. yet somehow it had to transfer the heat.
i precoated the copper sink on the high walls (slow transfer over large area), and gapped the tri-star hole , and coated it, so it would not touch.
finally everything fit together, and the laser height was ok for being just under the edge of the optics.
i mixed up lots of J&B weld, and potted the laser driver board & laser into the copper sync, prayed a few times , and stuck it down there, sinking the resister for the laser, and the luxes into the potting material (hopefully)
Tested it before the glue dried, it (of course ) didnt work. so i lifted it tried to get the glue back out, without getting it ON everything , re soldered, re-aranged, slipped the glue back in (cleaned the glue off the emitter domes while i still could ) and that time it all worked.
pulled the wires up through holes that were put in each sink (back in step 147) and repeated step 130 a few more times (the praying) .
after it was all dry and both of the main componets were operational, i made UV 5mm led rings, byt bending leggs in the same direction, rounding them a bit and soldering them. which fried them from to much heat, so i repeated that again, and still got 3 of them to hot.
once the UV LED ring was done and shaped into the hole, i put the plastic reflection in. the plastic reflection is privacy mirror 97% reflective stuff, its totally non conductive on one side. i punch holes in it with a hole punch, this also lifts the 6* optics just a BIT on top of the emitters, putting them in focus.
the plastic reflection would keep the base of the UV leds from electical conduction.
then i tie it to the wire that was left for that connection.
dropped in a UCL glass, and turned on the laser, and realized that UCL is nowhere NEAR clear enough. so i carved up a scratch free plexiglass lens, and put a hole in the center, that sucked too. so i had to hand polish the original garbage plastic mag cover, and drill a hole in the center of it for the laser. this is another problem, the thing can get crud into the lasers colameter lens, because it isnt totally sealed.