Hello,
I hope somebody is still following. I might need advice soon.
This is
the build
I will post pictures as soon as I am allowed. Until then, download them.
(*Thanks to WalterK you can actually view the pictures now)
Pic.1 20 AWG wire (only pink colour found, I coloured the edge with a pen in order to distinguish - from +), 0.10 Euro (5 meters)
Pic.2 Thermal shrinking tubes, two sizes, 0.20 Euro
Pic.3,4,5 The aluminum body. Made from 7075 aluminium alloy, weighs 18 gramms ?? Euro (I guess around 40)
Pic.6 Thermal paste. I will use it to hold the led star in place (not glue it, just hold it), 1 Euro
Pic.7 I bought a 8 battery holder and 8 rechargeable energizers batteries (2000 mAH) for 25 Euro
Pic. 8 Luxeon drive buckpuck 700mA with external pot, 20 Euro, the leads were already tinned (it helped a lot)
Pic.9 I mounted the led on a heatsink (from an old laptop) to test it. I realized the paste actually held it to place even if I turned it up side down and hit it with my hand (NICE!!)
Pic.10 The led worked fine, as expected
Pic.11 Now for the difficult part. I cut two pieces of 1.5 m wire, I passed it through the holes at the bottom of the body and I soldered the into place. Then I put some paste on the back of the star, I pulled the wires back, I pushed the star to remove excess paste, I used a q-tip to remove the excess. Finally, i threaded the wire through the heat shrinking tube and pushed the edge of the tube so that it would hold the star in place. I used a bunschen burner to shrink the tube.
Pic. 12 The led star in place
Pic. 13ab I check it before putting the lens in
Pic. 14 The carclo 8.9 degree optic with round 20mm holder, 1 Euro
Pic. 15 Fraen 9 degree optic with holder, 1 Euro
Pic. 16 I placed the Carclo optic in place, beam from 500mm (not the best shot, I know)
Pic. 17 Fraen optic
I used Pattafix (2 Euro) to secure the optic in the body. There was a tiny margin so I just used pattafix around the holder and then pushed the optic until it got into position. This secured the star as well. It was so good I could not get it out easily.
Pic. 18 I bought this external battery (13 Euro) (5v usb supply, 1800 mA, charge indicator). The white card is credit card size. I will use a luxeon minipuck (2009) to power the led via usb (I will strip the usb wire and solder it on a switch). I will check this option before finalizing any connection (I have not soldered any wires, except from the ones on the led).
Pic. 19 A quick connection for the wire.
There is more to come.
Please post your opinion.
Thanks