Boring service for Surefire and other aluminum or titanium lights
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precisionworks
Flashaholic
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
Reaming the bore is the next to last step, followed by honing. Reaming assures perfect straightness, sizing & leaves the best as-machined finish. Here are a few of the many that I use:
The spiral flute reamer is used for titanium. The helical flutes help move chips out of the bore & also requires less feed pressure. Works poorly on aluminum as the tool wants to chatter.
The short body straight flute was my go to reamer for aluminum until an engineer suggested the long body reamer. The long body leaves a much nicer finish because the entire length of the bore is supported. Either one is a poor choice for titanium because feed pressure is high & chips pack into the flutes.
Reaming, like most other machining operations, is done with the tool flooded with oil.
Reaming the bore is the next to last step, followed by honing. Reaming assures perfect straightness, sizing & leaves the best as-machined finish. Here are a few of the many that I use:
The spiral flute reamer is used for titanium. The helical flutes help move chips out of the bore & also requires less feed pressure. Works poorly on aluminum as the tool wants to chatter.
The short body straight flute was my go to reamer for aluminum until an engineer suggested the long body reamer. The long body leaves a much nicer finish because the entire length of the bore is supported. Either one is a poor choice for titanium because feed pressure is high & chips pack into the flutes.
Reaming, like most other machining operations, is done with the tool flooded with oil.
precisionworks
Flashaholic
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
Worth noting ...
The P2X Fury works with almost any 18650. The 3400 mAh cells (button top) are very long & you may need to cut down the tailcap spring.
The P3X Fury works with 2x18500 without any issues I'm aware of.
The P3X Fury may or may not work with 2x18650. The 18650 cell, especially newer button tops, run quite a bit longer than "standard" 65 mm. 2x18650 may end up long enough that there's no room for the tailcap spring to compress & that keeps the tailcap from fully seating. Unless the TC is fully seated the light will not work. Sometimes changing TC's is necessary & sometimes running a flat top ahead of a button top is needed. But ... sometimes the Fury will not run 2x18650 with any combination of the above.
As long as you plan to run 2x18500 the light should function well. If you absolutely have to run 2x18650 you may want to look at a light that is purpose built for those cells.
Image above is a P3X Fury bored with head attached. End of bore is 1mm above the PCB. Spring on PCB is 2mm tall so there's more than enough room for even a flat top cell to contact the head spring. I cannot bore the tube deeper than this.
Worth noting ...
The P2X Fury works with almost any 18650. The 3400 mAh cells (button top) are very long & you may need to cut down the tailcap spring.
The P3X Fury works with 2x18500 without any issues I'm aware of.
The P3X Fury may or may not work with 2x18650. The 18650 cell, especially newer button tops, run quite a bit longer than "standard" 65 mm. 2x18650 may end up long enough that there's no room for the tailcap spring to compress & that keeps the tailcap from fully seating. Unless the TC is fully seated the light will not work. Sometimes changing TC's is necessary & sometimes running a flat top ahead of a button top is needed. But ... sometimes the Fury will not run 2x18650 with any combination of the above.
As long as you plan to run 2x18500 the light should function well. If you absolutely have to run 2x18650 you may want to look at a light that is purpose built for those cells.
Image above is a P3X Fury bored with head attached. End of bore is 1mm above the PCB. Spring on PCB is 2mm tall so there's more than enough room for even a flat top cell to contact the head spring. I cannot bore the tube deeper than this.
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knucklehead726
Newly Enlightened
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Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
Taking the head off is not diffdifficult
Taking the head off is not diffdifficult
knucklehead726
Newly Enlightened
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- Aug 4, 2015
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Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
All it takes is a little effort. In fact, Barry has a FURY body of mine right now. Should be back soon. I sent him 9p for boring last Thursday and I received it in todays (Wed.) mail. Beautiful work. Put in two aw imr 18500s and a Solarforce M3S head. Perfect.
All it takes is a little effort. In fact, Barry has a FURY body of mine right now. Should be back soon. I sent him 9p for boring last Thursday and I received it in todays (Wed.) mail. Beautiful work. Put in two aw imr 18500s and a Solarforce M3S head. Perfect.
DellSuperman
Flashlight Enthusiast
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
My Z3 should be on the way there.
Can't wait! Haha..
Barry's work have been top notch for me all these while.
My Z3 should be on the way there.
Can't wait! Haha..
Barry's work have been top notch for me all these while.
precisionworks
Flashaholic
Thank you both for your kind words.
Something to consider for the E-series & L-series 2-cell lights is 2x18350. For a long time I passed right by the 18350 because of the lower mAh rating but the newer ones are incredible, especially the AW800 mAh cell.
Available directly from AW or from authorized resellers, the 800 has a max discharge of 15C. This means:
So 15 x .800 = 12 A max discharge. For a high current drop in this battery is worth considering. They also work well in single cell high drain lights like the Jeff Hanko Twisted Trident:
Something to consider for the E-series & L-series 2-cell lights is 2x18350. For a long time I passed right by the 18350 because of the lower mAh rating but the newer ones are incredible, especially the AW800 mAh cell.
Available directly from AW or from authorized resellers, the 800 has a max discharge of 15C. This means:
So 15 x .800 = 12 A max discharge. For a high current drop in this battery is worth considering. They also work well in single cell high drain lights like the Jeff Hanko Twisted Trident:
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precisionworks
Flashaholic
A Ti McClickie 1x123 Pak & a Mac's Ti EDC arrived - both will be opened up for an AW18350 cell. Something to note:
At this point you may be thinking "who cares, I just want to run an 18mm cell". The reason for discussing this is that I use different tooling to machine different size bores.
Lights that will run 1x18350 are final reamed to .721" (18.31mm). AW18650 800 mAh protected cells fit perfectly, at least the ones I have in the shop. Cells vary in diameter so please send your batteries when you send in your light.
E-series lights that will use 1x18650 are reamed to .729" (18.52mm). No 3400 mAh cell will fit but many 3100/2900/etc. will work.
Full size lights are reamed to .750" (19.05mm) & all current production cells will fit.
If you have a particular dimension in mind please let me know. The dimensions listed are those for which I have tooling. Boring to a different dimension usually means purchasing a specialty reamer & that can add $100 or more to the cost of the work.
- The McClickie Pak (& all the McGizmo "E-series" lights which include the Mule, SunDrop, Haiku and Makai) use Surefire E-series threading & O-rings at the head. The McClickie Pak measures exactly the same O-ring diameter as all SF E-eries - .750" (19.05mm).
- Mac makes his bodies using different dimensions. Mac's lights run .770" (19.56mm)
- Surefire 1" lights (6P/C2/Fury/etc.) measure .775" (19.69mm)
At this point you may be thinking "who cares, I just want to run an 18mm cell". The reason for discussing this is that I use different tooling to machine different size bores.
Lights that will run 1x18350 are final reamed to .721" (18.31mm). AW18650 800 mAh protected cells fit perfectly, at least the ones I have in the shop. Cells vary in diameter so please send your batteries when you send in your light.
E-series lights that will use 1x18650 are reamed to .729" (18.52mm). No 3400 mAh cell will fit but many 3100/2900/etc. will work.
Full size lights are reamed to .750" (19.05mm) & all current production cells will fit.
If you have a particular dimension in mind please let me know. The dimensions listed are those for which I have tooling. Boring to a different dimension usually means purchasing a specialty reamer & that can add $100 or more to the cost of the work.
precisionworks
Flashaholic
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
Santa came early this year & dropped off a custom ground Lexington USA reamer. Spiral flute, long carbide, special back taper, yada yada. It works very well. First image shows an AW18350 (800 mAh) seated in a McGizmo Ti Clickie Pak:
End view of Ti Clickie Pak:
Mac's Customs Ti EDC:
Total time in boring these two lights is three hours. My anxiety level is through the roof when boring custom lights & I don't relax until they're finished. But ... no bore compares to titanium in finished appearance.
Santa came early this year & dropped off a custom ground Lexington USA reamer. Spiral flute, long carbide, special back taper, yada yada. It works very well. First image shows an AW18350 (800 mAh) seated in a McGizmo Ti Clickie Pak:
End view of Ti Clickie Pak:
Mac's Customs Ti EDC:
Total time in boring these two lights is three hours. My anxiety level is through the roof when boring custom lights & I don't relax until they're finished. But ... no bore compares to titanium in finished appearance.
tobrien
Flashlight Enthusiast
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
you are a master of your trade
you are a master of your trade
precisionworks
Flashaholic
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
Thank you for your kind words Tucker.
Thank you for your kind words Tucker.
precisionworks
Flashaholic
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
I forgot to mention that my tool grinding shop (who sources the reamer blanks from Lexington) does work for Boeing, McDonnell Douglass, Lockheed-Martin, and a few companies they cannot mention. They know how to special grind tools for titanium work.
I forgot to mention that my tool grinding shop (who sources the reamer blanks from Lexington) does work for Boeing, McDonnell Douglass, Lockheed-Martin, and a few companies they cannot mention. They know how to special grind tools for titanium work.
precisionworks
Flashaholic
Just a note ... if you want something special please ask & I'll try my best to deliver. Some examples:
- Leave the forward "battery stop" in full size Surefire lights (6P/9P/C2/etc.) My standard procedure is to bore a straight cylinder as some drop ins sit up high when the lip is left. BUT there is no additional charge if you want the stop left in the tube.
- Different bore sizing:
- E1, Ti Clickie Pack, Mac's EDC, & other 1-cell small body lights are bored 18.31 mm (.721") so that an AW18350 800 mAh cell will just fit. There's no extra charge to bore 18.49 mm (.728")
- 6P, M2, C2 & other full size lights are bored 19.05 mm (.750") so all 18650 cells will fit. No extra charge if you want 18.90 mm (.744") or 18.75 mm (.738")
- 9P & P3X (running 2x18500) have a better battery fit using the 18.90 mm or 18.75 mm sizing. No charge for any of the sizes listed as I have reamers for each of those diameters. Non standard sizing requires a custom ground reamer & those add $175 or more to the normal boring charge. Please inquire if you want exact pricing on a non standard size.
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KuanR
Flashlight Enthusiast
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
I'm very interested in getting another McGizmo now that you can fit an 18350 cell. Great work, Barry!
I'm very interested in getting another McGizmo now that you can fit an 18350 cell. Great work, Barry!
precisionworks
Flashaholic
Thank you for your kind words Ryan.
Thin walled titanium tubes present a challenge to all machine shops & there are quite a few shops that refuse to machine Ti. I started machining custom Ti lights (McGizmo, Mac's, etc.) & production Ti lights (V10R Ti, Eagletac Ti, etc.) with a limited knowledge base. My machining setup is always rock solid but off the shelf tooling works poorly. Everything changed when I found a tool grinding shop that has decades of experience making tooling for military & aerospace applications. The shop owner said "We'll make your tooling like that made for Boeing Aircraft". What a relief to use tools that cut well & produce a nice finish. A little pricey at $175 per reamer but well worth the money.
18350 opens up a world of possibilities. I have a Jeff Hanko Twisted Trident that makes about 1,000 lm & a Nitecore EC11 that's rated for 900 lm. The small (1xCR123) lights have huge potential when bored for 18350.
Currently running 10 days turnaround. Some a little faster, others a little slower but figure on two weeks max AFTER it arrives at my shop. As always, my schedule can change quickly & turnaround times may be not as fast.
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Tactical Buck
Newly Enlightened
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Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
Barry - is it possible to bore out a 6z or does the thinner diameter middle section create an issue? Thanks!
Barry - is it possible to bore out a 6z or does the thinner diameter middle section create an issue? Thanks!
precisionworks
Flashaholic
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
They are more difficult to bore than a 6P since greater care has to be exercised during the boring and reaming operations. Cost is $63 + return shipping.
They are more difficult to bore than a 6P since greater care has to be exercised during the boring and reaming operations. Cost is $63 + return shipping.
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
Have you bored any of the Malkoff MDC series bodies? They're E series compatible and I thought the single cell body bored for a 18350 would be a nice fit for a high output E series head.
Have you bored any of the Malkoff MDC series bodies? They're E series compatible and I thought the single cell body bored for a 18350 would be a nice fit for a high output E series head.
precisionworks
Flashaholic
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
I've not bored an MDC body & tried to reach Gene by telephone to confirm dimensions. But they're out of the office til next Monday
As long as the O-ring groove runs about .750" (19.05 mm) nominal measurement the body should bore like any other E1 body. There could be something unanticipated & I cannot state with 100% certainty until the light is in my hand.
I've not bored an MDC body & tried to reach Gene by telephone to confirm dimensions. But they're out of the office til next Monday
As long as the O-ring groove runs about .750" (19.05 mm) nominal measurement the body should bore like any other E1 body. There could be something unanticipated & I cannot state with 100% certainty until the light is in my hand.
Re: Boring service for Surefire® and other aluminum or titanium lights
O-ring groove is 19.06mm or .7505". I have a 2 cell body coming my way when they return to the office on Monday so I'll be in touch.
I've not bored an MDC body & tried to reach Gene by telephone to confirm dimensions. But they're out of the office til next Monday
As long as the O-ring groove runs about .750" (19.05 mm) nominal measurement the body should bore like any other E1 body. There could be something unanticipated & I cannot state with 100% certainty until the light is in my hand.
O-ring groove is 19.06mm or .7505". I have a 2 cell body coming my way when they return to the office on Monday so I'll be in touch.
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