500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos) - Work In Progress - Part 2

[the_guy_with_no_name]

What are realistic expectations? Not to put anyone down, but w5 has been waiting for quite some time now and some new projects seem to advance faster than torp.
How is the situation with chargers now? I can still wait for the torp, no problems, but charger would be nice

Hi Andde,

Thank you for your message and absolutely no problem with asking

I did have a 7month development blank until early August whilst I was waiting on a very delayed batch of HF-R. Due to having a large amount of money paid upfront, I was unable to do much in terms of R&D spending so I worked on what I could design-wise that required little budget.

Once the HF-R batch came in (along with some orders) the Torpedo and Zeus PCB new versions were both ordered. They took a little time but are both assembled and ready and currently in testing (there's a photo perhaps one page back). After initial basic tests, they are due to land in the hands of my electrical engineer/designer very soon (...hours) for a first full functional test.

Keeping my fingers crossed and breath held for those.
Each revision ends up costing a few thousand dollars at the minimum so I'm hoping more than anyone this works out.

Other new products... I always have several things going on at a time, at various statuses. Some never get announced, some have been in-progress since before the Torpedo, some are just waiting in line for enough money to fund, but these days I am trying to ensure anything new is well and truly near completion and far beyond the "maybe" stage before I make mention of it, which may make add to making it look like it's a sudden something new.

Ti Chargers, I do have a few available still.
Best to mail me directly as if I put them in-stock before you see this, they may sell out.

Thanks so much for posting :thumbsup:

Tgwnn

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Update:

Just a quick update...
The new Torpedo X2 PCB did arrive at my engineers facility on time.

He assembled it and sent me a few quick photos, hoping to have some test results later in the week.


Below: The Torpedo X2 PCB assembled (4 PCBs all connected)

Below: The Torpedo X2 PCB assembled (another view)

Below: The Torpedo X2 PCB assembled (yet another view)
Most of the components are actually mounted on the rectangular PCBs.

Below: The Torpedo X2 PCB with the Zeus PCB
The Zeus PCB is 17mm diameter for comparison.

Below: The Torpedo X2 PCB with the Zeus PCB, another view

Looking forward to sharing more as soon as I have news.

:bow:

Tgwnn

 

[gunga]

Wow! That is nuts! Hurry up and put it on a stainless or ti host. Then TAKE MY MONEY!

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Wow! That is nuts! Hurry up and put it on a stainless or ti host. Then TAKE MY MONEY!

Thanks gunga

When it finally works, I think I'll paint it gold and make the SSN #001 in gold as a Trophy to go on display in the MBI Museum 25 years from now

Tgwnn

 

[Newguy2012]

@PCB X2 update

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

@PCB X2 update

LOL, thanks Newguy2012 :bow:

The placement & connection is very elegant, now I just pray it works as desired.

Tgwnn

 

[calipsoii]

Good lord Guy, both of those driver assemblies are nuts. Any performance charts to tease us with?

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Good lord Guy, both of those driver assemblies are nuts. Any performance charts to tease us with?

Hi calipsoii,

Thanks for posting

None just yet. First step is going to be the most basic of functional tests (keeping my fingers crossed)

Once we clear that stage, I hope to do some more checks on performance though I do have a reasonable idea of what to expect based on previous versions and the boosters being used. Perhaps one interesting (maybe obvious) thing to note is good (great) heatsinking of the LED can dramatically improve performance at a fixed current or voltage.

Tgwnn

 

[NowIC]

@PCB X2 update

Well said Newguy.

 

[easilyled]

That Torpedo board looks like it has artificial intelligence!!

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Well said Newguy.

Thanks NowIC :thumbsup:

That Torpedo board looks like it has artificial intelligence!!

hehe, thanks easilyled
ti's quite an assembly.

I'm still on a prayer vigil until the results are in :bow:

Tgwnn

 

[nilfire77]

Am I too late in the game? lol... pls put me up for one!!!!!!

Edit: Ok, subscribed!

 

[Zoinks!]

Any progress updates for us Guy?

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Am I too late in the game? lol... pls put me up for one!!!!!!

Edit: Ok, subscribed!

Hi nilfire77,
Never too late, thanks and welcome

Any progress updates for us Guy?

Hi Zoinks!

Thanks for the post.
Not yet.

The PCB protos are with my engineer (who like me is working on this in his spare time).
He's been working through checking the Zeus PCB (almost done there) and next up will be the Torpedo.
It's more efficient for him to do one at a time as the set up for each is slightly different.

I'm politely hounding him often though so hoping it's not too much longer.

I'll post an update as soon as I have news and if it's even modestly good, perhaps a video too :thumbsup:

Tgwnn

 

[Cataract]

I recently watched a documentary on Japanese craftsmanship, more precisely "building without nails".
The end point is that going WITH nature rather than going against nature makes for much better builds that last a whole lot longer. Everything is made in a way that takes a lot of time, but the end result is at the same time very precise and also has some defects that remind us of the organic side of things and the passage of time. Very interesting stuff, and here is the link in case you are willing to watch it (25 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMtSc2MJLcw

Kinda reminds me of how the torpedo is taking so long to build to respond to precise demands...

 

[kaichu dento]

I recently watched a documentary on Japanese craftsmanship, more precisely "building without nails".
The end point is that going WITH nature rather than going against nature makes for much better builds that last a whole lot longer. Everything is made in a way that takes a lot of time, but the end result is at the same time very precise and also has some defects that remind us of the organic side of things and the passage of time. Very interesting stuff, and here is the link in case you are willing to watch it (25 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMtSc2MJLcw

Kinda reminds me of how the torpedo is taking so long to build to respond to precise demands...

It's really interesting to watch a new house being built because even though they may look a lot like our houses here when done, they are tremendously different when you''re looking at the framing.

That happens to be part of Match Box Industries flashlight modeling, Japanese house framing structure.

 

[Cataract]

It's really interesting to watch a new house being built because even though they may look a lot like our houses here when done, they are tremendously different when you''re looking at the framing.

That happens to be part of Match Box Industries flashlight modeling, Japanese house framing structure.

Great point, except the houses I personally watched being built live in my neighborhoods both when I was about 8 years old and, much more recently, when I was 38 had definitely nothing to support them to be able to last over 20-30 years of age. The housing complex I watched being built when I was 8 took well over 36 months to complete and was on an old school yard. When I visited the building I now live in, they had just razed the field behind the complex. 2 months later there were houses there. In the swamp fields I used to go snowshoeing in after my latest move, one winter they plowed through the trees and next summer there was a bunch of new streets and a housing complex. I know exactly which houses stand on the swamp and why that artificial lake stands in the middle.... I love the area, but let's just say I know which houses never to buy.

In the end, the main point here is that we are now in the 4.5th year into the making of the torp (yep, reality check, August 2011 was the start of all this!!!) and it only means Guy is extremely dedicated to making real marksmanship of this light. Perhaps it does mean he aimed higher than technology allowed at the time, but we all know it is possible... it's just that some machine shops need to be driven something hard enough up the wazoo to keep with the needed qualityh level required for this piece of art...

So, yea, you're right: the new houses may look a lot like ours while being built, but have nothing to do with ours in the end... amd so will the torpedo. Today's houses are often a downward mix of technology, while the torpedo is a big push forward (BIG, BIG grin, speaking of which, I am still waiting for the blueprints on the torpedo launcher so I can pre-install a retro-fit holder on the top of my car....)

 

[FeebleOldMan]

Does anyone happen to have a picture of a Torpedo with its pocket clip attached? Nothing relevant seems to be showing up on Google.

As a side note, I just saw the Thing-O link on tgwnn's signature and couldn't help but pre-order while waiting for the Torpedo to be released!

 

[Heywood Floyd]

Does anyone happen to have a picture of a Torpedo with its pocket clip attached? Nothing relevant seems to be showing up on Google.

As a side note, I just saw the Thing-O link on tgwnn's signature and couldn't help but pre-order while waiting for the Torpedo to be released!

I'm currently using my Torpedo X with a its clip installed, albeit with some shrink-wrap to firm up mounting and protect the black ano.
The clip works very well as is. The only improvement for piece of mind and aesthetics would be attachment by fasteners rather than clip.
FWIW, here are some pics ...

 

[KDM]

Nice pictures, really looking forward to this light!