Fraz Labs Mechanical Flashlights (formerly QTC Non-Battery Crush)

[ledbetter]

Thanks Fraz, received Tiny Nugget today and am very impressed.Machining and design is top notch and though I'm not sure what led I got(guessing xpl or sst), the beam looks good at about 5k+? Might look into swapping a warmer led in the future just to experiment with optics of this little beast, but it's a nice neutral tint. And the wood box is a very nice touch! Will give it a thorough test tonite, thanks again.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Thank you TheFraz for taking the time to answer all these questions.
So good to hear about a 26650 Lumenite in the (hopefully) near future. As mentioned before, I will send you funds when you are ready. Still hoping for an anodized not dyed black body (silver is nice) that can take a protected 26650 (I can send you an Orbtronic.com battery if that would help). Yes a protected battery adds complexity but the battery can be replaced if it fails. There is concern with an emitter getting too hot for too long and lowering its life cycle but a protected battery wouldn't help with that, only a prudent user could. Ideally protected and bare cell could be used if possible?

The other request is that you can use an LED that has very good color rendering without distracting colors in the corona, etc. The Samsung 4000-5000K LH351D is my current choice but if it needs to be that Nichia E21a, hopefully that will be ok. Our application will be as an area table light (ceiling bounced) in our off grid house, used every night.

How do you like to be paid? I would also like to purchase a spare QTC if you are willing.

 

[thermal guy]

Well just got mine in and really couldn't be happier. Honestly I don't think I could break this " and true story I did break an anvil in the army". I'm testing my tiny tank out with a primary 123 just to see how it works and on full power at 1 1/2 hours it's brighter then my 4L's on 3 primaries. Especially in the hotspot area. Got a sick one so any outside testing will have to wait. But guys these things are fantastic.

 

[bigburly912]

I may honestly get a whole set. Heck I'd like a AA version. Dang it Fraz, I quit buying flashlights besides an occasional Malkoff drop in, what have you done?

 

[thermal guy]

Ya this guy ain't going to be good for my wallet. I can see that already 😁

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Sent payment last nite for a 18650 Lumenite, can't wait!

 

[Coyote302]

I would like a Lumenite 18650 and a Tiny Tank. Both with a high CRI emitter around 4000 K with a smooth, floody beam if possible. Please let me know if you need anything else from me.

... The Tiny Nugget series typically use smaller battery options and have a smaller/less throwy optic while the Lumenites offer 18650 and 21700 sizes (soon 26650 hopefully).

Should be much shorter now. If at the very bottom of the list, I hope to get it covered by 1 month or less. Probably sooner than that. And if it is one that people haven't requested (like a Tiny Nugget 18650), it will be a week or two.

I would like to change my order from a Lumenite 18650 and a Tiny tank to a Tiny Nugget in each 18650 and 18350 to get a floodier optic, get mine faster, and possibly get lights to others faster.

 

[thermal guy]

They are floody beams on them. Very useful for getting around.

 

[Johnnyh]

Got mine in today, a Tiny Nugget 18650. This thing is a beast of a light...in a good way. Nothing delicate about it, industrial strength! The QTC/Piston works smoothly and accurately as well. The machining is precise and silver anodizing looks fantastic but the real beautiful part is the dead-nuts simplicity of it's design, construction and operation. (Not to mention it's extreme value!)
Fraz, if you ask me, you should get some kind of award for excellence in industrial design! I look forward to seeing what comes next!

 

[TheFraz]

Thanks Fraz, received Tiny Nugget today and am very impressed.Machining and design is top notch and though I'm not sure what led I got(guessing xpl or sst), the beam looks good at about 5k+? Might look into swapping a warmer led in the future just to experiment with optics of this little beast, but it's a nice neutral tint. And the wood box is a very nice touch! Will give it a thorough test tonite, thanks again.

Thank you! And the LED should be an XP-L2 I believe at 5k. I just ordered some more offerings at 4k as well....hopefully they will be in soon.

Thank you TheFraz for taking the time to answer all these questions.
So good to hear about a 26650 Lumenite in the (hopefully) near future. As mentioned before, I will send you funds when you are ready. Still hoping for an anodized not dyed black body (silver is nice) that can take a protected 26650 (I can send you an Orbtronic.com battery if that would help). Yes a protected battery adds complexity but the battery can be replaced if it fails. There is concern with an emitter getting too hot for too long and lowering its life cycle but a protected battery wouldn't help with that, only a prudent user could. Ideally protected and bare cell could be used if possible?

The other request is that you can use an LED that has very good color rendering without distracting colors in the corona, etc. The Samsung 4000-5000K LH351D is my current choice but if it needs to be that Nichia E21a, hopefully that will be ok. Our application will be as an area table light (ceiling bounced) in our off grid house, used every night.

How do you like to be paid? I would also like to purchase a spare QTC if you are willing.

Yes there are a couple engineering issues to work around with the 26650, but it will happen. And I definitely prefer the natural anodized look myself - it will probably be the only option for a while. As for the batteries, there are resistances built into the design that keeps the amperage well below nuclear levels on high discharge batteries. I like them because of the shorter stature, good bang they provide, and safe-at-low-discharge chemistry available in some of the newer cells. Also the electronics in protected cells I'm afraid would become the fail-point in some of the high-impact tests we do (although I definitely need to try that out). That being said, I will start buying some protected cells and see how well I can overlap the battery tube offerings. Or possibly make them adjustable. I'm working to acquire a bulk load of QTC now so hopefully I will be able to start selling those pills as well.

Well just got mine in and really couldn't be happier. Honestly I don't think I could break this " and true story I did break an anvil in the army". I'm testing my tiny tank out with a primary 123 just to see how it works and on full power at 1 1/2 hours it's brighter then my 4L's on 3 primaries. Especially in the hotspot area. Got a sick one so any outside testing will have to wait. But guys these things are fantastic.

Glad you like it! And I do need to test it out on 3v primaries myself. I'm sure you'll be pleased when you pop a li-ion offering in there.

I may honestly get a whole set. Heck I'd like a AA version. Dang it Fraz, I quit buying flashlights besides an occasional Malkoff drop in, what have you done?

I'm definitely not gonna complain if you collect them all

 

[TheFraz]

Sent payment last nite for a 18650 Lumenite, can't wait!

Printed the label!

I would like to change my order from a Lumenite 18650 and a Tiny tank to a Tiny Nugget in each 18650 and 18350 to get a floodier optic, get mine faster, and possibly get lights to others faster.

Done

They are floody beams on them. Very useful for getting around.

I like the combo of flood/throw in the optics in the Nugget series (they're actually the optics I used in my first offerings years ago....granted those were much larger and clunkier lights).

Got mine in today, a Tiny Nugget 18650. This thing is a beast of a light...in a good way. Nothing delicate about it, industrial strength! The QTC/Piston works smoothly and accurately as well. The machining is precise and silver anodizing looks fantastic but the real beautiful part is the dead-nuts simplicity of it's design, construction and operation. (Not to mention it's extreme value!)
Fraz, if you ask me, you should get some kind of award for excellence in industrial design! I look forward to seeing what comes next!

Thank you so much for the support . We're gonna continue to try and make it better as best we can.

 

[TheFraz]

Starting to work on updating the OP with relevant information to these most recent versions of the lights. It may take me a day or 2 to get it organized and streamlined with the proper descriptions/pics/vids.

 

[bigburly912]

Dead serious question. How would this hold up to the pressures of diving?

 

[thermal guy]

Well I'll tell you this thing is no slouch with a single primary in it. Way brighter then my 4L's and at 14 hours now still running strong. She a battery vampire for sure

 

[ma tumba]

Well I'll tell you this thing is no slouch with a single primary in it. Way brighter then my 4L's and at 14 hours now still running strong. She a battery vampire for sure

I think it depends on the Vf of a particular LED. If it is much lower that 3V then direct drive would drain a primary

 

[thermal guy]

Ya no clue what's in mine. But it's don't mind 123's

 

[bluemantra]

What kind of battery do you recommend in the Tiny Nugget 18350? Protected or unprotected?

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Sounds good, The Fraz. I am hoping you do explore protected cells. It is your decision. You have been making good decisions on this project. Perhaps a person could order a deeper tailcap if they wanted to use protected? Probably that is not cost effective, however...

 

[ledbetter]

Well I'll tell you this thing is no slouch with a single primary in it. Way brighter then my 4L's and at 14 hours now still running strong. She a battery vampire for sure

At last a practical way to drain all my mostly used up primaries. And I was waiting for Datiled to make a 3v vampire...

 

[thermal guy]

So I ran my tiny tank off of one fresh primary 123 at full power and ended the test at 24 hours. Battery was at 2.65 and output was still way more then you would need to walk around with or read. Still very bright and because of the beam shape gives a very broad beam.Pretty sure it would of kept going for quite awhile but long run test get a little boring for me anymore. So ya she runs just fine off a primary if need be.