WIP: Tungsten Flashlight

[PhotonFanatic]

Re: Tungsten Flashlight, or something else?

I don't know how to describe those pictures....it looks....delicious

You must like some weird foods--it looks like a dull gray piece of metal to me. :devil:

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Re: Tungsten Flashlight, or something else?

A little more progress, after a lot of work and learning.

One thing any machinist should know is that it takes a while to learn how to machine a metal that one hasn't worked on before. Sure, you can read the books for speed and feed recommendations, but until you've spent some time cutting a particular metal, you really can't be 100% sure that you are going to do it right. So practice makes perfect, eventually. Unfortunately, since I don't have any more Tungsten to play with and learn, I have to learn while trying to make a light. :shakehead

And it didn't take long to realize that I really didn't know how to part off Tungsten:

That was perhaps only another try away from going drastically wrong--too much chatter, the material pulls the cutting edge into itself, and, voila, the tool broke. Thank goodness it broke, rather than having the piece climb over the tool and thoroughly ruin the piece.

So, what was the answer--adjust the tool height, slow down the RPMs, increase of decrease the feed rate? Hell if I know--I just got out a different, stronger tool bit and proceeded with a very soft touch as I fed the tool into the material. I'll have to figure out the right settings and procedure when I get some more Tungsten to play with.

In any event, this was a most welcome sight:

Head of the light on the right and the battery tube still in the four-jaw chuck.

Then I had to bore out the battery tube, close to the diameter needed for the battery, but primarily so that I can get an expandable collet in the battery tube, to allow me to machine the squares on the OD.

Boring out the battery tube--just about done.

The next few days will be spent cutting the squares in both the head and the battery tube. How do I know it will take days? Simple--it took me one and a half hours just to do the axial cuts in the head of the light--but that's only to half the eventual depth of cut. At that rate, each piece would take 6 hours for just the machining of the squares.

However, I do think that machining the circumferential grooves won't take as long--a good part of the metal will already have been removed--still, they will certainly take a while.

Go ahead and count them--27 grooves, to save you some time. That's half way to the final depth of cut.

 

[Mattaus]

Re: Tungsten Flashlight, or something else?

Forgive my ignorance, and maybe I missed it somewhere, but why only half depth cuts? Preserve the cutting tool? Stop the tool from gouging?

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Re: Tungsten Flashlight, or something else?

Forgive my ignorance, and maybe I missed it somewhere, but why only half depth cuts? Preserve the cutting tool? Stop the tool from gouging?

Hey, Matt--I don't think I'd ever consider you to be ignorant. :devil:

Cutting to the full depth of cut, which in this case would be 0.70mm would put too much of a load on the cutting tool, which most likely would lead to a lot of heat and a much shortened life for the cutting edges.

Plus, it's just the way I prefer to machine--never too much of anything at once--light cuts, moderate speeds, etc.

 

[Mattaus]

Re: Tungsten Flashlight, or something else?

I guess when you have nothing to experiment with it pays to be careful. Ah patience....I could learn a thing or too haha.

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Re: Tungsten Flashlight, or something else?

Did I say that I didn't think Tungsten would not be shiny??

I must say that the more I work with Tungsten, the more I like it.

Now that the head has been decorate, I hope to start work on the battery tube on Monday.

 

[Mattaus]

Re: Tungsten Flashlight, or something else?

Does this roll easily? Or does the pattern act as a sort of anti-roll? I guess because it's so small it'll roll easily enough with a gentle nudge.

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Re: Tungsten Flashlight, or something else?

Yup, it does roll easily and makes a nice sound while doing so.

 

[KuanR]

Re: Tungsten Flashlight, or something else?

DELICIOUS looking. It reminds me of a Ferrero Rocher or Almond Roca :laughing:

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Re: Tungsten Flashlight, or something else?

More akin to Toblerone; although their pyramid isn't perfectly square.

 

[High Lander]

Awesome work, really.

I have a tungsten wedding ring, beautiful material the way it polarizes between chrome and black depending on how the light catches it. Virtually scratch proof too.

 

[awenta]

DELICIOUS looking. It reminds me of a Ferrero Rocher or Almond Roca :laughing:

More food references! :beer:

 

[jch79]

oo:

 

[Marcus53]

Hi people
I have been following your thread with much interest and was disapointed to reach the end. I hope there is a lot more to come as I am in the process of building my first flashlight. Excited about creating some swarf on yhe lathe and mill.
Cheers
Marcus53

 

[fl0t]

The head picture looks so good Im not sure if it is a rendering or the real thing

 

[PhotonFanatic]

The head picture looks so good Im not sure if it is a rendering or the real thing

That's the real thing--it's just the lighting that makes it look so even.

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Hi people
I have been following your thread with much interest and was disapointed to reach the end. I hope there is a lot more to come as I am in the process of building my first flashlight. Excited about creating some swarf on yhe lathe and mill.
Cheers
Marcus53

Oh, we are not done with the build yet. I had another job so up that needed my attention--I'll get back to this soon.

 

[DBCstm]

I don't know how to say what needs to be said without expletives.

Fred. Genious, sheer fn genious.

Dale

 

[Trave11er]

Yes, light, light!

Subscribed !!!

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Re: Yes, light, light!

Now that I had a little time to devote to the Tungsten Mule, here are the photos showing the work on the battery tube.

I have already bored out the interior so that I could insert an expandable collet. Then I worked on the threads. After those were done, the squares needed to be milled into the OD of the battery tube. Here I'm cutting the circumferential grooves along the bottom of the battery tube.

Then, the 27 axial grooves needed to be milled as well. This is really time consuming, but if you want the design, then you pay the price. :devil:

Also, by taking repeated passes along the grooves, it results in a much smoother, and therefore, shinier surface.

At this stage, both pieces have been threaded and milled. The remaining work will be to bore out the battery tube for the right size for the CR2 battery and to make the mule LE.

And screwed together--it's pretty obvious where they join in this photo, but when I'm done with the tweaking, that seam will practically disappear.

One thing that delighted me today was discovering that the threads cut in this Tungsten are really nice and smooth--no roughness at all. I may not even bother to lap them, that's how smooth they are. And I attribute that to the material, not my threading.