WIP: Tungsten Flashlight

[S1LVA]

Re: Yes, light, light!

My jaw is on ths floor....

Very nice work.

Andrew

 

[Trave11er]

Re: Yes, light, light!

Looking good, Fred! Amazing how shiny tungsten is... ! Question is if there will be any form of oxidation or otherwise over time... . But I'm sure your did your homework!

 

[dc38]

Re: Yes, light, light!

My jaw is on ths floor....

Very nice work.

Andrew

Speaking of floor...DROP TESTS!!!!!

 

[DBCstm]

Re: Yes, light, light!

This kind of design and precision application makes for a cult following. That's beautiful Fred. Just as we've come to expect from everything you do.

Dale

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Tungsten Mule WIP

I have no idea how the Tungsten will oxidize, but given the normal use as a flashlight, I don't think the appearance will change much at all.

As for a floor test--I don't want to hurt my floor. :devil:

 

[Zandar]

Another fantastic light. Perhaps we should honor Fred with a "cult" of his own! We could name it " Photon's Fanactics". It would be the world's first cult devoted exclusively to the worship of one man's visionary quest to rid the world of boring lights. After we are offically recognized by our divine authority (FRED) we can begin the process of organizing our group. We willll need officers and a board of directors to plan out our agenda which at the very least needs to include a national PhotonFanatic holiday and several international conventions where we can meet and show off our love for Fred and his amazing lights in an atmosphere free of scorn and ridicule by nonbelievers.O K, so maybe some of us do drool a little when we see one of Fred's creations and some of our lot have been seen carrying our lights around like they were our first born children But really were just sane ordinary people who have a slight "addiction" to flashlights in general and to PhotonFanatic lighs in particular.That's O K right?

 

[nbp]

I'm in!! Just need a PF light at some point. :thinking:

I need to do less and more

 

[dolphincry]

WOW!!! Simply amazing sir!

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Finally done with the Tungsten Mule--learned a lot doing it, too. I actually think that Tungsten would be a great material if the walls of a twisty light were designed to be as thin as possible--the material is really strong, looks great, if you like gray and machines easily. Only problem is that the stuff isn't cheap--in fact, it cost considerably more than Ti does.

For the front of the light, I decided that a Delrin piece would be used to hide the ugly wires that would otherwise show in a mule build:

And this is how it looks when on low:

Some beamshots:

Taken as the light was lying on a piece of white paper on high setting.

And standing, also on high. The beam is very diffuse and pleasant, at least to my eye.

Completed light on high. The mini FLuPIC has three levels of output, one of which is user-settable.

Completed light and the final picture. :devil:

The light is 21mm in diameter and 46mm long and weighs 3.5 ounces.

 

[Mattaus]

Amazing.

 

[KuanR]

I really like the color of Tungsten. What is it's material strength compared to ti, which is stronger?

 

[archimedes]

Is it for sale ... ???

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Is it for sale ... ???

It has been offered for sale to those on my opt-in e-mail list. They get a 24-hour window to decide, before I put it up on CPF.

If you want to join the Spec Build Opi-In E-mail List, just send me an e-mail, please.

EDIT: The light was sold for $800, just for the record. :devil:

 

[PhotonFanatic]

I really like the color of Tungsten. What is it's material strength compared to ti, which is stronger?

Oh, I imagine you can find all sort of answers for that one, depending on where and how it might be used, i.e., in aerospace, say, where Ti is certainly dominant. And then there will be some confusion between tungsten carbide and other tungsten alloys, not to mention that Ti also has many differing alloys.

For all practical purposes, speaking of it's use in a flashlight, I don't think there is much material difference between the two--at least in terms of durability. Certainly, Ti offers a builder the chance to easily use colors, which, alas, W does not.

 

[DBCstm]

Truly a beautiful piece Fred. And I'd bet it's capable of giving a wicked foot massage!

Well done, incomparable work of art.

 

[KuanR]

Oops I should have worded myself better. I meant to ask exactly what you said, in terms of flashlight edc (god forbide it gets dropped or rides in the same pocket as other items) which would hold up better. I have a feeling the tungsten will actually hold up better

 

[Mattaus]

I am busy watching the Formula One Grand Prix (which is on in Melbourne this weekend) and they were showing some parts of the cars (torsion bars, honey comb shell, carbon fiber pre and post baked etc). Coincidentally they use tungsten to add weight to, and in turn lower the center of gravity of, the cars by putting it in the floor under the drivers. It also acts to protect them given it's high strength and the fact these machines bottom out a lot.

Now the relative part - From how small the piece looked that the presenter weighed (1.5kg/3.3lb) it would seem that given an equal physical amount, tungsten is somewhat heavier than titanium. Not ideal for pocket carry but obviously it depends how big the light is at the end of the day!

Love F1 :devil:

 

[DBCstm]

Hey Matt, Tungsten is A Lot heavier than Titanium, about the same as gold which makes it 1.7 times heavier than lead!! (approx) We're talking opposite ends of the spectrum here, that little light above is right at a quarter lb., it must feel very substantial in the hand. Quite the weapon, if need be.

A quick search for the specific gravities of each yields this:

Al 2.6
Ti 4.5
SS 8.0
Cu 8.9
Au 19.3
W 19.6

So as I just found out, W is almost 5x the weight of Ti, making for some incredibly mind boggling experiences picking up a flashlight like Fred just made! Wow Fred, excellent idea and immaculate delivery!

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Tungsten is super hard and heavy and is used in Shot Gun shells in place of so called poisonous lead for waterfowl hunting. Much more expensive than lead, or steel shot. Just saw your sales email, and that light is awesome. This could be the new exotic metal for flashlights, if you're strong enough. LOL.

Bill

 

[PhotonFanatic]

Tungsten is super hard and heavy and is used in Shot Gun shells in place of so called poisonous lead for waterfowl hunting. Much more expensive than lead, or steel shot. Just saw your sales email, and that light is awesome. This could be the new exotic metal for flashlights, if you're strong enough. LOL.

Bill

I believe that if I were to make additional Tungsten flashlights, that I'd take advantage of its strength and make the walls as thin as practical, thus reducing weight as much as possbile. And, most likely in a twist version, as those are also the slimmest. I'm thinking some twisty AA-sized lights might be fairly practical.

Besides it's durability, Tungsten offers much better thermal conductivity than Ti does--something that I always worry about in a Ti light.