# McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED's are AAAA powered



## McGizmo (Jan 18, 2003)

*McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

With the use of a MicroPuck™, I was able to visit an idea that has been festering for quite some time:







MORE INFO 

This was one of my biggest challenges so far and the 64- bar stock of titanium I used had other ideas with some cutting tools loosing the battle on occasion.

From bench testing, I expect the LED's will be seeing a current flow ranging from 10 to 25 mA's depending on the state of the battery. These Nichia 312's are not being driven at the levels typically seen in this size of a flashlight but still provide a good level of flood for close tasks at hand. I have no idea how effective or efficient the driver is in this configuration. When the LED's get too dim, I will replace the battery. 

The switching path I have chosen seems to be very sound and I have noticed that if I back off a partial turn from on, a side load exerted by the thumb on the head of the light provides for a clean, momentary on condition. From on to an all condition off position, the O-ring remains completely within the head of the light so immersion of the flashlight should prove to be no problem what so ever.

I am glad that this light turned out to be a success as I certainly wouldn't want to have to duplicate it with the material and tools I currently have.

- Don


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## yclo (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

What!? No lens!?!?



















-YC


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## Darell (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Don - I couldn't have that ugly "TM" ruin your beautiful post, so I fixed it for you. No charge, as usual.



> wouldn't want to have to duplicate it with the material and tools I currently have.


<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">What you meant to say here was "with the tools I currently have *left*, right?





Why nobody else has done this with an AAA or AA battery and a proper driver (oh, and in Al for us more modest spenders) is beyond me. This perfectly demonstrates how 3 3mm LEDS can fit easily in that small diameter.

Well done, my friend.


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## Sigman (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Man I do respect talent...sure wish I could figure out what mine was!





Nice job!


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## [email protected] (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*


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## James S (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

But you could do a whole production run in aluminium right? I can pick that up in the morning right?


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## Sigman (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Ooops forgot...*"PayPal sent!"*


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## Peter Atwood (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

I am so jealous! I wish I had the electronic know how to build this kind of stuff. Not to mention a lathe.....You have the unique opportunity now to do some really fun cosmetic stuff here. Rainbow anodizing, anodized filework, selective bead blasting. The sky is the limit with titanium. How about a McLux in Ti?


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## Rothrandir (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*



> Originally posted by McGizmo:
> *I certainly wouldn't want to have to duplicate...*


<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">that's just to bad don...i'll be expecting a "the mcti has landed!" thread shortly.


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## McGizmo (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*



> Originally posted by Peter Atwood:
> *,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,How about a McLux in Ti?
> 
> 
> ...


<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Peter, I'm in line behind you!



There is that dang thermal issue though! I wonder just how bad it would be; probably bad





- Don


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## LongThrow (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Ahhhh, the perfect keychain light




When are they going to become available? If they do become available, will they come in Titanium or Aluminum? Wish I had a lathe laying around myself.


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## Icebreak (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Freakin' aliens.



Gotta love 'em.


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## Darell (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Jeff is staring to turn into Bart's side-kick.


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## [email protected] (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*





*WELCOME...



*


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## yclo (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Say... can you turn Al with a wood lathe?


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## Mr Ted Bear (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Don
5G's


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## Rothrandir (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

are those grooves in the head to add surface area for heat dissipation?





is there a reason you chose not to do anything to make it grippier? cosmetics i assume?


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## McGizmo (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Rothrandir,

I put the three grooves in there so I'd know how many LED's were in the head.





Actually with three O-rings retained in the grooves, the head has a very good grip and nice tactile feel. The barell has a very reasonable wall thickness and could easily have longitudinal mill cuts for grip or looks or both. Given the tenasity of this particular piece of metal along with a desire to keep it simple and clean, I let the function speak for itself. As Peter mentioned above, Ti is a great canvas for color and textures. I even refrained from bead blasting any of this; just left the dull satin from emery cloth followed by 3m fine grit skotch brite.

- Don

EDIT: Jeff,


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## Saaby (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Oy! Time to start saving...and I haven't even recivered from the McLux I haven't purchased yet!

Eh...on second thought I guess my AAA will do for now...I guess...for now


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## Darell (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*



> Originally posted by McGizmo:
> *The barell has ....*


<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'm happy to see that forcing you to spell my name correctly for all these months has effected other areas of your life...


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## yclo (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

LOL!


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## McGizmo (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

YC,
I bellieve it's LOLL but I could be wrong. I've had an L of a time llately with my spelink. Maybe I should just post pixtures?

- Don


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## Kirk (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

McGizmo,
Very impressive, as per usual with you. I've got a drill and a hammer and have a hard time using them sometimes, then you show us things like this! Man you gots some talent!
Kirk


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## MR Bulk (Jan 18, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

All this time I'm thinking it was XT5-sized, till I finally stopped being lazy and clicked on yore site. Wow that thing is tiny! So this MicroPuck regulator must be miniscule. Nice work Don, as always!


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## ab (Jan 19, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

This is beautiful. Seriously. 

A.

p.s. - In fact I whipped up something tonight in tribute: McTi meet McHappy!

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=001105


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## Kiessling (Jan 19, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

I suppose you would't want it to leave your hands even for an *appropriate* offer?

aahh ... I think I may faint.

There is definitely something moving here on CPF, it is getting more and more professional ... a real delight!

thanx Don !!

bernhard


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## Charles Bradshaw (Jan 19, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Yet another fine McGizmo creation. As usual, worthy of the Smithsonian or Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art.


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## Rooster (Jan 19, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Boy, that is a sweet device! If it ever needed a home...



Is 6-4 titanium short for 6Al-4V? Beautiful work!


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## Josh (Jan 19, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Don, all this needs is a Ti clip from halperntitanium.com for 3 bucks per clip or 10 for 25.


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## MicroE (Jan 19, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Of course you can now anodize the Ti into any color that you like.....

By the way, thanks, Don. Now I have to go out and buy a couple of rods of Titanium!

Great Job!!---Marc


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## Deviant (Jan 19, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Don,

wow! is all i can say





btw do you need special tools to work on Ti? Or the tools that are used on steel and Al will do?


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## brightnorm (Jan 19, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Don,

So elegant and simple, a creation of geniuine beauty.

Brightnorm


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## McGizmo (Jan 20, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Thanks everyone!





,

You don't need special tools although there are certain carbide inserts which will work better than others. The tools need to be sharp and the most important issue is that of thermal relief. Ti will keep all of the heat being generated from the cutting localized and this heat can build up to temperatures that will destroy the cutting tools! I melted a cobalt bit once trying to bore into Ti without using a coolant! Keep it cool and it machines like stainless steel alloys. Let it get hot and forget it!

- Don

Oh yeah, the tail groove in the light also allows for the light to be held by the cell phone belt clips as shown below:


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## [email protected] (Jan 20, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*




:drewl:






....


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## Deviant (Jan 20, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

I'm speechless





all i can think now is

functionality + elegance = McTi


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## LongThrow (Jan 20, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Don,
Wouldn't it be easier (and less expensive) to use 3/2.5 Ti instead of 6/4? I understand that 3/2.5 is not as stiff as 6/4 but is more flexible and easier to machine. 
With ARC AAA LE's going for $40 a pop (if you can find them) would $80 for the McTi be reasonable? If you decide to build the 3 LED AAAA sign me up for one! Oh yeah, if the 7 LED AA model comes out, I want one of those too! (The AA model will replace the Batonlight) Life is good.


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## McGizmo (Jan 20, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

LongThrow,

I have only had experience turning CP (grade 2) Ti and 6-4. Both of these in an annealed state have been reasonable to work with. The particular piece of bar stock I used here had a ground finish and it may be that it was in a harder condition; I don't recall where I got this metal and much of what I have is surplus or drops so I'm not certain of the alloy's condition. To my knowledge CP (comercially pure) Ti is the most prevalent and is strong enough for flashlight bodies. The 6-4 can be heat treated to bring the tensile yields up to 160 to 180K PSI! Now that would be a silly overkill for this application!








- Don


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## JollyRoger (Jan 20, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*



> Originally posted by darell:
> * </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by McGizmo:
> [q]The barell has ....*


<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'm happy to see that forcing you to spell my name correctly for all these months has *effected* other areas of your life...



[/q]</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Hmmm....


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## revolvergeek (Jan 21, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Wow, a truely amazing little lite!!


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## WaltH (Jan 21, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

I need one of these. How much would you charge if you were to sell them?


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## LongThrow (Jan 21, 2003)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

McGizmo,
CP Ti would work for me, this is a short reply so I won't waste your time reading as you can use it to build one or two (hundred)


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## Coup de Grace (Nov 22, 2012)

*Re: McTi : Titanium Pocket FlashLight - 3 LED\'s are AAAA powered*

Just ran into this thread researching titanium flashlights.
At 9 years old, still a really cool light!
Worthy bump of some Mcgizmo history.


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