# MY 10 CREES MAKITA LIGHT



## glockboy (Mar 22, 2007)

This is my 10 Crees Makita light and my U2 (WWOS).
Running 1.8 amp, last about 40 minutes.
Make my car HID headlight look like a minimag.


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## skalomax (Mar 22, 2007)

Your U2 looks crazy!

How did you do that?

Dont tell me thats Titanium :naughty:

Hows the beam pattern on that Beast?
Throwy?


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## paulr (Mar 22, 2007)

Wow. Is that thing fan cooled?


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## Trashman (Mar 22, 2007)

Wow, that is one of the best home-built lights I've ever seen on CPF. Great job! Group buy!


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## DaFABRICATA (Mar 22, 2007)

THAT IS BAD-***!!!!
Great job!!! 
Looks like nothing I've ever seen before!, and thats a good thing!!!
Specs? How much power the LEDs getting? What reflectors? Does it get HOT!!!
MORE BEAMSHOTS!!!!..........outside in the darkness if possible!


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## kevinm (Mar 22, 2007)

Nice! Now it needs some fur and spikes and a metal boomarang launcher!

Kevin


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## glockboy (Mar 22, 2007)

skalomax said:


> Your U2 looks crazy!
> 
> How did you do that?
> 
> ...


That's my beat up EDC U2, just take the HA off and polish it.
The beam is 10 McR-17XR, will take beam shot outside.



paulr said:


> Wow. Is that thing fan cooled?


Yes it's fan cooled, the head is too hot to touch after one minutes if no fan.



Trashman said:


> Wow, that is one of the best home-built lights I've ever seen on CPF. Great job! Group buy!


Thank you, but no group buy.



DaFABRICATA said:


> THAT IS BAD-***!!!!
> Great job!!!
> Looks like nothing I've ever seen before!, and thats a good thing!!!
> Specs? How much power the LEDs getting? What reflectors? Does it get HOT!!!
> MORE BEAMSHOTS!!!!..........outside in the darkness if possible!



Thank you.
When the battey fully charge, it draw 2 amp, 1.8 amp after that.
10 McR-17XR refectors.
It's does get very hot about one minutes, that's why it's fan cooled.



kevinm said:


> Nice! Now it needs some fur and spikes and a metal boomarang launcher!
> 
> Kevin


thinking about it.


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## jar3ds (Mar 22, 2007)

that is awesome! Thanks for sharing.... what a beast!


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## Lunal_Tic (Mar 22, 2007)

This is seriously slick. :thumbsup: How about more on the build details. What kind of heat sink, fan, etc. We need beam shots! 

-LT


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## benighted (Mar 22, 2007)

That is the best light ever. I want one.


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## glockboy (Mar 22, 2007)

Beam shot, camerra set at M, speed 5, F 5.6 
50 yards to the wall.




U2 can't reach the wall so




10 Crees at low




At high




U2 left, 10 Crees low right




U2 left, 10 Crees high right





Still no group buy.


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## light_emitting_dude (Mar 22, 2007)

Nice.....hope you didn't blind your dog!


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## aljsk8 (Mar 22, 2007)

*wow*


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## cmacclel (Mar 22, 2007)

Great work!

I have one of Georges Big drivers and was going to do a 10 cree with XR27's but haven't found a suitable host.

I like your handle!

Mac


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## eebowler (Mar 22, 2007)

Glockboy, congrats on creating a bada$$ light! :bow:


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## orb (Mar 22, 2007)

Very Smart :thumbsup:


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## LowTEC (Mar 22, 2007)

poor dog must had blinded for a week :laughing:


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## nanotech17 (Mar 22, 2007)

ha!ha !


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## smokelaw1 (Mar 22, 2007)

OK, OK, no group buy....how much for the Prototype????!!!???

WOW! Nice work.


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## Essexman (Mar 22, 2007)

I'm suprised your poor dog didn't catch fire.
Question: How are you driving the LED's ?


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## CM (Mar 22, 2007)

It takes a lot to impress me.













I'm impressed :devil:
Nice job, that is getting me thinking now.


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## Tritium (Mar 22, 2007)

:twothumbs


Thurmond


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## TITAN1833 (Mar 22, 2007)

Sun light wow great work now when did you say you would ship this to me!!!


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## COMMANDR (Mar 22, 2007)

Super Fantastic blinding cool light. Does it have much of a recoil when you turn it on.







Gary


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## kingkong (Mar 22, 2007)

now, HID is history??


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## Ganp (Mar 22, 2007)

Great job on the build and the beamshots :rock: 


The crenelated bezel should be interesting  



Colin.


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## greenlight (Mar 22, 2007)

Here's your new avatar:





And someone needs a new sigline!!

Great hand made design, btw. The wooden handle is a nice touch.


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## matrixshaman (Mar 22, 2007)

I see the Cree ring :duck: - seriously though that is one nice Daylight maker. Looks like you put a lot of thought and work into it and got a great finished product. Very innovative custom!


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## soffiler (Mar 22, 2007)

As Essexman mentions in post #20, I too am curious about drive. I have a guess: direct drive. Two parallel strings of 5 LED's each.

He mentions 1.8 amps and neglecting whatever is going to the fan, that's about 900mA per string assuming they are pretty well balanced. Taking a SWAG at his junction temperature (I'm thinking about 100C), and working the numbers from the Cree 7090 datasheet, this suggests an output of a solid 1300 lumens. That number happens to be right in line with an H7 headlight bulb.


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## DaFABRICATA (Mar 22, 2007)

UNREAL!!!! Thanks for the specs and beamshots......time to save up some more money, I am impressed!!!!


BRO!!, WHY IS EVERY CAR WHERE YOU LIVE WHITE?
(I"m a little scared of all those white ponies)

Maybe the ALL THOSE CREES FADED THE PAINT!!!

Again, Very impressive design and execution!!!  :rock:


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## Strauss (Mar 22, 2007)

:rock: :rock: Wicked creation! That damn thing is BRIGHT!


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## MSaxatilus (Mar 22, 2007)

> BRO!!, WHY IS EVERY CAR WHERE YOU LIVE WHITE?


 
That is freaking hysterical..... they are all white!!! :laughing:



Dude, that light is just freakin' AWESOME!!!

Nice job. That has to be one of the coolest lights I've seen in a very long time around here. Got my nod for one of the top lights of 2007 so far.

Great job.

MSax


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## bombelman (Mar 23, 2007)

MSaxatilus said:


> That is freaking hysterical..... they are all white!!! :laughing:
> MSax


The cromatic spectrum of all 10 Crees combined has all the pigment in the car coating react to the photons exiting the XR-E emitters, causing the protons to move quicker, discharging faster, which is why you see only white... (Did I just say all that cr*p ? :thinking: )

And yes, freaky it is !! 

Oh, and a *WOW* on the build !!
:rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock:


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## Alin10123 (Mar 23, 2007)

Dude! That's nuts!
I bet the dog was seeing spots for days.


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## bombelman (Mar 23, 2007)

Alin10123 said:


> Dude! That's nuts!
> I bet the dog was seeing spots for days.


That's why he did'nt move after the first pic, he could not see #^#%@&~ ! :lolsign:


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## Norm (Mar 23, 2007)

I love the industrial look.
Norm


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## glockboy (Mar 23, 2007)

light_emitting_dude said:


> Nice.....hope you didn't blind your dog!


Me and my dog alredy got brightness blind.  



cmacclel said:


> Great work!
> 
> I have one of Georges Big drivers and was going to do a 10 cree with XR27's but haven't found a suitable host.
> 
> ...


Thanks, I love yours lights too.:thumbsup:



eebowler said:


> Glockboy, congrats on creating a bada$$ light! :bow:


Thanks.



orb said:


> Very Smart :thumbsup:


Thank you.



smokelaw1 said:


> OK, OK, no group buy....how much for the Prototype????!!!???
> 
> WOW! Nice work.


Still no group buy and no prototype.:nana:



Essexman said:


> I'm suprised your poor dog didn't catch fire.
> Question: How are you driving the LED's ?


Led beam don't get hot.
Direct drive.



CM said:


> It takes a lot to impress me.
> 
> 
> I'm impressed :devil:
> Nice job, that is getting me thinking now.


Thank you very much.  



TITAN1833 said:


> Sun light wow great work now when did you say you would ship this to me!!!


Did I say that?:nana:  



COMMANDR said:


> Super Fantastic blinding cool light. Does it have much of a recoil when you turn it on.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Like a 44 Mag.  



kingkong said:


> now, HID is history??


That going to be a 20 Crees.  



Ganp said:


> Great job on the build and the beamshots :rock:
> 
> 
> The crenelated bezel should be interesting
> ...


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## wquiles (Mar 23, 2007)

Simply outstanding - :goodjob: 

Will


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## chesterqw (Mar 23, 2007)

wicked!!!!

fan cooled rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

who cares about HID... 

come on Ra.... come see the HID challenger....


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## adirondackdestroyer (Mar 23, 2007)

This light is truely incredible! You did this all by yourself? Amazing!


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## cmacclel (Mar 23, 2007)

Nice pics 

I guess you lucked out with polarity isolation on the emitters as I don't see the postive corners clipped off. 

Mac


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## soffiler (Mar 23, 2007)

cmacclel said:


> Nice pics
> 
> I guess you lucked out with polarity isolation on the emitters as I don't see the postive corners clipped off.
> 
> Mac


 
Thick layer of epoxy??


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## COMMANDR (Mar 23, 2007)

We need to find a super cool name for this awesome photon projector Cree - ation. How about "The Illuminator" , MY 10 CREES MAKITA LIGHT just does not do it justice. Awesome, Awesome, Awesome light.

Gary


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## dom (Mar 23, 2007)

How about calling it the BFG 10000
Reminds me of the gun out of Doom

What a beast!!

Cheers
Dom


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## mudman cj (Mar 23, 2007)

How about something with "Deca" in the name to pay homage to the 10 emitters? Maybe Decamakita (too hard to say?) or Decalux, or Makita Declux (sounds like deluxe) or Makita Decree (maybe my favorite).

Anyway, sweet light. That's something you can really be proud to show off!


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## havand (Mar 23, 2007)

What's that like, $150 worth of reflectors?!


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## bombelman (Mar 23, 2007)

Cree-Deckita


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## kenster (Mar 23, 2007)

cmacclel said:


> Nice pics
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
If not a thick layer of AA Epoxy a s Soffiler suggested maybe he filed off the under side of the emitters positive?



Oh, and.............






HOLLY MOLLY THAT IS ONE COOL FLASHLIGHT!



Kenster like!



Kenster WANT!




 
 
 
Ken


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## soffiler (Mar 23, 2007)

kenster said:


> If not a thick layer of AA Epoxy a s Soffiler suggested maybe he filed off the under side of the emitters positive?


 
He'd have to file off positive AND negative on 8 of them. They are in series so the ones in the middle of the string are "floating" at a voltage that's neither full input(+) nor ground.

Speaking as a mechanical engineer and a mediocre machinist myself, I am VERY impressed with the workmanship for a homebuilt.


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## missionaryman (Mar 23, 2007)

ahhh about time someone made something interesting, Mac, Modamag and Fivemega must be on strike for the last few weeks...


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## bombelman (Mar 23, 2007)

soffiler said:


> He'd have to file off positive AND negative on 8 of them. They are in series so the ones in the middle of the string are "floating" at a voltage that's neither full input(+) nor ground.


Explain please ?


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## cmacclel (Mar 23, 2007)

bombelman said:


> Explain please ?



Series...... Positive to Negative to Positve to Negative.

They all pretty much have to be Isolated.


Mac


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## soffiler (Mar 23, 2007)

bombelman said:


> Explain please ?


 
The 10 Crees are arranged as two parallel strings of five in series. A series connection means: (+) from the driver (battery, this is direct-drive) goes to the (+) on the first LED of the series, then from its (-) to the (+) of the second LED, from it's (-) to the (+) of the third LED, and so on... 

Here's another way to explain it. Assume 17.5V from the battery and 3.5Vf for each LED. First one in the series string is running from 17.5V to 14.0V, second is running from 14.0V to 10.5V, third is running from 10.5V to 7.0V, fourth is running from 7.0V to 3.5V, and finally the fifth in the string is running from 3.5V to 0V. So you see, of the five positive pads and five negative pads underneath each of the five Crees in one series string, exactly one of those pads matches the voltage of the heat sink: the negative pad of the fifth in series. So if he did file off the pads, he would have to file both the postive and the negative on eight of the ten LED's. Two of them have to have just the positive filed off.

Gee, that's harder to explain than I thought it was going to be.

I still like my thick-epoxy theory.


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## IsaacHayes (Mar 23, 2007)

Beautiful! I love the wood and metal look. Very nice. Makes me want to skip my other projects and do my cree spotlight first. I only wish I had nice materials like that to build mine. Yours is ultimate flood, mine will be ultimate throw.


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## WAVE_PARTICLE (Mar 23, 2007)

BFG would be a fitting name.

Perhaps the brightest LED-based flashlight on the planet? Great job!

The poor Surefire U2.....can't even tell it was even turned on.....:laughing: 



:rock: WP


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## kingkong (Mar 23, 2007)

glockboy, 

you are using a CPU heat sink. Thanks for the ideas. I have a bunch of CPU heat sink layout around. I might mod my 18V Dewalt...

Cuong.


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## 9volt (Mar 23, 2007)

DaFABRICATA said:


> BRO!!, WHY IS EVERY CAR WHERE YOU LIVE WHITE?
> (



Seriously, what is with the cars?


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## WhiteHot (Mar 23, 2007)

COMMANDR said:


> We need to find a super cool name for this awesome photon projector...



The Cree-mator


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## EssLight (Mar 23, 2007)

That is a sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet light!   

And very impressive workmanship.:rock: 

EssLight


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## glockboy (Mar 24, 2007)

cmacclel said:


> Nice pics
> 
> I guess you lucked out with polarity isolation on the emitters as I don't see the postive corners clipped off.
> 
> Mac


I just dremel the bottom positive and negative off, I like the cree got more heat sink and more place to solder, and it don't get short out when I put the refector on it.



dammitjim said:


> Seriously, what is with the cars?


You got me there.
Freedom of choice?  
btw-my car is white too. :naughty: 

Thanks everybody for the kind words.


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## TMorita (Mar 24, 2007)

I need one of those to signal my relatives on Alpha Centauri.

Toshi


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## Anglepoise (Mar 24, 2007)

Absolutely amazing. Great idea and execution.
Very cool.....


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## jtice (Mar 24, 2007)

I ahve seen alot of lights made out of AL plates over the years, but that one is simply outstanding.
The handle looks great, nice touch.
Very slick using those batt backs, no loose cells to worry about, or making a batt compartment.

~John


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## LED Zeppelin (Mar 24, 2007)

Way cool home brew!

I'll take a couple stabs at a name:

- MaCreeta 10x
- Makita Creedense

and my favorite:

- MaCreeta Decadence


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## chefgrill (Mar 24, 2007)

good job, really like this light!


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## TITAN1833 (Mar 24, 2007)

"ill take it" give me your pp account. oops is this a sales thread! seriously keep up with pics then i may be able to build one myself oh a name well makitacreedence+sun light!


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## Nitroz (Mar 24, 2007)

You could name the the light, "MACREETA 1000". For 1000 lumens right. :laughing:


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## farmall (Mar 24, 2007)

This light just make me feel all tingly inside.

Great job.


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## Icebreak (Mar 24, 2007)

Excellent design. Terrific execution. Tremendous performance.

The round switch guard makes me smile like the grinning doggy.


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## TITAN1833 (Mar 24, 2007)

group buy maybe interest is here!


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## kingkong (Mar 26, 2007)

glockboy, 

you are using a CPU heat sink. Thanks for the ideas. I have a bunch of CPU heat sink layout around. I might mod my 18V Dewalt...

Cuong.


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## Strauss (Mar 26, 2007)

I like the "MaCreeta" name... good idea


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## OddOne (Mar 26, 2007)

Now you've gone and done it... You gave me some ideas...

Let the insane-numbers-of-LEDs arms race begin! :lol:

oO


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## Ken_McE (Mar 26, 2007)

greenlight said:


> The wooden handle is a nice touch.


 The wood handle is so he doesn't burn his hand.



DaFABRICATA said:


> _BRO!!, WHY IS EVERY CAR WHERE YOU LIVE WHITE?_


They are white because he is in a warm climate, Texas or something. If he leaves that light on too long they'll have to take the next step and go to white convertables (G)


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## TSWrench (Mar 26, 2007)

You could call it a "Mak-10," but then you'd have to make a holster for it.


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## Raptor# (Mar 27, 2007)

:O Nice light! Had a similar idea a while ago, using a shitload of Luxeons with water-cooling and a fan... but i guess only using a fan is a way more economic approach. 



Nitroz said:


> You could name the the light, "MACREETA 1000". For 1000 lumens right. :laughing:


Shouldn't it be alot more than 1000 lumens if it uses 10 Crees at 1,8A each?


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## Data (Mar 27, 2007)

:rock: :goodjob: 

That is a great creation!


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## jch79 (Mar 27, 2007)

Man - I missed this thread until right now - awesome job Glockboy.
I like MaCreeta 10x too - good name there!
Awesome workmanship and innovation. 

john


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## soffiler (Mar 28, 2007)

Raptor# said:


> ...Shouldn't it be alot more than 1000 lumens if it uses 10 Crees at 1,8A each?


 
It's 0.9 amps each, not 1.8 amps. Two parallel strings of 5. I did a quick calculation that came out somewhere near 1250-1300 lumens the way he's got it configured.


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## Raptor# (Mar 28, 2007)

Oops, ok.. missed the part abouth the 2 parallel strings. 
Just thought 1,8A is alot since afaik a cree driven at 2A becomes instant-toast, but with some overzealous heatsinking... maybe... not entirely impossible. :devil:


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## LED_Thrift (Mar 28, 2007)

That's some EDC glockboy! Beautiful work.


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## guiri (Mar 29, 2007)

light_emitting_dude said:


> Nice.....hope you didn't blind your dog!



The dog's been blind for years after all this testing. However, he is now also SUN TANNED 

He now looks like a black lab 

Also, he got beat up by 8 of the people staying in that motel..



George


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## Bimmerboy (Mar 30, 2007)

That is just way too awesome, glockboy. It represents, _to the extreme_, a particular aspect I love about CPF... the "home made" thing.

Man, that thing is a BEAST!! 40 minutes runtime is great too!


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## glockboy (Apr 1, 2007)

soffiler said:


> It's 0.9 amps each, not 1.8 amps. Two parallel strings of 5. I did a quick calculation that came out somewhere near 1250-1300 lumens the way he's got it configured.


I test each Cree, it's 3.52 volt @ 1 amp.
The battery 21v fully charge.
It's 1.8 amp each Cree.


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## kyazh (Apr 2, 2007)

how much does it weigh? lol awesome project!


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## soffiler (Apr 2, 2007)

glockboy said:


> I test each Cree, it's 3.52 volt @ 1 amp.
> The battery 21v fully charge.
> It's 1.8 amp each Cree.


 
_Yowch_, 1.8 amps thru each Cree!

You did state in post #1 and post #7 that it draws 1.8 amps but the way you've worded those posts, you make it sound like that is battery output.

Post #37 tells the tale to anyone with a calculator. 43 minutes runtime off a 3.0 amp-hour 18V battery. 54 watt-hours for 0.72 hours gives an average drain of about 75 watts, and giving a few watts to the fan, call it roughly 7 watts per Cree. 1.8 amps and 7 watts works out to 3.9 Vf which sounds pretty reasonable. I stand corrected.

No wonder this thing makes your HID car headlight look like a MiniMag. The Cree datasheet doesn't go anywhere near 1.8 amps so this is a pretty wild extrapolation, with another wild guess at junction temperature on top of that, but I'm getting about 1750 lumens. 

Um... I don't think you're going to get the rated 50,000 hours out of this beast!


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## KingSmono (Apr 2, 2007)

Oh man, that's the coolest things I've seen around here in a while!! Amazing job.


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## EVOeight (Apr 4, 2007)

Very nice!

If the front housing was a bit more oval shaped, and the heat sink was a little larger, you could use that for auxilary driving lights for automotive applications. I would put a pair of those on my car for sure! (off road use only of course)


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## moon lander (Apr 4, 2007)

i will give you 1 million dollars. 

call it lucifer (the light-bringer).

how much power does each led see? 900 ma?

you are my hero.


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## glockboy (Apr 4, 2007)

moon lander said:


> i will give you 1 million dollars.
> 
> call it lucifer (the light-bringer).
> 
> ...



1.8 amp each.
Still no group buy.


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## RdlyLite (Apr 4, 2007)

One question: Is it regulated? ROFL. JK. You, my friend, rule. 

Oh, and for a name, how about, MAC-10?


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## glockboy (Apr 4, 2007)

RdlyLite said:


> One question: Is it regulated? ROFL. JK. You, my friend, rule.
> 
> Oh, and for a name, how about, MAC-10?



It's direct drive.


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## RdlyLite (Apr 4, 2007)

Sorry. LOL. Me online and real world humor has passed you by. 


glockboy said:


> It's direct drive.


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## vinsanity286 (Apr 5, 2007)

Awsome light glockboy! Would it be possible to take a beam shot of your car's headlights with the same camera settings and in the same spot? I am interested in using crees for primary or auxilary auto lighting and I would like to see how them compare to modern vehicle headlights. No problem if you don't feel like doing it, but it would be much appreciated:thumbsup:


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## grayelky (Apr 6, 2007)

Mr. Glockboy (or is _Sir_ Glockboy more appropriate?):

Now you have all of CPF drooling, perhaps you could consider building a second one, and holding an *auction.* See how many will really put their dollars where their "I-want-one" is. Let the group decide what it is worth. Maybe a percentage going to the forum?

I would like to add deserving accolades for your practical application of an amazing idea. My limited vocabulary leaves me with totally inadequate words like "amazing", "WOW", "fantastic", all of which fail to give the reader a fair and accurate mental picture of the craftsmanship involved in bringing a truly imaginative idea to reality!








Thank you for sharing.


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## Jefff (Apr 6, 2007)

That is insane!
I expect we will be seeing these on shelves somewhere soon.. What a killer light


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## soffiler (Apr 6, 2007)

vinsanity286 said:


> Awsome light glockboy! Would it be possible to take a beam shot of your car's headlights with the same camera settings and in the same spot? I am interested in using crees for primary or auxilary auto lighting and I would like to see how them compare to modern vehicle headlights. No problem if you don't feel like doing it, but it would be much appreciated:thumbsup:


 
I really, really, really hope that anyone contemplating a roll-your-own automotive LED headlight comprehends the legal requirements of the beam pattern. I think a couple of Glockboy's Cree-ations on the front of an automobile have the potential to cause permanent retinal damage to oncoming eyes.


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## glockboy (Apr 6, 2007)

vinsanity286 said:


> Would it be possible to take a beam shot of your car's headlights with the same camera settings and in the same spot?


Will do, but it take some time to find a friend car that got HID headlight.



grayelkyNow you have all of CPF drooling said:


> _auction_.[/b] See how many will really put their dollars where their "I-want-one" is. Let the group decide what it is worth. Maybe a percentage going to the forum?


If I have the time to make another one.


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## vinsanity286 (Apr 6, 2007)

soffiler said:


> I really, really, really hope that anyone contemplating a roll-your-own automotive LED headlight comprehends the legal requirements of the beam pattern. I think a couple of Glockboy's Cree-ations on the front of an automobile have the potential to cause permanent retinal damage to oncoming eyes.


 
I do understand this requirement. I am interested in the light for offroad use only. 

Glock boy,do you think in the meantime you could take a shot of regular halogen headlights? As bright as your light is, it is hard to believe that it could outperform car headlights. But I want to be proven wrong on that one. 
Thanks alot!


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## EVOeight (Apr 6, 2007)

I am also interested in this for an automotive application, off road use only of course. 12.5 volts with unlimited current seems like a perfect fit. Plus, the foward motion of the vehicle would make the heat sink work well. The beam shots that you provided looked very nice to me, seemed to be bright enough for a car. My EVO has HID lights, and it looks to me like your light is brighter!
How would the Cree's need to be wired to run unregulated on 12.5 to 14 volts? Does anybody know?


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## soffiler (Apr 6, 2007)

EVOeight said:


> I am also interested in this for an automotive application, off road use only of course. 12.5 volts with unlimited current seems like a perfect fit. Plus, the foward motion of the vehicle would make the heat sink work well. The beam shots that you provided looked very nice to me, seemed to be bright enough for a car. My EVO has HID lights, and it looks to me like your light is brighter!
> How would the Cree's need to be wired to run unregulated on 12.5 to 14 volts? Does anybody know?


 
Offroad only, cool.

You probably want to study up a bit on automotive electrical systems. You should probably know, first and foremost, that it doesn't run at 12.5 volts. Unless, of course, you plan to operate the lights only when the engine is shut off (which I doubt). "12 volt" automotive systems operate around 14.4 volts.

For direct drive, run four in series.


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## glockboy (Apr 7, 2007)

vinsanity286 said:


> I do understand this requirement. I am interested in the light for offroad use only.
> 
> Glock boy,do you think in the meantime you could take a shot of regular halogen headlights? As bright as your light is, it is hard to believe that it could outperform car headlights. But I want to be proven wrong on that one.
> Thanks alot!



10 Crees compare to car headlight Sylvania silverstar 9004 st.
camerra set at M, speed 5, F 5.6 






Car headlight.





10 Crees.





and...


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## nein166 (Apr 7, 2007)

Wait did I mention OMFG


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## Meduza (Apr 7, 2007)

Is that high or low beam on the car?


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## vinsanity286 (Apr 7, 2007)

WOW I think I just crapped myself. That is awsome. Although those car headlights don't look that great, but still! They definately have the potential to be offroad lights. I think if I made a light I would have one for spot and one for flood, for better aiming of both. It looks like the hotspot is in the middle of the picture, but if you aim it up, there would not be enough close flood. 
Thanks alot Glockboy!


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## EssLight (Apr 8, 2007)

glockboy said:


> 10 Crees compare to car headlight Sylvania silverstar 9004 st.


Holy (bleeeeeeeep)!

I wonder if any automotive lighting companies are working on an LED headlight. This proves LEDs have the potential for the application.

Wait, how did a dark colored car end up in your parking lot? 
(Bottom picture, left side, fifth car back)

EssLight


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## glockboy (Apr 8, 2007)

EssLight said:


> Holy (bleeeeeeeep)!
> Wait, how did a dark colored car end up in your parking lot?
> (Bottom picture, left side, fifth car back)
> 
> EssLight



That's a "Rent a Car" the girl crashed her car last week.


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## EssLight (Apr 8, 2007)

glockboy said:


> That's a "Rent a Car" the girl crashed her car last week.


:laughing: I knew it was an anomaly!


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## COMMANDR (Apr 8, 2007)

WOW !!! No contest. The Cree 10, car headlight 0, well maybe 1 or 2, the Cree dominates. Awesome show of light. I have seen the future and it is bright. 


Gary


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## vhyper007 (Apr 8, 2007)

i wasn't worried about blinding the dog I was concerned about cooking him.
Does an led cook inside/out or outside/in?

GOSH

vhyper


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## EVOeight (Apr 9, 2007)

That is definately bright enought for use as off-road automotive auxilary driving lights! Very nice, I am inspired!


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## sysadmn (Apr 9, 2007)

soffiler said:


> Offroad only, cool.
> 
> You probably want to study up a bit on automotive electrical systems. You should probably know, first and foremost, that it doesn't run at 12.5 volts. Unless, of course, you plan to operate the lights only when the engine is shut off (which I doubt). "12 volt" automotive systems operate around 14.4 volts.
> 
> For direct drive, run four in series.



And "around" is the operant word. An automobile's electrical system is nasty - makes me nervous to leave my iPod plugged in when starting:



IEEE said:


> The voltage in a 12-V system actually ranges from about 9 V to 16 V, depending on the alternator output current, battery age and state of charge, and other factors. Loads are sized to function properly at the lowest system voltage; thus, when the voltage is higher, they draw more current than necessary. Load components therefore need to be rated for continuous operation at the highest current.
> 
> Then there is the notorious load-dump transient, a voltage spike that appears on the system when a fully loaded alternator suddenly loses its load—for example, when a charging battery is inadvertently disconnected. The voltage behind the alternator's armature reactance then suddenly shows up on the system, a 40-V, 100-ms transient if the alternator is protected by avalanche diodes, and 80 V or more if it is not. The switches and load components therefore have to be rated for temporary overvoltages at least four times the nominal system voltage.



More Here.


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## soffiler (Apr 9, 2007)

The quote from IEEE is accurate and consistent with my knowledge of automotive electrical systems; however, that description covers a rather broad range of fault conditions. 9 volts on the system will occur during cranking, but not while you're driving _normally_ down the road. 9 volts also might occur if the alternator fails and the car's electrical loads are supplied by the battery in a total-loss fashion. You won't be driving down the road like that for very long at all. At the other end, 16 volts can occur under a voltage regulator fault, but prolonged running like this will cook the electrolyte out of the battery and fry lightbulbs. And load-dump... well, sure, again I agree that the transients under load-dump are extreme, and necessary to comprehend if you are a designer of automotive electronics for mass production. But a properly running automobile, with good tight battery cables, isn't normally going to see any of the extremes. For anyone contemplating a do-it-yourself project, a well-maintained, normally-operating car is going to be seeing pretty close to 14.4 volts nearly all the time (a bit higher in cold ambients with temperature-compensated voltage regulators and likewise a bit lower in hot ambients; a bit lower also at low engine RPM with high electrical loads engaged).


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## sysadmn (Apr 10, 2007)

Agreed. I'd certainly characterized losing a battery during charging as a worst-case condition 

My point was more that we are talking about connecting a sensitive device to a power source that can supply tens of amps in milliseconds, has wide voltage swings, and is subject to extremes of temperature and humidity. If someone is going to pursue this, they might want to check out the car audio and car pc folks, who have already worried about this part of the problem. Googling "automotive electrical protection circuits" gives introductions like this. 

If you're talking about a high power LED in a dome light, sure, use a resistor; if you're talking about 20 LEDs in two aux lights, possibly 2 buck regulators, it might be worth designing-in protection. But then, I work for a company that makes jet engines - our culture is to over-engineer things.


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## soffiler (Apr 10, 2007)

sysadmin:

My responses are definitely slanted toward the DIY who's going to be building quantity one (or two) of these things for personal use. That person really should have a decent understanding of automotive electrical systems, and how they swing when things go wrong. That way, if he cares enough about protecting his DIY project, he can take steps to try to make sure things do NOT go wrong, _on his own vehicle_. And furthermore, as you point out, he can take additional steps and provide additional protection. What I was trying to avoid was a boilerplate answer that covered a whole broad spectrum of fault conditions that any designer must comprehend if they plan to mass-produce their designs and thus completely lose control of the environment where they operate.

Again - a properly running automobile will not see voltages as low as 9 nor as high as 16 nor will it see the horror of load-dump.


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## sysadmn (Apr 11, 2007)

I think we're talking past each other. If this continues we'll derail the thread. 



soffiler said:


> Again - a properly running automobile will not see voltages as low as 9 nor as high as 16 nor will it see the horror of load-dump.



Agreed. If you're building one of these, go, have fun, learn something, take pictures.


Regards, 
sysadmn


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## Robatman (May 14, 2007)

Hey Glockboy,

Seriously immpressive- so much so that i am even considering this one day!!!
I have a 14.4v makita and might just run 5 crees bonded to a CPU heatsink...

Can you please clarify what the yellow "box" is in the photo you called "bottom up", is this a resistor or the switch, i cant figure it out as you said it is DD.


I know this thread is a few weeks old but still the wildest mod i have seen!!

Robert


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## glockboy (May 15, 2007)

Robatman said:


> Hey Glockboy,
> 
> Seriously immpressive- so much so that i am even considering this one day!!!
> I have a 14.4v makita and might just run 5 crees bonded to a CPU heatsink...
> ...


The resistor is for the low beam.


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## Brozneo (May 15, 2007)

That is a fantastic light glock boy, sure it looks funny but no one will be laughing when you turn the sun on!  

Any thoughts about making a 20 CREE version?


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## ensile (May 15, 2007)

ahahah badasss..


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## RustyKnee (Jun 9, 2007)

I HAVE TO BUILD SOMETHING LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stu


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## IanJ (Jun 24, 2007)

Very nice light, Glockboy. I am curious, though, how are the reflectors held in place? Is there a piece of glass/plexi in front of them? What purpose do the black straps (giant O-rings?) serve?

How much do the reflectors weigh?

I'm pondering making my own aircraft landing light for a home-built, and your light is providing some inspiration on how it might be done. The landing light has the advantage that it'll always be sitting behind the Big Fan, so cooling is less of an issue.


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## Vickers (Jun 24, 2007)

DaFABRICATA said:


> Maybe the ALL THOSE CREES FADED THE PAINT!!!




Very cool light!!!


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## Icarus (Jun 24, 2007)

:wow: ... I didn't see this before now! ... Impressive ... :goodjob: ... :twothumbs


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## glockboy (Jun 24, 2007)

IanJ said:


> Very nice light, Glockboy. I am curious, though, how are the reflectors held in place? Is there a piece of glass/plexi in front of them? What purpose do the black straps (giant O-rings?) serve?
> 
> How much do the reflectors weigh?
> 
> I'm pondering making my own aircraft landing light for a home-built, and your light is providing some inspiration on how it might be done. The landing light has the advantage that it'll always be sitting behind the Big Fan, so cooling is less of an issue.



There is a piece of glass in front, the O ring hold the reflectors together in shape.
I don't know the weigh.


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## koala (Jun 24, 2007)

I like the wooden handle... I mean I really like the handle, the 10 reflectors, the heatsink and battery mount. The beam is unbelievable, makes whatever beast, million candlepower flashlight look dim. You should show this to Makita, maybe they will send you extra batteries. 

Super awesome build. Absolutely hardcore with a touch of industrial look. :twothumbs


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## KingGlamis (Jun 24, 2007)

Very, very cool. I think you just cost me a bunch of time and money. :laughing:


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## Outdoors Fanatic (Jul 29, 2007)

DaFABRICATA said:


> UNREAL!!!! Thanks for the specs and beamshots......time to save up some more money, I am impressed!!!!
> 
> 
> BRO!!, WHY IS EVERY CAR WHERE YOU LIVE WHITE?
> ...


LOL! I noticed that too. Maybe it's illegal to own non-white cars where he lives...


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## rmyc (Aug 2, 2007)

Where are you buying the leds? i want to build a similar setup for an ATV


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## Daekar (Aug 2, 2007)

The white cars _are_ freaky...

I want to know how that thing will perform with 10 Q5s in it. At 1.8 amps each that's what... 2500-3000 lumens? :twothumbs


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## soffiler (Aug 2, 2007)

On the white cars, take a look around Orlando or Houston or Phoenix. People in hot climates tend to buy white cars because they help reflect the sun's rays and keep the car a bit cooler. I'm not sure how effective it really is, but apparently many people believe it.


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## rmyc (Aug 2, 2007)

yeah those cars freak me out


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## glockboy (Aug 2, 2007)

rmyc said:


> Where are you buying the leds? i want to build a similar setup for an ATV



Now, you can the Q5 Crees at DX.


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## rmyc (Aug 2, 2007)

sorry i'm a newbie.. do u have a link to DX?


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## JamisonM (Aug 2, 2007)

rmyc said:


> sorry i'm a newbie.. do u have a link to DX?


I think he means "deal extreme". Just do a quick google for it and you get it as the first link. Toke me a sec to figure it out to.


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## rmyc (Aug 3, 2007)

Thanks, man.. ( for some reason i didnt get an email notification on this , weird)


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## TorchBoy (Aug 5, 2007)

rmyc said:


> Thanks, man.. ( for some reason i didnt get an email notification on this , weird)


 I never have. I've now turned off all my email notification(s) in case it makes any difference to the server load. Makes no difference to me, since none of them were getting to me.

Q5 Cree - just $8.87 each for ten or more.

And the builder on a budget might go for optics - just $9.99 for a ten pack. The cheapest I've seen the reflectors is about $10 _each_.


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## LukeA (Aug 5, 2007)

TorchBoy said:


> The cheapest I've seen the reflectors is about $10 _each_.



Your DX-fu is weak, TorchBoy-san.


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## TorchBoy (Aug 5, 2007)

LukeA said:


> Your DX-fu is weak, TorchBoy-san.


Hm, forgot about that one. Even had it on my wishlist for months. Can just the front part of it be used with standard stars (instead of a ~15mm circle board)?

Edit - Just a couple of dollars each for 10+.


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## LukeA (Aug 5, 2007)

TorchBoy said:


> Hm, forgot about that one. Even had it on my wishlist for months. Can just the front part of it be used with standard stars (instead of a ~15mm circle board)?
> 
> Edit - Just a couple of dollars each for 10+.



If you remove a little over 2mm of aluminum from the back, yes.


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## KingSmono (Dec 20, 2007)

soffiler said:


> On the white cars, take a look around Orlando or Houston or Phoenix. People in hot climates tend to buy white cars because they help reflect the sun's rays and keep the car a bit cooler. I'm not sure how effective it really is, but apparently many people believe it.



OT: Funny "white-car" story... A couple years ago, my girlfriend and I were at Universal Studios here in Orlando. We had Annual Passes, so we went fairly often. Side-note: Universal & Islands of Adventure share a really nice, award winning parking-garage system. We got there pretty early this one particular day, and parked as usual... We came back to our car around noon-ish to go grab some lunch at a nearby restaurant, and we noticed that *EVERY SINGLE CAR* on our entire floor was *WHITE*! I'm talking literally THOUSANDS of white cars... We thought we were in the Matrix or something... we were seriously weirded out! 

So we left to get lunch, and when we came back to the park, they routed us right back to the "white-car-floor" while all other non-white cars had to park on other floors. Finally we asked someone what the deal was, and they said that a new manager of the parking-department had just been hired, and it was just a fun little thing he decided to do on his first day.

But if you didn't remember where you parked that day, you'd have had a seriously difficult time finding your car... Needle in a haystack. Even when I tell people this story, I don't think they can really imagine the SEA of white-vehicles that we saw!


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## three.six.drive (Dec 26, 2007)

Looks pretty 6000k. Is it that white to your eye? What color bins did you use?


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## Joshatdot (Dec 29, 2007)

KingSmono said:


> OT: Funny "white-car" story... A couple years ago, my girlfriend and I were at Universal Studios here in Orlando. We had Annual Passes, so we went fairly often. Side-note: Universal & Islands of Adventure share a really nice, award winning parking-garage system. We got there pretty early this one particular day, and parked as usual... We came back to our car around noon-ish to go grab some lunch at a nearby restaurant, and we noticed that *EVERY SINGLE CAR* on our entire floor was *WHITE*! I'm talking literally THOUSANDS of white cars... We thought we were in the Matrix or something... we were seriously weirded out!
> 
> So we left to get lunch, and when we came back to the park, they routed us right back to the "white-car-floor" while all other non-white cars had to park on other floors. Finally we asked someone what the deal was, and they said that a new manager of the parking-department had just been hired, and it was just a fun little thing he decided to do on his first day.
> 
> But if you didn't remember where you parked that day, you'd have had a seriously difficult time finding your car... Needle in a haystack. Even when I tell people this story, I don't think they can really imagine the SEA of white-vehicles that we saw!



LOL, sounds like something I would do.

but DAYUM! What a Torch! You got me thinking of designing one myself!


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## Gunnerboy (Sep 7, 2010)

Hi glockboy,

Is this beast still in-service? Any plans to update it? :naughty:

Gary


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## ejot (Sep 7, 2010)

:wow:What a monster build from back before my time, beautifully designed and assembled. Thanks for digging this one up! :thumbsup:


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## Alan B (Sep 7, 2010)

Interesting that he would wake this thread just now. I was just rereading it a couple of days ago. Have a few new Makita batteries and am planning something myself. Also the Shoppe's Makita battery socket makes it really easy to get the battery connector part done.


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