# L6P Becomes X428xr!



## milkyspit (Dec 29, 2006)

At the risk of getting flamed for (gasp) defacing one of the uber-rare PK signature L6 Porcupine flashlights, thought some photos might be in order! This is a little project for fellow CPFer tanasit that's taken me way too long to complete. Thanks for the faith and the patience, tanasit! In the process of transmilkification, his light has logged quite a few frequent flyer miles, too, traveling from PA to NJ to TX to NJ, up the road a bit in NJ, back down the road a bit, and finally back to PA. That's a lot of travel to be unaccompanied by an adult! oo:

The original goal was simple enough... tanasit saw this photo on CPF and wanted something similar...

_PK L6 Porcupine Converted to X300-KL6_










Then the Great Cree Madness broke,  and though tanasit stayed strong for a while, eventually he succumbed to the Cree side. (Insert Darth Vader breathing noises here.) So midstream, the design spec changed: 3x Cree P4-WH here we come! 

Took a little last-minute machining by a helpful friend with said machine shop 1/2 mile up the road (and kudos to him for taking time out of his busy machine schedule), but in the end, 3x McR17xr reflectors with their accompanying Cree P4-WH warm white emitters slipped into place nicely.

For most of us, this (at time of this writing) is the final work day of 2006. With that in mind, gear up for the holiday weekend and enjoy the photos!


_The X428xr, A Real Standup Guy._





_Custom Milky Dogtag For the Light!_ 





_Profile._





_Size Relative to This Modder's Scraped, Wrinkled, Cut, Bludgeoned,
Bruised, Stained, Burnt, Smoked, Steamed, Clawed, and Girlishly Small Hands._





Although not easy to see in the photos, pieces of black felt back the reflectors to set them off with a "jewelbox" look. Kiessling's M180 was the original jewelbox build, and though I'd done a few more I also swore off them as the labor in placing the felt is tremendous! Turns out felt was never designed to cut into precise little strips, then secure onto pieces of flat metal without getting the slightest trace of lint on emitters, reflectors, or lens.  Then again, maybe tanasit's build got the jewelbox treatment because he didn't ask for it! Sort of a holiday surprise.
:santa:

_A Look Into the Bezel._





_Bezel Straight-On._





In the end, after devoting 2-3 times the time I'd intended to the project, I was finally satisfied that it looked acceptable... though only barely.

But how does it perform?

_X428xr Beam Profile._





IMHO the beam is nice! Of particular note is how quickly the beams converge into a single virtual hotspot. The infamous Cree raccoon eyes aren't evident in the beam, either... a definite plus. 

_X428xr Hotspot, Regular (left) and Posterized (right)._





How's the brightness? Well, as I don't have an integrating sphere I instead compared the beam to the Milky Labs' ambient lighting, plus did a little shootout vs. a nice SureFire L5 (the "Gene Genie" FWIW). Suffice to say, performance is good.

_Ambient Light (left), Stock L5 (middle), X428xr (right)._





Runtime on 3x123 primaries estimated around 71 minutes, rechargeables probably a little longer, with good regulation for most of that time and diminishing but still very useful light for probably another 90 minutes afterward.

All in all, thought this one turned out okay! Hope tanasit likes it. :sweat:

Thanks for reading! :bow:


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## blahblahblah (Dec 29, 2006)

:nana:I'm jealous... Mine didn't come with the custom dogtag !!!

As always... Nice work Milky!


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## bxstylez (Dec 29, 2006)

absolutely gorgeous!

i wonder how it'll do with the new *SSC P4 U bin :naughty: *

i hope one day i'll own a milky creation :laughing:


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## D MacAlpine (Dec 30, 2006)

What's this, no labelling tape???

I hope that Kiessling isn't reading this thread....:laughing:


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## milkyspit (Dec 30, 2006)

D MacAlpine said:


> What's this, no labelling tape???
> 
> I hope that Kiessling isn't reading this thread....:laughing:



Oh, you're referring to the X428xrbe... the Bernie Edition! :nana:


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## tanasit (Dec 30, 2006)

Hi Scott,


The 3-eyed porc is here! Can't wait until dark for full appreciation. I will never remember your code name X428xr but I love it no matter when it is on or off. Too bad I have no room for it in my case below, so the Pelican case is in order.

Wanna try something totally off the wall with my other L6?  

Thanks again for the great work, well worth the wait in deed. :goodjob: 

Tanasit


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## Kid9P (Dec 30, 2006)

Amazing collection Tanasit !!!

You don't need so many gat lights, feel free to send me one....LOL

VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!

Ray

PS- I was able to get a Kiu bezel....thanks for the info!


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## milkyspit (Dec 30, 2006)

Glad it arrived Tanasit! I was hoping you'd receive it in time to play with over the New Year's break. Let us know how it performs... sounds like a fun weekend at the Tanasit house! 

BTW, I'll second Kid9P... very impressive display! :bow:

Now we just need to add a few more Milky lights in there, heh heh... :laughing:


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## Long John (Dec 31, 2006)

Great work Milky:goodjob:

Excellent collection Tanasit:twothumbs

Best regards

_____
Tom


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## EricMack (Dec 31, 2006)

Super Mod, Master Milky! :twothumbs Plus 1 on hoping MilkyTags replace the tape...:nana: That's some mean Pork there, now! Very very nice. What's next, a roast Pork Hotwire?!


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## Neg2LED (Dec 31, 2006)

Awesome!!!!!

--neg


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## D MacAlpine (Dec 31, 2006)

Hmm,
I've just thought of a few possible hazards associated with this light that tanasit may want to be wary of.

When using it, do you feel an urge to;

- brandish it skywards (feet more than shoulder width apart) and shout "*By the power of milkyspit I am the true Lord of Thringgorr*"

- surprise people with a cry of "*Eat hot photon death*!"

- gatecrash SciFi conventions and make them all weep...???

Just beware of strange, wraithlike beings wanting their artifact back........


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## Nebula (Dec 31, 2006)

My thoughts exactly.  





EricMack said:


> Super Mod, Master Milky! :twothumbs Plus 1 on hoping MilkyTags replace the tape...:nana: That's some mean Pork there, now! Very very nice. What's next, a roast Pork Hotwire?!


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## bwaites (Dec 31, 2006)

A *GOLD* Elephant!

He has a gold Elephant!!

Great collection Tanasit, but you are missing a USL!

Bill


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## tanasit (Jan 2, 2007)

My USL is #66, not sure when is the ETA.   


Beamshot L6 on the left and the X428xr on the right: ha..ha..ha...




bwaites said:


> A *GOLD* Elephant!
> 
> He has a gold Elephant!!
> 
> ...


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## tanasit (Jan 2, 2007)

None of the above!! yet  

How about, *" Scott rules" ?* 

After several on and off...a second after I turn it on again....:twothumbs :wow: 



D MacAlpine said:


> Hmm,
> I've just thought of a few possible hazards associated with this light that tanasit may want to be wary of.
> 
> When using it, do you feel an urge to;
> ...


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## Leef (Jan 3, 2007)

Yep, no question about it -- Milky's the man to see for innovative, off-the-chart lights! :thumbsup:


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## The Voice of Reason (Jan 5, 2007)

I've never really been a fan of modded lights... until I laid eyes on this beast!

I am in awe...:goodjob: 

This belongs on display at the museum of modern art - stunning!


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## bombelman (Jan 5, 2007)

wow, mean, very mean !


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## milkyspit (Jan 5, 2007)

Wow... thanks guys!


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## D MacAlpine (Jan 6, 2007)

I notice that tanasit has posted a couple more beamshots here. Very nice, especially considering the estimated runtimes.

Do you notice it warming up at all in use? I'm thinking that all that knurling and spiking ought to give it a good surface area for heat dissipation.......


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## milkyspit (Jan 6, 2007)

Here's that post for the lazy! :laughing:



tanasit said:


> Got mine today and couldn't help setting it up for a side by side by side beam shot with the others that have 2 x Cree and even 7 Cree.
> 
> Left to right: D-Mini with 1xCree, X428xr-L6P with 3xCree and Mac 7xCree :
> 
> ...


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## D MacAlpine (Jan 6, 2007)

Quick question Scott;

Looking at all these beamshots it looks to me that the McR17xr reflectors are producing a beam profile very similar to a McR16 (or L5 for that matter) like you used in your M180 KL2.
Can you confirm whether or not that's how it looks in person?

Ta

Oh, I almost forgot -


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## milkyspit (Jan 6, 2007)

D MacAlpine said:


> Quick question Scott;
> 
> Looking at all these beamshots it looks to me that the McR17xr reflectors are producing a beam profile very similar to a McR16 (or L5 for that matter) like you used in your M180 KL2.
> Can you confirm whether or not that's how it looks in person?
> ...




I'd say you're right for the most part... the big difference between the two would be that Luxeon/McR16 gives broader sidespill of lower brightness, and Cree/McR17xr gives narrower sidespill of greater brightness.


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## ICUDoc (Jan 6, 2007)

Milky
Without doing yourself out of a job by revealing trade secrets, can you tell me if it is hard to simply change the emitter in a KL6 head to a Cree? Any hints about how one would do so? Thanks for any help!


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## milkyspit (Jan 6, 2007)

ICUDoc said:


> Milky
> Without doing yourself out of a job by revealing trade secrets, can you tell me if it is hard to simply change the emitter in a KL6 head to a Cree? Any hints about how one would do so? Thanks for any help!




Well, it's not horrible. I don't think it's really in line with this particular thread's topic and I'll be posting a conversion of that sort which I did for Leef just as soon as I gather the digital photos together, so maybe watch for that thread in the near future? For now I'll say that you need to fiddle with the focal point of the emitter, raise it on some sort of pedestal, maintain the thermal path to the heatsinking (which isn't very good in the KL6 head in the first place, go figure) and get power to the leads which are probably now sitting in midair, without shorting them out against the aluminum reflector or getting them in the way of light coming out of the emitter. Yes, it's just as aggravating as it sounds.
:sigh:


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## ICUDoc (Jan 7, 2007)

Mmmmm: aggravation!
Sorry, milky, no hijack intended. I'll await the new thread. Thanks.


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## tanasit (Jan 7, 2007)

After 5 minutes or so, I can even touch it with my cheek (as long as I want)! Only the head is slightly warm to the feel but the bezel and the rest of the body felt no heat at all.:rock: 

Scott, PM inbound for another possible mod.... 

Thanks,
Tanasit




D MacAlpine said:


> I notice that tanasit has posted a couple more beamshots here. Very nice, especially considering the estimated runtimes.
> 
> Do you notice it warming up at all in use? I'm thinking that all that knurling and spiking ought to give it a good surface area for heat dissipation.......


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## 7Freeman (Jul 6, 2007)

tanasit said:


> Hi Scott,
> 
> 
> The 3-eyed porc is here! Can't wait until dark for full appreciation. I will never remember your code name X428xr but I love it no matter when it is on or off. Too bad I have no room for it in my case below, so the Pelican case is in order.
> ...



Whats the name of the flashlights in the left corner on the highest line?


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## Long John (Jul 6, 2007)

7Freeman said:


> Whats the name of the flashlights in the left corner on the highest line?



Gatlights:wave:

Best regards

____
Tom


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## bombelman (Jul 6, 2007)

Whoa, nice !!!


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