limited production :: hand crafted :: high performance :: rechargeable :: premium flashlights

This is my blog about creating a startup LED flashlight business. I'm a designer, fabricator, and strategist and I'm passionate about making ideas real. I believe that products are about people, that they should be built to last, deliver real value, and that we need to do a better job than we have in the recent past.

Most of my career has been contract or freelance work and I've crafted products and strategies for both big international companies and startups. I also used to work in the "industry" fabricating special effects for film and TV, along with the occasional hot rod. Bottom line, I love making things.

I'm starting this blog so you can follow along, from day one, and see what it's like to start a business, or fail in the process. Only time will tell, but I hope you find this interesting enough to stay tuned, comment, link, like, tweet, and (most importantly) participate in turning this idea into something tangible and valuable.

For a good place to get started with general info about who, what, why, etc., check out the "Stickies" on the left side of the page. Thanks for stopping by and please don't hesitate to ask questions and get involved!

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Monday, November 14, 2011

Fun with coatings, part 2: Titanium Nitride (TiN)

I've been working with Advanced Coating Technologies to create some special edition lights that are coated with a Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) process. These coatings are used on extreme applications like carbide tools for milling and turning. The coatings are microns thick, but incredibly hard. Think of it this way, tungsten carbide is one of the hardest man-made metals in existence. They use PVD to protect this material. No joke right?

Ohhh yeah. 
This is my first sample that is coated in Titanium Nitride (TiN). Need a little more bling in your flashlight? I have no idea if this will be popular or not...but it's still pretty awesome. I'll be getting samples in Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) and Titanium Carbon Nitride (TiCN). These will turn out black and deep grey, respectively. Stay tuned, I hope to have samples in the next couple of weeks.

The light pictured above is one-of-a-kind and is now for sale on my website. Check it out here.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Justin,

    How about mixing that with the black cerakotem gold on the smooth, black on the brushed.

    :0

    keep up the good work

    Marc

    (mp101 on cpf)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know! You had a great idea. I actually tried it but someone bought it and I shipped it out before I had a chance to take a photo. The gold head/tail with black body looked pretty awesome. The reverse...not so much.

    ReplyDelete