Box full of bodies...

...what were you expecting?

When in doubt, MacGyver it

So yes, I did look up the spelling of MacGyver and it's corret. Weird right? Anyway, I don't mean to give myself too much credit with that title but I couldn't come up with anything else. Recently I had to install a phillips screw inside the control panel of my CNC machine. The trick was it was between two circuit boards that are mounted on end. Think of sliced bread with a 1/2" gap in between and about 6 inches deep and who knows what kind of sensitive electrical components on each side. Remember that game "Operation?" Zap!

Yeeep, right in between those drive cards.
Oh and don't touch the capacitors. 

What to do? I rolled some painter's tape into a tube so it would be sticky on both sides and jammed it all together. Enough grip to keep the screw on the driver but can be removed easily enough. Pretty good eh? It worked beautifully.

It ain't purdy but it worked

Joby, meet Alpha. Alpha, meet Joby.

I've been fooling around with some "other' ideas about what you can do with a light. One drawback to flashlights is that you have to hold them in your hands. Joby even makes their own line of lights that mount to their tripods...but they are...wimpy. I wanted power, anywhere, anytime. So, I headed over to the CNC mill and made myself a set of three mounts. These are prototypes so I just hacked them out in an afternoon.

The cool thing about this particular tripod is the little red feet are magnetic, increasing the versatility even more. It's amazing for automotive work.

Time to start putting light where I need it

Most people think headlamps are the solution to hands free personal lighting, but I think for the most part, they suck. Don't get me wrong, I have 4 headlamps and they have their purpose...last resort lighting. My most frequent use is a tiny Black Diamond light that I wear around my neck when I'm in camp. Oh but you need to "work on something" and have your hands free right. Ever notice how having the light close to your line of sight is guaranteed to make your hands cast shadows on your work-space instead of actually lighting it?

Laser cutting LED thermal pads (Epilog Helix)

I have been buying pre-cut thermal pads but this time I decided to make my own. This is the same material I normally use, purchased in a bulk sheet. Cut on an Epilog Legend 45 Watt laser cutter @ Techshop in Menlo Park. Nothing like cutting parts with a beam of light!

Odd Job: Mission Motors

Hi folks, thought I would do a bit of a random post today. Before I started flashlights a few months ago I was doing custom fabrication work out of my shop. Mostly one-off things and mixed fabrication/project management. Say you need something designed, machined, welded, coated, and delivered yesterday...it's hard to find one shop that can do all of that...so people come to me. I used to work for Mission Motors up in SF, and I still do the odd job for them from time to time.

parts and prints, always satisfying! 

A couple weeks ago they needed some bits for their race bike so I spent a couple days getting these together. This job was straight forward CNC and manual machining from their prints so it went pretty quick. The last big job I did for them was a set of display stands for SEMA. Read on after the jump to see the bike and the parts I made!

"I Recommend": G-Wizard Calculator (for machinists)

If you couldn't tell by the title--Warning: machinist's content & business content (if you are a machinist) after the jump

Okay, I have a notebook with a list of things I think are AWESOME. Most of the time I forget to write things down on that list, but I have a few and thought I'd start sharing them on my blog. These things aren't necessarily flashlight related, but if they apply to you, they will change your life. Bold claim eh? But I'm serious. I'm going to call this segment, "I Recommend..." I can't think of a better product to start with that Bob Warfield's G-Wizard machining calculator. It's like having a master machinist in your back pocket. Normally that would be really uncomfortable...but not with G-Wizard. You should really stop reading this and download the trial from this link right: here.

A perfect example of what the internet should be used for

From time to time I have an ah-ha moment when things suddenly become clear. This little piece of incredibly sophisticated software brought me one of those moments. The quick story: machinist and software engineer (Bob Warfield) decided one day to take on a little pet project, and G-Wizard is the result. First, this is what the power of the internet is all about. Second, it's well designed. Third, it's something every machine shop should have...especially small ones. I'll tackle those points in order, after the jump...so read on!

Haas VF-1 milling a custom flashlight head

This is a video of the final component...the flashlight head! I have the little container to the right of the vise to catch coolant. After the part finishes I dump the container of coolant over the part to clear away all of the tiny triangular chips left from the thread milling. I don't want them to get stuck inside the bore of the soft jaws and then get pressed into the finish on the head. Ask me how I know. Better yet, don't. 

Haas VF-1 machining tail cap & PCB sleeve (video)

Hi all, I shot a new video a couple of days ago so check it out!

Prototype production run: update

I took these shots on Friday but didn't get around to posting them. I've finished the CNC portion on the bodies, tailcaps, and PCB sleeves. I still have to finish the heads on the CNC and then do some manual machining and surface finishing.

Flashlight bodies hot off the CNC

I think I mentioned this before, but I'll take these bodies to the manual lathe to finish the outside diameter and do the ornamental grooving. Only the ends have been worked by the CNC machine at this point. This is mostly a progress update and there are a couple more photos after the jump.

Prototype production run is under way!

These shots are actually from yesterday. Today I finished the CNC machining of 30 flashlight bodies. When finished, ten of these are heading out into the field for some user testing. 


I haven't picked the testers yet but I'll make an announcement about the same time I complete final assembly of the lights, so stay tuned!


(if you want to get the chance to do cool things like test future designs, be sure and sign up for my email list!)

Anyway, back to nitty gritty. My saw stop worked great and I spent time cutting stock to length while the machine was running parts. I also have to deburr the edge on every part (one end) so that there isn't any interference when clamping the parts in the vise. We need everything to be nice and straight.

Chicago Pneumatic right angle die grinder with an 80 grit abrasive disk
and a bunch of parts waiting to be deburred. 

Right now I'm using the red air grinder with an abrasive disk to deburr...hold the part in left hand, grinder in right hand, rotate part a couple of times. Not real slow, not real fast, but it's on of the things I might need to make more efficient in the future.

DtD Update: Soft jaws are finished!

Got the soft jaws finished up yesterday! Now it's time to start cutting some parts and tweak the programming. I've already done the body machining and tailcap machining. Today I'm going to be working on the head and the small copper post that holds the electronics.

DtD Update: machining soft jaws

So I'm starting this Day to Day (DtD) Update thing so you can see the drudgery associated with the bright lights and big city stuff. 

I had to have some bearings replaced on my mill before I could get to making actual parts. That was finished last week and I've been doing the last of the programming. So far I have about 70 separate programs to make this little light. That means there are 70 "operations"...not including the manual operations. For example: cutting all of the stock to length, sanding down the edges so they are smooth and even, etc. More on that in a future post. Suffice to say, there is a lot of work to do outside of the actual machining. Most of it is manual, and this is the kind of labor that kills product margins.

Soft jaws before machining

So yesterday and the day before I have been cutting the "soft jaws" that will hold my components that need to be machined. They need to be extremely precise and one mistake means they are ruined. Each jaw will have five separate locations machined...so that is five chances to wreck the whole thing. Ask me how I know.

It's alive! CNC test program (video)

WARNING: MACHINING CONTENT

As you know I've been programming like crazy. This video is a test program for the machining of the flashlight body. Two parts are held in the vice at a time. The one on the left is "tail up" and the one on the right is "head up." In other words the tailcap will screw into the part on the left and the head will screw onto the part at the right. After the tail gets machined, the same part is flipped upside down and transferred to the right hand position. Confusing enough?

These parts are only 2 inches tall. The actual flashlight body is 4 inches tall. I'm running these "short" test parts to work out any bugs in the programming without wasting a lot of material. You will notice the machine spindle starts and stops and the coolant goes on and off more than it should. That's because each operation is a separate program and I'm using a master program to call them all as subroutines. Don't worry if that doesn't make sense. That's what the "machining content" warning was all about :) Eventually I'll delete the M09 and M05 codes from the individual programs and that will prevent all the erroneous starts and stops.

So, machine tool geeks...enjoy in HD! That's you Bishop. Oh, and for you people in the real world, here in Silicon Valley "geek" is a flattering term :)