MSaxatilus' "Wall of Light, Redefined!" Post

Good friend MSaxatilus over at CandlePowerForums.com posted some great photos of a serious short range flood light I'd created for a recipient in Italy... and shortly thereafter, CPF went down!

Thought Dave's post should get the exposure it deserves. The photos are IMHO terrific.


Wall of Light, Redefined! Introducing the Milky Mr. Big!
MSaxatilus from CandlePowerForums


Milkyspit has just finished another Surefire mod he has dubbed the Mr. Big.

It's basically a Surefire KL2 that has been modded with 3xWXOS emitters and three tiny McR11 reflectors.

The light is powered by 3xCR123s housed in a Vital Gear III body and produces a huge flood of brilliant white light. This is the ultimate flood light for its size. The throw is almost non-existent beyond 10-15 yards, but for close-up or indoor work, it can't be beat. Perfectly smooth beam and plenty of usable light.

Sorry the review is so short, but I figured I'd let the new owner post more details if he so desires.

Another fine job by Milky IMHO.

MSax

CR2-Ion CREEmated!

Okay, we all know the gold standard for finely handcrafted, smaller than all get-out lights was, is and shall always be the unfortunately named "Larry Light" (unfortunately named because Larry himself really dislikes it!)... or in the more recent world of small-run custom built flashlights, Modamag's nothing-short-of-astounding Draco. The CR2-Ion comes in a distant third to these lights.



Note the size compared to the handles on my linesman's pliers and a partially disassembled pack of DeWalt A123 cells... incidentally, those'll lead us to ANOTHER little project here in the labs!

Nevertheless, I had the opportunity recently to grab one of these via trade, and since I'd never seen one up close and personal before, I took the bait. The finish is a beautiful blue, which I'm told has since gone out of production... fit and finish aren't bad, in fact it's quite a clean build of good quality... mind you, not so ridiculously over the top as the Larry Light or Draco, but still quite nice. The emitter... ah, well that's where the problem is. I was excited to see my first light constructed around a Cree emitter, but the one used in the stock light is pre-XR-E, and while there's nothing wrong with it, the thing just leaves a nagging feeling that more could be done.

With inspiration from the CandlePowerForum's own 4sevens, a fellow modder who grew up alongside me in the modding ranks, and who I'm proud to count among one of my best of friends in this bizarre little corner of the universe, I decided to disembowel my little CR2-Ion to see if I could install my very own Cree P3-WC XR-E emitter... and a couple hours later, voila!



Look, ma, I'm a photographer! (Not really, more like got really lucky with 1 out of 20 photos.) I love these emitter closeups.

This thing really kicks! With no changes to the reflector whatsoever, the output looks to have doubled or tripled overall... and for the first time ever this light actually has a real, bona fide hotspot that really throws. Maybe it's not ready to take on a SureFire turbohead... still, quite an improvement! And I'm not so sure I'd want the turbohead on my keychain.



Upright next to a Mag 2C head, the CR2-Ion looks positively tiny... those 18mm reflectors inside the Mag head give me the same feeling as the photos one sees from time to time with an aircraft assembly worker standing completely inside the confines of a commercial jet engine!

SureFire M1 Dissected... and Upgraded!

I've been turning the SureFire M1 into a Project-M light dubbed the M90-M1 Illuminator, for a while now. Someone pointed out that it might be of interest to snap a photo of the disassembled light in that few folks have ever seen the guts. Here it is!



Some quick notes... the window is polycarbonate and press-fit tightly against an O-ring... the little black dot is an IR filter... the circuit board is a resistored IR LED with a spring on the underside... the items from circuit board (left) to IR filter and O-ring (right) all fit inside the body shown above the parts... threading on the tail end is SureFire C Series compatible, and threading on the head end is incompatible with any part that I've ever encountered... seems to be specific to this light, which actually does make some sense given the light was probably designed to be robust, self-contained, and permanently sealed.

Note there's an O-ring seal between body and head that ensures weatherproofness.

Now that the M1 is opened, what can we do with it?

A few things, actually.

1. M90-M1 Illuminator. LuxV white with reflector and glow ring, pumping out a bright, even illumination out to about 20 yards with a soft hotspot that lets you look at things up close (even in the palm of your hand) without hurting your eyes. Estimated output 90 lumens, estimated runtime on single 123 primary or rechargeable 60+ minutes.

2. M90-M1 Cyanator. LuxV CYAN (blue-green, aqua color) with reflector and glow ring, pumping out a bright, even illumination out to about 20 yards with a soft hotspot that lets you look at things up close (even in the palm of your hand) without hurting your eyes. Can help in finding things by virtue of changing the color response of objects... some things appear as blackish silhouettes, some things take on an eerie alien glow. Estimated output 90 lumens, estimated runtime on single 123 primary or rechargeable 80+ minutes.

3. M77-M1 Creemator. Cree white emitter with reflector and glow ring, pumping out a bright, even illumination out to about 20 yards with a soft hotspot that lets you look at things up close (even in the palm of your hand) without hurting your eyes. Estimated output 77 lumens, estimated runtime on single 123 primary or rechargeable 140+ minutes.

Some eye candy...













Which one do I like best? Tough question as they're all neat lights! Guess I like the Cyanator for its combination of good runtime, serious brightness, and otherworldly color... which is also surprisingly useful!

All three versions of the upgraded M1 (Illuminator, Cyanator, Creemator) cost $165 plus shipping built in your M1 host or $225 plus shipping with me sourcing the M1 host.