Hi Folks,

I am thinking about constructing a flashlight like the one in this link:

http://www.gearcrave.com/buyers-guide/gadgets/lumencraft-gatlight-pupil-searing-space-power/

Although I am not going to go anywhere near titanium I am thinking of brass or aluminium (or both) to make it a bit easier on my Taigs.

If anyone else is thinking of the same project (after seeing this), please post a thread and let me know where you would start, and any issues you could see cropping up in this project.

For the LED light function, I am going to keep it fairly simple, and just dismantle an LED flashlight I already have. I have both the Taig Mill and Taig Lathe, but I can see all this being done on the lathe.

Also any other cool projects out there, please post a thread, I might be persuaded to make something different as well

Ok folks, I have started my project, and have a 'newbie' question. I am making one of the large diameter pieces with the many holes in it. I was wondering how would I go about making a finishing cut on brass so as to minimise polishing?

I am finding that with the standard HSS cutting tool I am getting small ridges that are normal I guess, but it's taking a lot of time and polish to get a very smooth finish. Should I be using a round nosed tool, or customised tool for better result? or maybe even grinding with dremel when running in the lathe at the same time?

Whenever I get a chance I am going to try a rounded bit next time and see what happens.

are you making it on a Lathe...? if so take a finish pass at .010 use a bit with about a .015 radius on the tip.....use high rpm with about a 3 or 4 ipm feed

Yes, I'm making it on a stock Taig lathe. One thing that I havn't tried is upping the rpm. I have the standard pulleys and am using the lowest rpm setting. Next time I get a chance I will try your suggestions. Thx for that. I will let you know how it goes.

I got around to trying the finishing pass on brass again. The higher rpm didn't seem to help much, but the different tool bit I used did. It has a slightly rounded tip (not sure of radius). When I got to the finishing pass though I was taking off less material than the rougher cuts, and this in turn introduced chatter. It isn't a critical measurement, so I took another rough cut to get rid of the chatter marks. The next finishing pass I put some oil on the brass which did the job....no chatter this time. The finish looks smoother to the eye than before.

Unfortunately I have come up against another problem though. I have the Taig T-bar cutoff tool which is fairly long. My motor is getting in the way of me using this to cut my work piece off. Due to this I have decided to mount the motor on the other side of the lathe, and rewire it to go anticlockwise. The joys of machining Every project will introduce you to a new one. Needless to say, this project is on hold for the time being until the motor one is out of the way....(possibly a few weeks)

May I ask what you'll protect the brass with when it's finished?

Look forward to seeing your light when it's done.

Dave

To be completely honest, I hadn't considered anything to protect it. I dont know how long it will take to tarnish. I know of a product called 'Brasso' that polishes brass, but I don't know if it leaves a protective residue to slow down tarnishing. I also have a lacquer for metal, but that would prevent me from polishing it every now and again. I am making it in such a way as I can disassemble it fairly easily also, which would help with polishing. I am open to any suggestions though.

Unless you used naval brass, it will probably tarnish immediately. Even naval brass will tarnish immediately but it's very slow in doing so as it's made for marine applications. If the light will be taking abuse, I wouldn't worry about it but if it's decorative, I would definitely use a laquer or something like that.

Eastwood auto company has a clear metal spray call "Nyalic" or something like that.

Dave

No, the light wouldn't be taking much abuse. I will be using it ok, but it would be mainly decorative. The laquer I was thinking of is 2K Laquer. That seems to be what a lot of car body shops over here in Ireland use. Although, looking at a part I have half machined already, it seems to have a newly machined look still (after a week). Because there are many parts, and lots of parts pushing through holes (fairly tight tolerances) etc. I imagine the laquer would scrape off too easily, so I will probably go without. I can always spray it on later if I change my mind. Easier to put it on than take it off

Yep, no marks from finger prints or anything.....yet anyway. I have no idea what type of brass it is though. I just went into the local brass suppliers and asked for various sizes of brass rod to stock up. Unfortunately I cant see any markings on the stock either.

Interesting. Then I very much look forward to seeing it finished with this amazing variation of brass.

Dave

Hey Dave, have you thought about using a Carnuba wax? It should seal it for sometime. Its what I use on my table saw.

Rick

Actually, I never thought of a wax. That might be the way to go alright. Easier to apply than laquer as well and would be less messy for my application. Thx for that.

I would suggest taking a troll over to http://www.candlepowerforums.com
They have an extreme amount of information on everything to do with modding or building of flashlights. Also a good selection on current production models too.

Lots of info there alright. It will have me lost for days

Dave,

You might try just polishing with SemiChrome or similar metal polish. I have used this technique on live steam locomotives with great success. The bell and the boiler bands on the locomotive in this photo are brass, and were simply polished with semichrome. They were last polished 3 years ago, and still look great. Live steam locomotives get very hot, spit water (steam), and oil everywhere, and you would think if the brass was going to tarnish it would do so quickly in this environment.


BTW - normally I try to make my engines look grungy and dirty like the real thing - but I decided I liked this one better all polished up.

Bottom line - a good polish on your brass flashlight should go a long way toward preventing tarnish.

Oh - and very cool flashlight. Surefire sells LED head elements for their flashlights, and they have some 200+ lumen very small LED lights - might be a good source for your project.

Cheers,
Mark

I had a search for Semichrome on the net (Simichrome?) they seem to be the same. But it seems very similar to Brasso. My parents have used Brasso before, and is easily obtained over this side of 'the pond' - Europe.

While searching for Semichrome, I found that people are using this, then finishing with carnuaba wax to protect it better. It seems Semichrome is a very fine abrasive compound that leaves a protective finish on the metal when polished off. Putting carnuaba wax on after it should further protect it.

I reckon I will try Brasso, and finish it with carnuaba wax. It should protect it enough for at least a few months - good enough for me anyway.

P.S. Nice locomotive. Brass bits are looking great for 3 years of no polishing!!!

Dave, you are correct, it is spelled Simichrome, my bad. I imagine Brasso is quite similar. Another one that might be easier to locate on your side of the pond is Flitz (made in Germany I believe). It is a polish like Simichrome or Brasso, but the tube claims "Protection Anti-Corrosion". I have a tube but haven't tried it yet, though I've heard good reports from others.

The carnuaba wax sounds like a great idea - but I'm guessing any of the above polishes would last quite awhile.

I have seen both types of spelling. Maybe different parts of the world use different spelling?

Simichrome is actually made in Germany, and they have a distributor in the UK ( http://www.genrejewellery.co.uk/simichromepolish.htm ). Not too far away from me in Ireland. So if the Brasso doesn't work at least Simichrome is easily obtainable here.

Flitz is apparently very good as well, a bit less abrasive, and also leaves a protective finish.

Yahoo is a great resource. If you do a search for Flitz or Simichrome you get some good videos, such as

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUl6nWqEynY (Flitz)
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9V3dkYqCos (Simichrome)
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zpEYqdLXWo (Brasso-cleaning CDs - )

Dave: I assume your polishing on The lathe?
When I sharpen my carving tools I finish them on a stropping stick(leather glued to a stick with polishing compound loaded).
You could use a piece of leather belt(I spray mine with WD40 and then apply polishing compound)Messy but it dries with a good load. Then polish the shafts, by drawing the strip back and forth on the shaft. You should get a mirror finish pretty quickly. Since I don't yet have a lathe I do this often on my drillpress.

Be careful to keep hands out of the moving parts,I saw a guy in the factory polishing shafts on a lathe run his thumb between the shaft and his polishing cloth and break it.
Not funny then but when he flicked his thumb back and forth and said" I think I broke it" I have to grin.

Thanks for the tip Jim - never considered using a leather pad for polishing. In the past I have used cloth pads or pieces of rag. I turn at fairly low RPM, and am very paranoid about getting fingers, rag, or anything else caught in the lathe. A leather pad on a stick sounds like a good safety tip.

BTW - certainly any lathe can be dangerous, but one nice aspect of a fractional horsepower belt driven lathe like the Taig is the motor stalls (or the belt slips) easily. Make no doubt you could injure yourself on a Taig - but the injury would probably be much less serious.

Mark leather on a stick will work. But a length of old belt about 2 ft long will conform to the shaft. just load it with polishing compound wrap it around the shaft and hold on to both ends you can run it back and forth so it does not wear in one place.
I might have been 6 when I watched my dad do that to a Chrysler axle that had burrs and nicks in it(while changing a wheel bearing) with emery cloth.

That's a good tip alright. I will try that next time I get a chance. It sounds like a good way of getting a 'mirror' finish ok. Now to find an old belt...

I was just thinking of polishing etc. and remember back in engineering class in school. I was taught how to get a better finish on your work piece by gathering some of the swarf in your hand, and holding this on your workpiece as it is still turning. It seems to work to some extent. Mainly on steel because the swarf is easily gathered up. I guess it has the same effect as steel wool. Although needless to say swarf from steel is razor sharp, and then holding this onto your workpiece spinning in the chuck is not for the feint hearted.

I take no responsibility for anyone attempting this. Please dont tell me if your fingers or thumbs are flicking back and forth afterwards

Dave,

I've seen this method used by wood turners - just poke around the web and you can find numerous wood turning videos where they pick up the shavings and use them to "polish" the piece while it turns in the lathe. I had no idea this was used in metal turning....I think I'll pass.

If a man spends 35-40 yrs working with machinery, his hands may be hard and calloused enough that he could do that?
Though I never saw it done in the factory. I have seen guys lay the calloused part of the hand on a shaft to see how even it was. But I like to use my hands too well for that.
The past 23 yrs behind a desk all my callouses are gone and I'm not going to do it.

http://www.englishcustompolishing.com/ check it out its got some good how to's

Thats a very good link! I'll book mark it!

well, despite my earlier comment, I tired this trick last night, using a piece of shop rag to hold the swarth. Material was 6061 AL. Got a pretty good finish, but it became even better when I applied Semichrome.

Gota start using a piece of leather on a stick though....polishing on the lathe makes me mighty nervous.....

We work with big castings at my Work and sometimes you have to get your whole arm up to your elbow inside a Bore to Deburr a Backside cast face...

Talk about nervous.......

its hard to explain but there is a knack to doing this, After polishing OD's you will get a better feel for it..


But yes be Carefull....guys are missing Digits because of this,

Why in the world would you try to burnish a metal piece with it's own swarf? Let alone with a rag. That is simply crazy, your asking for pain. In wood thats one thing but metal, forget it. Didn't any of you taking shop class? If you did do you remember, NO LONG SLEEVES, NO LONG HAIR, NO LOOSE CLOTHING. Man that is one of my worst peeves, especially when its people of TV. Working on bandsaws wearing gloves. Wow, I'm sorry if this offends anyone but that is simply crazy.

the swarf burnishing was an experiment - see the discussion several posts up in this thread. As for the long sleeves/gloves/loose clothing/etc, I'm right with you. That's why I only used a small piece of shop rag in this experiment. Jim-Iowa has the right idea though - a stick with a piece of leather attached and put your polish on that.

There is no escaping lathes are dangerous machines - deburring and polishing are two activities that always bring my attention to a sharp focus.

Just an update on this thread...I have still not finished this project, but it is definitely still ongoing and not trashed. Here are some more pictures of what I have done so far.
I found I needed to purchase, modify and build other projects to continue this one - all good fun.

Assembled (what's done so far)


Same, but angled down from the top


Dissassembled
[img][/img]

Electronics (taken from donor flashlight)


Another view, with the top part taken off

Awesome work, it looks like a nuclear fuel bundel for a CANDU reactor, (or a boiler for a steam engine) but nice work!

Bryan

Thanks Bryan. Haha - I bet it would set off a few alarms going through customs!!!!!
It's a nice project to work on. Probably my first major project since I got my Taig machines. Still learning new things all the time.

It looks really nice, Dave! With all that brass, looks expensive, too. Brass is crazy money here in the States.
Good work.

Dean

Thanks Dean. It's pretty pricey over here as well. I stocked up a good while ago with a few different sizes of the 'bigger' round bar stock from the main brass importers here. I should have got more of the smaller stock as well. I hate turning down the bigger stock so much - such a waste. I don't know how much golden colored dust I've made so far

Actually I forgot to scale the pictures. The lamp is about 6 inches tall, and the diameter is 2 inches.