# Twin XM-L2



## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

While im waiting for the postman to deliver my XM-L2's/XP-G2's, I've come up with this idea for a helmet light..
Although i've still not decided which optics to use..Aspherics or conventional optics..
Driver will have to be a Lflex..


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## brad72 (Jun 12, 2009)

Looks really good. You have certainly been a busy boy


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Thanks Brad...

I had a play with the aspherics i got from Troutie..
The 18.5mm aspherics seem ok with XP-G's, the little 11.53mm ones seemed washed out with no focal point..Of course i wont be able to tell until i venture up the woods and test them out at dark.
But going on that i may use the 18.5mm aspherics for this light..


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## mattthemuppet (Jul 16, 2004)

dammit GD, that looks exactly like what I've had in my mind for the last 6mths  Only mine will be better, obviously!

Looks like it'll be fantastic though. I've been churning over in my mind optics options and I'm not even close to a decision. It'll be interesting to see what you come up with.


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

That looks like a lot of work on the manual mill.....

You planning on cutting the fins on a radius? Saw blade or stand the rotary up and use an endmill? Looking forward to pictures of chips being made.


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Ummm .... that sounds like competiton talk matt 

If i use the aspherics i will have to change the design slightly to accomodate.. 
I was wondering if its possible to put aspherics behind a thin sheet of lexan for protection? obviously using that approach will add some depth to the housing!

Vancbiker - your not wrong, this will present some challenges for my manual mill.
I've never got on well with slitting saws in my mill, so it would have to be rotary table on its side, for the radial fins..and mill the flat top and bottom fins in a vice.


But i do have another option, one of my gym buddies has started his own engineering company.
Currently he has two CNC lathes and two CNC mills.
I'm sending him the step files to see what he will make batches of 10, 20, 30 for..


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## Happy Rabbit (Mar 22, 2007)

Very Nice. like the design.


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## mrradlos (Sep 3, 2010)

Goldigger said:


> ...
> Currently he has two CNC lathes and two CNC mills.
> I'm sending him the step files to see what he will make batches of 10, 20, 30 for..


I would be interested in one, if he does ...


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

If I get my mate to cnc them, I've got to order 40 assembly's to get the cost down...
I would have to still anodise them myself...if anyone's interested please drop me a pm..

I hope that's not against board rules..


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## rschultz101 (Oct 5, 2009)

want to built one too!
go on built it . recommend to have enough space for a b3flex .
already spend to much time on my calculator, and just can't stomach ,
the 28% loss on the Lflex. 
combine that with Aspherical , you got 1/2 . 
Battery Juice / Efficiency + weight is premium on a Helmet Light.
there is a cute little Wolf, flightweight and cute. still can't make one like that.
thinking a 3s battery , + B3flex, + Aspherical, batttery in backpack (6cell), be perfect for the dirt bikes .


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## mattthemuppet (Jul 16, 2004)

Goldigger said:


> Ummm .... that sounds like competiton talk matt


ha! I think you'd win that one without trying too hard 

I have downloaded Inventor though, so I'm looking forward to having a play with that when I get the time.


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

After some major [email protected] ups to life, I've found little time to get this done (sorry Patrick)
Plus this design really throws some challenges at my manual mill!
Here's some progress pics.












































I Ground one of the flutes down on a 12mm slot drill and put this in my boring head to mill the front out, so that the surface was level..just skimmed over the top.


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## The Understater (May 6, 2007)

Very nice work!
Makes me a want a bigger milling machine, and a boring head.


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## emu26 (Jun 23, 2008)

drool. Nice work GD


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Thanks for the comments guys..


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

A little more progress..


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## Fourtrax (Mar 17, 2013)

Nice work so far! Like seeing all of the different setups you had to do to cut the different sections. I am sure a lot of time is spent planning the steps out. At first I couldn't figure out what the grooves on the face were but I am guessing those are the beginning of o-ring grooves?


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## emu26 (Jun 23, 2008)

GD why don't you mate the face plate to the body before you start milling the outer surface, wouldn't it be easier to match them up perfectly if they are milled together?


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Fourtrax...yes you guessed it..that's the start of the oring groove..

Emu, I'm not exactly sure what you mean..
But if the Ali block was long enough I would have milled both front and rear cover, out of the same block and cut them off.
Either way I still have to center each cover on the rotary table once..to finish the other hole/shamfer


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## emu26 (Jun 23, 2008)

I know, you were distracted when reading my post.

What I mean is, the body, the front and the back plate are three separate pieces but all have the same external profile when looking from either the front or the back. I understand about making the body longer then slicing off the front and back plates but you can't do that because of the size of the bar you are using. I often wonder why you guys don't tap, thread and then screw the front and back plates on first. Then you can locate the whole thing in the vice or rotary table or chuck or whatever the job requires, then mill the outside profile for all three pieces at once, thus making sure the profiles match up perfectly at the end of the job. Hope that makes more sense, let me know if you need me to get rid of my avatar, temporarily, so you can concentrate


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Yes I'm with you now..
I do do what you are saying normally, but the front and rear cover for this light fit inside the main body..so the outer profile is smaller than the body..


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## emu26 (Jun 23, 2008)

Goldigger said:


> Yes I'm with you now..
> I do do what you are saying normally, but the front and rear cover for this light fit inside the main body..so the outer profile is smaller than the body..


Nice, I didn't pick that up from the 3d renderings


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## mattthemuppet (Jul 16, 2004)

wow, that's some beautiful machining! Scary big endmill too, looks like it'll gobble up that alu and spit out a tangle mess if it were given the chance!

sorry to be about life troubles, hopefully they're all sorted out by now!


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Cheers Matt,
The company I work for went into administration..still sorting my side if it out.
In short I still have a job, but nobody to run the contract. And still not been paid for April:madman:

This light is taking forever.. the amount of setting up is endless!
Plus I've had to repair some issues with the mill.. anyone know why a Dro flashes intermittently?

Was hoping to be much further ahead than this.
Still need to finish the mount, round the front and rear cover. And then Finn it..


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## mattthemuppet (Jul 16, 2004)

ah, that's a bugger, sorry to hear about it. You should pester Hope for a job, your machining skills are clearly up to the task 

As for the DRO, I think that's called "stop being a pu$$y and measure stuff with your thumb instead". Actually, I shouldn't say that, my next project is to make a mini-DRO out of a tyre depth gauge 

More seriously - it might be that the reader strip has been contaminated somehow with cutting fluid or chips. Try taking it off and give the strip and the magnet thing a good clean and see if that works.


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## Walt Dizzy (Aug 18, 2003)

Nice work on the rotary table. I've been using roundover bits to take the corners down (starting with a square block of aluminum), works OK, but it's not very flexible. Your design looks very nice.

"...the amount of setting up is endless!" Ahh, that is very familiar. 

I don't understand your comment about grinding one flute of a 12 mm slot drill for use in a boring head? Was that to form the shoulder at the top of the bore?

Walt


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Thanks Walt..
I need to redo the covers as I can't hold them down in the 4 jaw securely! Not a big issue though.

Regarding grounding down one of the flutes, I ground it's end down so that only one flute will touch the surface of what I'm milling.
The reason I done that is so that I could spin the boring head and then move my x table....so that I could cut the oval bore. I couldn't have done this with a regular boring bar as it's not sharp enough..


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Found this unfinished light in my boxes of bits...so I've been cleaning the mill up and setting it up ready to get this finished!

Seemed a waste to not finish what I've done so far.. watch this space..


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## mattthemuppet (Jul 16, 2004)

Goldigger said:


> Found this unfinished light in my boxes of bits...so I've been cleaning the mill up and setting it up ready to get this finished!
> 
> Seemed a waste to not finish what I've done so far.. watch this space..


wow, that's a blast from the past  I still haven't built a new light, but I have gotten a lot better at machining and have better tools over the last 3 years!


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## brad72 (Jun 12, 2009)

Nice one GD. Have to admit I'm still using the same lights from years ago but make new 3D printed mounts to spice things up.


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

I've still got the same tools from 3 years ago.. although I did have to clean some up that had gone a bit rusty!


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

Goldigger said:


> .......Seemed a waste to not finish what I've done so far.. watch this space..


Nice!!!!

It has been far to long since someone has posted a home built light here.

One of my sons whittled a very nice dual XML housing on my CNC quite a while ago and then stopped at that point. I keep seeing it there and think I may have to finish it.


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

It does seem this forum has gone quiet..

What's the latest on LEDs, I'm a bit behind on that.
I've got plenty of XML2 U2's that I originally planned to use.


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## scar (Jun 2, 2005)

Nice to hear from you again Goldigger, been awhile. Yeah, this forum is pretty quiet.

You are going to want to put some Cree XP-L High Intensity LED's in that bad boy! Give it some nice punch!


Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Hope you are going to use one of George's drivers.


scar

******


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

scar said:


> .....You are going to want to put some Cree XP-L High Intensity LED's in that bad boy! Give it some nice punch!


+1 on ^

I swapped out the XMLs for XPL HI's on my helmet light. It is using the LEDDNA 10 degree optics. It's such a nice beam that I can't imagine what more I'd want from a helmet light. I got them on copper stars and a 3C tint (neutral white). Run them in series at 3.5A, plenty of light.


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Is there a lumen gain, or just better beam?


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## brad72 (Jun 12, 2009)

Good to know about the XPL Hi's as I am still using a single XML on the road bike, using the octagonal helmet light as a bar light mounted to a custom garmin 520 mount

Forum is pretty quiet but good to see the originals still about. I assume all the cheap Chinese lights have quelled the DIY trade


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## mattthemuppet (Jul 16, 2004)

this is like a class reunion  

I've nearly gotten the ATtiny 13 firmware to where I want it (basically to mimic George's drivers), although I still have temp monitoring to finalise, and I think my machining skills/ equipment are pretty much where they need to be so I'll be starting on a new light this Fall/ winter. Obviously, other projects might/ will get in the way and I have teaching and job apps to do, but the intent is there at least


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Little update for what I managed to get in this week.. 
Trying to get all the cuts done that need to be held in the vice, then that will just leave me to set up the rotary table and finish the remaining cuts..

Went with 3mm fins rather than 2mm that were in the original render, I know its less surface area..but its quicker!


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## Cheers! (Jun 26, 2006)

We need some updates!


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## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Update coming soon, work and an addiction of catching up with the walking dead has kept me away from the mill.
Had to restart the rear cover, will soon be finishing off with the rotary table.


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