Red Light District

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TheIceman

TheIceman

Member
Dec 1, 2017
476
49
Fayetteville, NC, United States
Okay, now that I have your attention, let me tell you how I used my new mini-lathe to solve an airgun problem. I hunt at night on occasion, and sometimes I don't want to use my ATN X-Sight II equipped rifle. I had picked up a couple of those scope-mounted LED lights. One in green and one in red. The green one came with a nice picatinny mount that was adjustable in elevation and windage to properly line the light up with the view in the scope. The red one came with a cheap clamp mount that was hit or miss, with no adjustment whatsoever. I quickly discovered that the red LED works much better at reflecting eye shine, and has a longer range due to being brighter. I just couldn't get it to line up with the scope. No problem, I told myself, I'll just order another of those adjustable mounts. When it arrived, I discovered that the outside diameter of the red LED was too large to fit into the one-inch mounting clamp. So, I stuck to using the green light for shooting, and the red light for scanning by hand.

Well, recently I decided to get a mini-lathe and start learning how to turn large pieces of metal into smaller pieces of scrap metal. Today, I completed my very first project with the lathe. I measured the red LED body and found there was plenty of metal to allow turning it down to a one-inch diameter in the middle. Now, it fits perfectly in the adjustable mount. Here is the finished product:

1595187599_2366263315f14a18f7e1ca1.81149883.jpg


It was a simple project, perfect for my first job on the lathe, and I think it turned out great. I'm looking forward to more airgun-related projects with it. Ya'll be safe out there! Shoot straight, tell the truth, and be kind to one another!

James
 
TheIceman,

I would like to be able to do the same with a red led light, could you share the source for the mount and light. Your handi work with the new lathe is a great beginning, the sky is the limit with your new found skills.

I like to stretch the truth a bit, "the older I get, the better I was",

Good luck, shoot safe and be healthy

Arrowhead1951
 
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TheIceman,

I would like to be able to do the same with a red led light, could you share the source for the mount and light. Your handi work with the new lathe is a great beginning, the sky is the limit with your new found skills.

I like to stretch the truth a bit, "the older I get, the better I was",

Good luck, shoot safe and be healthy

Arrowhead1951
Click to expand...

Here are the light and adjustable mount I picked up from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B9X53N5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VV0BIRW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was frustrating that I could not find a red LED light made for the adjustable mount. That was back in 2019, when a calendar year knew how to behave itself. Maybe if you look again, you can find one that fits without alteration. If not, let us know how yours turns out!

James
 
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Nice work with the mini-lathe. I've had mine for about 5-6 years and it comes in handy. Haven't gone so far as learning how to cut threads, but still comes in handy for little projects like yours.

Another thing to keep in mind is that most flashlights can have their LED swapped to one of a more desirable color and/or tint. I used to do this regularly in a previous hobby. One guy had me make up a three color LED light for him so he could have red/green/blue easily at his disposal. If you have some basic electronics knowledge, know the difference between + and -, and can solder decently it's not too hard.
 
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