My first mod

[Mattco]

I work in the medical field and really really wanted something with a penclip. And it seems that they don't really exist...at least not in a way that I was happy with. So I decided to make one.

It's made from a disposable penlight (that I hadn't disposed of yet) and uses a 10440. The "actuator" is the clip itself. I suck at soldering so I took a piece of aluminum rod and whittled it down and stabbed it a couple times with some drill bits for the 510 connector and the battery. I did end up having to solder the connector in, but with a gentle use of a pen torch and some solder, it's stuck in the hole for good without leaving any evidence. Here's it disassembled:

It's pretty simple really. The aluminum part is friction fit, but with some careful measuring and a little tweaking of the spring at the base and it's happy. I can shake it roughly and it won't fall out. But with a tug, it comes right out to change the battery easily. I'm a little new here and I'm curious as to what y'all think. If you want more details or pictures, just ask.

 

[guitarman023]

I really like it! Very good idea for the switch!

 

[Ragman]

Mattco... I think that is an AWESOME mod!!! Great job. I would love to try my hand at making one of those.

Do you work in tool and die? where'd you get the aluminum? How do you "whittle" aluminum?

THanks and great job Mattco!!

 

[Mattco]

I do my whittling on a mini-lathe. The aluminum started out as a 1/2" rod that I had from some previous forgotten project. You can get from MSC. The hard part is trying to find the right penlight. I ordered some from Amazon that won't work as easily, so I ordered another brand and we'll see if those work. The penlight I used had the light bulb clipped into a piece of metal. The light bulb is very close to the diameter of a battery adapter. So I imagine with some creativity, it could be made without a lathe and all you'd need is a pipe cutter. I'll need to do some thinking to figure out a way so that anybody can do it with just maybe a soldering iron.

 

[johnny bobcat]

6061 is a very hard, high grade aluminum, you don't need anything nearly that rigid for this application. That, in tube form is what most aluminum bike frames are made of.

 

[WillyB]

6061 is a very hard, high grade aluminum, you don't need anything nearly that rigid for this application. That, in tube form is what most aluminum bike frames are made of.

6061 is very common and one of the least expensive aluminum alloys. Beer cans are made from it.

 

[BradSmith]

very cool. I'm just getting into making mods and it's fun. I have a hard time with soldier, but I watched a bunch of vids and now I'm a little better at it. I have big hands and all they seem to do is get in the way.

 

[Mattco]

@ Johnny...I used a piece of nylon rod for the prototype, but it felt too flimsy and wasn't staying put very because of it's "squashiness". The aluminum worked much better and simplified several steps. I suppose I could have used brass, but then it wouldn't have matched the clip.

@ Brad...I totally understand....my soldering looks like cow manure. (And all the burn marks on my hands tells me my hands get in the way too...) Soldering is something I need to get better at. I have had a major learning issue when it comes to electricity and oddly enough, it's all beginning to make sense now that I've started vaping. Can I add enhanced intelligence as another of the benefits of vaping?