Custom Designed Stainless Steel AA Light
Occasionally one gets the slightly oddball request—in this case for a heavy, solid stainless steel AA-powered flashlight. Normally most people like their lights, well, light, but this customer wanted a substantial light and preferred one with thick walls. Well, the customer was from Great Britain, so we had to cut him a little slack.
Since the light itself was to be made of 316SS, which isn't a good conductor of heat, I decided to also make the light engine out of copper, for maximum thermal conductivity. And since weight wasn't a factor, I could put in a fairly large sized piece of copper, too.
The copper heatsink also became part of the design of the light—it was allowed to show between the two main pieces, the head, which holds the lens, reflector and the driver, and the battery tube. Shown at left, the copper heatsink also has a foam gasket on the bottom of it, to stop the AA battery from rattling when the light is off.
The final product was a joy to hold—the 316 Stainless Steel was highly polished and very comfortable to touch. And, given the weight, the light would make a formidable weapon, if thrown at someone.
