canister lights

[bwollard]

Has anyone read the book "The Divelight Companion" by Steve Lindblom? Has anyone tried to build one of his lights from scratch? I am interested in trying. Here is a link for his book.
http://www.airspeedpress.com/newlitebook.html

 

[Green_Manelishi]

I have. Steve is an interesting person and also a member of the same dive club as I. You should see his dry suit:
day-glo orange !!!

Not being (particularly) gifted in certain areas I found
that much of the book made no sense to me UNTIL I bought a
light and could actually SEE what Steve was writing about
in the book. Additionally, I lacked many of the basic tools
necessary to actually build the light. No matter though:
I've learned quite a bit from reading the book and examining the my light.

If you are knowledgeable about the subject you might have
more success with following the text and actually building
a light. I regret that I am such a dope in those matters ;-)

 

[scubaturek]

I have, and I built a light pretty much from what I learned from the book. It's a 4" X 13" PVC can, with 1" thick top and bottom. I built a MR-16 head out of aluminum. The battery pack is 12 Cyclon X cells, wired to give 12V at 10ah. I'll build a test tube head next. The MR-16 head was a lot of work, but the rest was easy. A test tube head would be easy, using delrin. I'm a gunsmith by trade, and I'm lucky to have a garage full of equipment. A lathe is awful handy. You could put a canister and cord assembly together without a lathe, but you gotta have one to make a head. You could buy a lighthead, and make everything else.
BTW, went to Interstate Battery and bought a 6/12V 1.5 amp charger for $30. With a full charge, a 50W EZT bulb lasts about 45 minutes. I've also tried a Solux 50W 10 degree 4700K bulb. Haven't tried it enough to form an opinion, but the Solux is certainly blue. Also have a 17 degree that I haven't tried yet.
Any questions?
Joe

 

[bwollard]

So, I your opinion, is the book worth the money Or should I just buy a light already made?

 

[scubaturek]

...is worth the price. Knowledge is priceless. Buy the book even if you don't build your own light. You *will* learn something. If you buy an EE, AUL, Ralph Hood, whatever, you need to maintain it. Divelight Companion teaches that.
Building your own dive stuff is lotsa fun; if I can't be submerged, I'm making something. Is it cheaper? Well, how much does experience mean to you? That, plus satisfaction that you made something that actually works.
You can e-mail the guys at Airspeed and they'll answer. I'll buy anything they print.
Joe