@ Morgan:
Would the variable power setting require constant manual refocusing of the lens? Hmm... do you think including fewer, more specific settings -- say, low (fluoresce), med (laser pointer) and high (hot/burning laser) -- would be practical? Oh, as for the color of the grip, the only time I remember actually seeing that part, that color onscreen was early in series 1 (2005).
Flourescence: focal point in front of diode - gives a cone output, with a wide spread so that it's relatively eye-safe.
Pointing: focal point on diode - gives (essentially) straight beam
Burning: focal point behind the diode - gives a beam output that has a focal point, which is concentrated enough to burn.
The output power of the diode does not affect the distances to create each of the above shapes though.
@Anyone (especially Morgan/Kim)
I'm going to try and throw together an initial design for the host before too long (exam season though, so no guarantees this is any time soon) - I'll get a friend to do some initial renders. I'll use the diagram a couple of posts up for the basic shape of the host, and if there are any differences between your replica and the design in the render, it'd be useful if you could mention it to me and I'll correct them. After that, I'll try and get it built on a CNC machine locally, but if that's not possible I'll send the resultant engineering drawings to someone who could create a prototype. I might like to play with some rapid-prototyping pieces too (basically plastic) - for the internals only. I can give anodisation a good try, for the silver or black sections. Handle section depends on the finish of the real thing.
My initial ideas for the design throw up a couple of places where accuracy of replica might clash with functionality - I'd be particularly interested in diameter 2 as labelled. Distances 9 and 5 also interest me, as well as the overall diameter and the travel distance of the slider.
I think I may have a way of offering nearly all of the features of the original, perhaps even the extending head (though this is quite inconvenient
) but it does depend to some extent on several dimensions. What does the handle of the model one look like, and how does the slider operate? All the dimensions I'd find useful if you could post or PM are (crudely) annotated below. Overall weight, and an estimate of the centre of gravity would be useful (but mainly from a curiosity point of view, I'm not going to try and design too hard to these)
I'd suggest that AA size (14500) is the lowest we'll reasonably be using for this - though the bigger the better - does everyone agree with this assumption from a design point of view?
On the focus issue - basically, the only reliable and sensible way of changing the focus is to do it manually, by directly twisting the lens assembly close to the diode. For that reason, the design can't be 100% accurate - the closest we're going to get will still look different at the beam aperture. A custom focus ring along the line of Jayrob's EZ-Focus adapters is the closest we will get to the true look of the head, and even then, due to the size of the Aixiz module, will still vary slightly in length, if not width.
Any help you're willing to offer is most welcome and appreciated!
but I'll do my best to get you the measurements listed.
