Special CNI PLP520B1 pen build

[Pman]

I've built a lot of pens lately and I will share them all coming up but for now I want to show how I built a PLP520B1 (which is a multi-mode but has a small spot size albeit with wings or a line) into an empty CNI pen that I had purchased from Crazyspaz. I haven't a clue what was originally in the CNI pen to begin with but it was meant to run off (2) CR2 cells which you can buy as rechargeables such as a TR 15270 or LiFePO4. I do have some of those cells but decided to go with a single 14500 as I needed the space.
It took me quite awhile to decide what to put in it as I wanted it to be special because the host is special. I CAN make it focus-able if I want to but for now haven't. I'll explain that as I go along.
I forgot to take a pic of the host with nothing in it before starting the build so my apologies. It's not like you wont be able to follow along anyways.
One of the parts it came with was this spacer that had a spring on the end. I added the red wire to it:

There was already a hole going through it so I just fed the wire. What it doesn't show is I had to trim the whole plastic/nylon piece a bit on the back side where the switch is going to go so that it would line up with the host hole:

In order to fit the switch correctly I drilled a small hole at an angle for the negative wire:

The reason why I fed the negative wire through that piece is to make a way for the drive to catch the negative off the host wall just as I've figured out to do with all my laser66 builds (and there's a bunch finished I haven't shared yet. I took a piece of thin copper and tinned it on both sides for a bit of added thickness and to make good contact with the host. It works VERY well:

Soldered the negative wire to the copper:

Trimmed down this is what it actually looks like:

After removing all the components on the switch/driver and checking my options of where to solder the other end of the negative wire to this is what I ended up with:

I then soldered the + to the other side of the switch:

Looking down one end of the top section you can see there is a brass piece in there for a module to be pressed into:

This is the other end and it sticks out so the back half can press into it snuggly. All the scrapes were there when I got it and my guess is that something drastic had to be done to remove the innards:

I had to trim the end down a bit so everything would fit properly. Please keep in mind that I only have hand tools lol:

What you see here is the back half with the switch pressed into place:

Something of interest is I ended up having to change out the switch (just the actual small switch part on the board) and because of how this piece fit I needed to trim down the rubber boot that was supposed to slip inside over the button but while I was slimming it down with my dremel it flung off to parts unknown to never be seen again so I also modified for a different button to stick through the hole.

This is a cruddy pic but it's just showing the module that I pressed in and the final hookups. For a change, I bought the complete module with driver and G2 lens from DTR so nothing to show for putting the module together because I didn't do it. I did have to smooth out the inside of the heat sink to press it in:

I cut a half moon into both sides of a lens holder so I could use my small long needle nose pliers to put the lens inside and adjust to infinity:

Some pics of the completed project. The funny thing is I had intended to store it in the dragon case that I bought off of Laser Chick that fit it like a glove but I forgot about the button sticking out. I could actually press it in but my bet is I might end up ruining the button so no dice on that. The button didn't end up staying silver as this pic shows:

Pic with the button painted gold:

Like I said earlier it is running off a single 14500 and outputting 203mW with a G2. I had selected Jordan's max setting of 450mA but I can't remember if I tweaked the output or not as I built so many other units. I have a habit of pushing things beyond what he will sell his set to

Some beam shots. My apologies as they are not very good:

I realize I don't really show it but the top of the unit is screwed in so I could make a piece that bridges the gap between the lens holder and the cap so that I could focus it using the threads but for now I'm thinking of leaving it as is instead of doing what I do to make regular Ebay over-spec pens fully focus-able.

 

[BowtieGuy]

Fantastic looking pen build, Pete! :beer:
Love those white hosts. I see you also have a great home for it, in that cool Dragon case!
:gj: Wish I could +rep ya, but the system is still a POS!

 

[Pman]

lol read again I am actually not using it as it puts too much stress on the button The fit couldn't have been more perfect otherwise. I could trim the button down though come to think of it.....
I have been posting laser66 builds and have many that I haven't shown yet but I wanted to show something different. Also have another special build coming that has a pretty cool feature that I have never seen anyone else come up with. All in good time.

 

[Pman]

Guess people aren't too interested anymore in this kind of stuff. This place used to be so much more alive. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...... Oh well, have to make my own fun. How many blahs was that?

 

[paul1598419]

Sorry to be so late to see this, Pman. I'm always interested in your builds. If you continue to post, I'll continue to observe. I'd rep you too, but can't just yet.

 

[badboybilly]

Nice build mate just saw it,
Cool bro.

 

[GSS]

Guess people aren't too interested anymore in this kind of stuff. This place used to be so much more alive. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...... Oh well, have to make my own fun. How many blahs was that?

Are you kidding, I think you had a big impact as to the pen builds members are doing but you tend to favor some type of duty cycle You just have so so many its hard to keep track on the other side and i'm guessing you even forgot how many I enjoy when you send me a PM once in a while telling me of a build your planning post. Pman new members dont even realize your ebay focusable ones that you made because when I first joined it seemed half the members had got some from you. Bring up the thread again or it will be my honer to "I dont care how corny I sound" By the way how many builds do you have for real or at least a guess?.....That was 11 blah by the way probably more blah's that I have pens.

 

[Lifetime17]

Hi P,
Nice build buddy and a nice looking host to match. I ordered 2- of those diodes just waiting now. wow the white contrast of the host and the WL together are epic. great job ....
Rich

 

[Davidx]

Nice. Gold button goes with the white host.
I'm reading your posts. Just can't rep you because I already have.

I like these pens with the extra horsepower hidden away in them. Sleepers.

 

[Pman]

Thanks guys. I understand the REP thing as I don't even know who I can REP either. Seems like every person I try I've already done it too.
As far as my Ebay focusable pen tutorial goes something happened (and I'm not sure what) that made it all go away. I'm pretty sure imageshack.com screwed up and lost all the pics and that was a pretty long detailed tutorial. Don't think the pics exist anymore anywhere. I'll take a look and see but my guess is they are gone. I haven't redone it as it was such a loss when it suddenly went away.
I am trying to aquire a few more of the laser66 pens with switches for the other builds I wanted to complete with them but haven't had any luck so far as it looks like they are all gone at this point or at least all of the switch stuff you need to build them right are gone.
As far as how many lasers I own it's somewhere in the 350 range. Probably 35 or so are class 4.
I keep telling people to add their pens to the pen thread (after posting in a normal spot) but haven't done it myself. I've got a lot to add.
Interesting how all of a sudden so many of you got into the pen stuff too over the past 6 months or so. A few othe members have done just the opposite with huge builds with custom beam expanders. I just can't see myself owning such large units. The biggest I have are a couple of those MX900. Have some Maglites with heat-sinks and another large host that have been sitting around awhile but it's more likely I would use a Phlatlight in them than a diode.
The gold button goes with the gold ring and back gold end cap. I will likely make this focusable with the front screw in cap when I get bored.
Besides all that it's good to see some others just building for the fun of it again. Sometimes the forum gets too bogged down with drama and drama is a fun sucker. Nice to see someone actually counted my blahs Have to understand it felt really blah to not have anyone bother to notice the build. I post this stuff in detail so others can get ideas how to get around issues they may have. The details matter as it encourages others to not let the build they want to make beat them. Should be fun and not discouraging.
Funny thing is I just learned what those big springs are supposed to be used for in a 501b build. Ive built a lot of them and always found another way to put pressure against the pill. Just thought the spring was some kind of extra part for what would have been needed for a flashlight build lol

 

[Alaskan]

Great, nice looking build, sometimes I don't see new posts, just found yours. I'd rep for this but I have to rep at least 60 different members before I can re-rep someone, takes two weeks, 13-14 days for me if I rep five times a day, each and every day to someone.

 

[GSS]

I don't care how little a difference there is between pics on builds, every single step can be crucial to a build and when its done with any items laying around members need to see things that are maby fabricated. I saw the spring thing from Lifetime and RC and if there ever was a need for pic's thats one of them. I'm not on usually at night and it's hard to catch up in the mornings and sometimes it takes someone to open a thread that was a week old. Yeah Pman that focus pen thread isn't working. 350 pens my Lord I don't think I have that many laser parts

 

[Pman]

No, not 350 pens, around 350 units total Not sure how many pen type units there are. Probably around 100 and maybe 10 are laser66. I think I show most of them in my pen thread but don't include all of the ebay ones I made focusable.
I understand Alaskan. Sometimes I find them by looking at the bottom to see what threads are active and sometimes it's just from checking here many times a day.

On a side note I don't know if any of you pen people are interested or not but the laserbtb pens are not that expensive and feel/look quite nice. They don't feel/look cheapie what I'm saying. I own quite a few of them and think I am going to order a couple I am missing in my collection. They are not focusable but I've never received one under spec and like I said they have a nice feel to them. I think there was only one that didn't dramatically increase in output with more voltage. They use to sell more powerful ones a couple years ago. You can get them in standard black or for less than $2 you can get white for a different look:
http://www.laserbtb.com/Search.asp?id=3&bn=Type&sn=pointer&y=1

Special ones that will switch between on and 2 pulses per second:
http://www.laserbtb.com/productshow.asp?id=116

For $12.88 they sell a small tripod that has a thumb screw that will hold the button on which makes it way easier to take pics. I forget to use mine. I think the 2 I don't have are the pulsed 532nm 50mW and the 405nm 80mW but I need to check before ordering and I want another tripod. Will say that the site has always been a bit confusing and they don't do the greatest job with their descriptions.