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Tip: Make Your Own Landing Light Lens

briand

briand

Well Known Member
Well I bought my left light from DW and decided to cobble my right one together on my own. As we all know HF sells the fog er I mean landing light for $8.99 a pair and all thats left is some hardware the brkt and last and certainly not least that plexi lens.

I read Chads write up on his homemade kit and was impressed but disappointed that he purchased his lenses when he could have made his own for less.

Its pretty simple (much easier than making a CONE out of a sheat of plexi which I learned to do making a skimmer a couple years back for my reef tank).

Get a sheet of .093 OPTIX from HD and cut to size (about 7"x11"), I used my Makita mitre saw. Place the plexi with the protective plastic removed on the BOTTOM of a clean baking sheet, set the oven for 300 (you might want to wait until your wife or girlfriend goes away first). Wait about 2 minutes after reaching 300 to remove the plexi and the lay it on your LE. I taped a pc. of paper to protect the alum. from scratches (see pic.). I used a damp towel to hold the plexi tight to the LE as it cooled. Thats it.






 
Very cool! Thanks for the tip!

Let me know if you think it's worth assembling your own leading edge light kit. I've been debating whether i should order the DW lights, and how many, 1 or 2?

One thing I never understood was how the DW kits add up to the kit cost of $105 for instance, without the bulb. The individual parts prices aren't very much when looking at them on an item by item basis. It does not look like there should be that many parts to add up to the $105. What am i missing?

Jae
 
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Except now the bend radius of the OUTSIDE of the lens is larger than the bend radius of the leading edge. Might be splitting hairs here, but you might have a gap at the nose of the thing, between it and the skin.

What you might want to try, assuming you have your leading edge separate from the wing, is laying it INSIDE the leading edge as opposed to outside. That oughtta produce a perfect fit. Not sure if that's doable, but probably worth a shot.
 
Dan,

I actually did think of that but the Duckworks appears to be bent to the same radius as the outside. I matched up the one from DW and its REAL close (if not exact) to the ones I made. If you remember from when you installed yours, you'll remember the tape that you needed to pull the lens tight.

I think forming it to the inside might work but if you end up with a smaller radius on the lens it may actually cause gaps between the skin and lens. I thought about this for a while before I proceeded and the nice thing about the plexi is you can reheat and try again if it doesn't come out right the first time, just handle carefully so you don't scratch it.
 
jchang10 said:
Very cool! Thanks for the tip!

Let me know if you think it's worth assembling your own leading edge light kit. I've been debating whether i should order the DW lights, and how many, 1 or 2?

One thing I never understood was how the DW kits add up to the kit cost of $105 for instance, without the bulb. The individual parts prices aren't very much when looking at them on an item by item basis. It does not look like there should be that many parts to add up to the $105. What am i missing?

Jae
Click to expand...


The lights are only 8.99 (for 2) at Habor Freight. Order the hardware when you need other hardware. Double sided tape I already had (about $3). A sheet of plexi will do 6 lenses for $5. I used the left over from my wing walk dblr skins for the bracket, its .025 but after you make the bends it is just as sturdy as the .032 DW brkt., that fog light reflector only weighs 2.5 ounces. If you dont buy at leastone kit you wont have the templates, check out Chads install for more tips.

I figure you can do both for about $20 without S&H charges for hardware. The most time consuming is the brkt. but if your do 2 at a time that will cut your avg. time way down.
 
jchang10 said:
Very cool! Thanks for the tip!

One thing I never understood was how the DW kits add up to the kit cost of $105 for instance, without the bulb. The individual parts prices aren't very much when looking at them on an item by item basis. It does not look like there should be that many parts to add up to the $105. What am i missing?
Click to expand...

It's what's known as.....

What's time worth to you? If you want to blow half a day gathering up parts, and then forming plexi, as well as handcrafting the aluminum brackets, etc., using someone elses design, then fine. If you could make a better hourly wage elsewhere, then pay for the kit, then your're better off.

Never assume that running a business, involves just adding up parts.

L.Adamson
 
leading edge

thats exactly how we did it in school. works like a champ..if dans coment needed to be addressed we would make a plug and place it in the oven and heat until it draped over the plug. either way its fine. nice work. ;)
 
L.Adamson said:
It's what's known as.....

What's time worth to you? If you want to blow half a day gathering up parts, and then forming plexi, as well as handcrafting the aluminum brackets, etc., using someone elses design, then fine. If you could make a better hourly wage elsewhere, then pay for the kit, then your're better off.

Never assume that running a business, involves just adding up parts.

L.Adamson
Click to expand...


If it was ALL about what our time is worth I think just about every one of us would do QB. Its the satisfaction of doing it ourselves, and saving a few bucks in the process is very nice.
Handcrafting the alum. brkt. is good practice. DW offers a nice kit for a reasonable price, however I enjoyed making my own LL for my second wing.

BTW, you wouldn't happen to be L. (the Duck) Adamson would you? :D
 
time is money but

L.Adamson said:
It's what's known as.....

What's time worth to you? If you want to blow half a day gathering up parts, and then forming plexi, as well as handcrafting the aluminum brackets, etc., using someone elses design, then fine. If you could make a better hourly wage elsewhere, then pay for the kit, then your're better off.

Never assume that running a business, involves just adding up parts.

L.Adamson
Click to expand...
time is money and if i would have built a QB i would long have been done and had money in my pocket :rolleyes: . but this is experimental and we help each other to master new skills. i bought two of those duck works lights :rolleyes: and if i would have made my own they wouldnt have needed to be rigged to fit the bay. ok only one didnt fit but i still had to make it work. at the price those lights sell for now i can see the incentive for the home brew not to mention the satisfaction. but instead most of us including myself will look like every other light install on the feild. thank god they look as good as they do. :p even if i can make 75 bucks an hour rebuilding transmissions some times i just want to do it myself. :cool:and theres always time spent doing nothing. may as well make some counterfeit parts. :eek:
 
Yep

I think my question was mis-understood. I was asking about how the "kit" price seemed higher than the individual part prices. I assume it's not, and once i get the kit, it will be obvious.

L.Adamson said:
It's what's known as.....

What's time worth to you? If you want to blow half a day gathering up parts, and then forming plexi, as well as handcrafting the aluminum brackets, etc., using someone elses design, then fine. If you could make a better hourly wage elsewhere, then pay for the kit, then your're better off.

Never assume that running a business, involves just adding up parts.

L.Adamson
Click to expand...
 
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