Engineering & prototyping

I build mechanisms, machine parts, and make enclosures for electronics. My drone work also includes complete systems and launch pads. Here are some of the projects I’ve photographed in the workshop.

Discuss a prototype

Custom cycle light with a copper heat-pipe cooler fitted into a modified silver Cateye housing

Hamburger Ötzi

LED lighting · Prototype to finished build

The LEDs worked; the prototype was simply too big. I rebuilt the three-LED light inside a Cateye HL-1500 housing, with a smaller copper heat-pipe cooler and a handlebar remote connection. The layered construction and the Ötzi cooler gave it its name: “Hamburger Ötzi.” The gallery includes the earlier prototype.

Compact cylindrical bicycle lamp with a clear triple-LED optic and a handlebar mounting bracket

Three-LED cycle light

Custom bicycle lighting · 2007

Built in 2007 around three Cree XR-E LEDs and a round optic. Other cyclists saw it on my bike and wanted one, so I made more and revised the design as I went. The photographs show the components, wiring, finished housings, and beam tests.

Two repurposed metal torches joined into a compact twin-LED cycling headlamp

A second life for two torches

LED conversion · Helmet light

The useful part of these inexpensive torches was the metal housing. I kept that, replaced the internals with Cree XR-E LEDs in copper cups, and added a magnet salvaged from a hard drive to make helmet mounting easier. The result was a narrow-beam cycling headlamp.

A black finned heat sink clamped in the milling-machine vice

UAV radio heat sink

Drone component · 2025

Machining a heat sink for an MV04 UAV radio.

Computer enclosure

Electronics enclosure · 2026

A custom enclosure for a mini PC, with internal wiring, external connectors and two antennas.

Two servo-operated mechanisms side by side on the workbench

Servo mechanisms

Mechanical assemblies · 2026

Two servo-operated mechanisms with machined brackets, springs and linkages.

Machined circular assembly with its bearing and red inner housing

Bearing assemblies

Turning & milling · 2026

Turning and milling circular housings, then fitting the bearings and inner parts. The gallery follows the machining and assembly.

Router table

Workshop equipment · 2026

Building a table around a router lift and adjustable fence, from cutting the worktop to the first cuts.

Aircraft display models

Display models · 2025

PROTAR aircraft display models on wooden stands, photographed from several angles. These are display pieces.