cjdelphi:
barely get warm?.. if those cree led's are not producing enough heat to to burn you without a heatsink.... you'll barely hit 100 lumens output!you need a good heatsink and a switching regulator....
I said using incandescent lamps as current limiters will work without them getting terribly warm.
The OP wants 3000 ma (3 amps). 3 amps times 3 to 4 volts drop across an incandescent lamp is only 9 to 12 watts. A single christmas tree bulb (the old fashioned large kind) is 7 watts. Those run cool enough to hold by hand when they are on.
(fixed typo)