Black Core Saber

[Insomaniac]

Hello there TCSS,
I present to you my black core saber that I am currently working on. I am making great progress so far (in my eyes) and believe that I will be able to achieve a good black core that is the same visibly from all angles at once.

The video is here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83_puqcfmWI), and it may be hard to tell but I am rotating the blade all the way around. Currently the black core is not quite perfectly constructed and the poly-p wrap is dirty on the inside due to much testing involving this blade.

http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m547/insomaniac49/th_0328200905.jpg (http://s1131.photobucket.com/albums/m547/insomaniac49/?action=view&current=0328200905.jpg)
This is a comparison shot between a stock MR Vader ANH and the black core saber so far. Right now you can tell that the MR is much brighter currently and I intend to fix that with either a 10W white led or to have three P4's in a triangle formation. I will probably attempt both to compare results.

The blade I am currently using is the 1" thick-walled but I believe the thin-walled blade will offer even better results. I am also going to experiment with using more/less poly-p but so far the results have leaned towards using more wraps of poly-p.

Any comments/questions are welcome

[Sunrider]

Try turning a light on for the video. Mesa no see nothing.

[TimeRender]

J-Lo, is there any way you can lock a single person off of a thread? If so, PLEASE prevent me from ever posting here... For everyone's sake...

[Jedi-Loreen]

J-Lo, is there any way you can lock a single person off of a thread? If so, PLEASE prevent me from ever posting here... For everyone's sake...
Sorry, no, there isn't.


Not very impressive results, so far. It looks like you're getting some light at the edges of the blade from the base flare, but it's not traveling up the blade very far.

To me, it just looks like a blade with far too much poly-p inside it.

[Skottsaber]

Not again......

*sigh*

[Crystal Chambers]

Yeah we've all been down this road a few times. It's been thoroughly debated so any hope of achieving this would rely on something new and/or not thought of. That is quite a challenge considering the how many brilliant people have already racked their brains.

To put it simple...to the best of everyone's current knowledge this would require defying the laws of physics.

[IndustrialAction]

Right. By it's very nature, black does not emit and does not reflect light.

[TimeRender]

I'm going to post ONE comment here and that's it. Hopefully my willpower will hold out and I won't trigger another lengthy flame-war.

Your idea isn't new. It has been discussed before. Everything that was predicted (general dimness, base flare, light not reaching blade extents) seems to be present in your mockup. What you have created does NOT reproduce the effect satisfactorily, and no amount of tinkering with the idea will ever change that. Go post it on the FX forums and they will probably make you mayor for the day, but anyone who is serious about their lightsabers will not be impressed.

I suggest you take the time to get caught up on the argument. Here are a few threads to read.

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?10928-Black-Blade-development...
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?9188-Black-blades

Finally, I'll submit this... There are exactly THREE possible ways that an effect like this MIGHT be possible. The first is to make the blade viewable only by a single angle. If you intend to hang your blade up on a wall this will be sufficient. This can be accomplished either by masking an ordinary ordinary blade or by making a blade shaped cutout and then back-lighting it. Once you take the blade off the wall the illusion will be destroyed, so this doesn't really satisfy the criteria most people are looking for.

The second is to make a flat blade and illuminate only the edges. This could be achieved with EL or with side-illuminated acrylic or a similar material. This will produce the effect from MOST angles, but the closer the viewer is to being in line with the edge of the blade, the narrower the black section will appear. Also, whichever illuminated edge is facing the opposite direction relative to the viewer will also appear narrower and could possibly become obscured completely, destroying the illusion. This method come closest to achieving the look of the black lightsaber as seen in the Clone Wars cartoon, if you're into that sort of thing...

The third method, which to my knowledge is still untested, relies on using a Makoto style string inside a dual-tube blade setup. The inner and outer blade tubes must be lined in polarized film which is oriented 45 degrees from the angle of the blade and 90 degrees from each other. Hypothetically if this was done correctly and if the materials used were of optical quality, this would create a black-cored blade that was visible from 360 degrees at all times. However, the cost of building such a blade would be staggering, the blade would be relatively dim, it would be incredibly difficult to build, and honestly it may not work at all.

I hope we can end the discussion here.

[Rafalema]

Timerender, I love reading your posts on this. I went through all the threads for them. Thanks for this. :cool:

[jin starkiller]

I have to agree that we have been down this road numerous times and their is no new technology on the sibject to make it work

check out ther threads in time renders post and you will see taht it has been discussed before and before...you get the point

[Insomaniac]

I have read through all the threads here and looked through Senti's blade thread not as thoroughly once I determined it only had the best effect from certain angles. I thought this might be the response this thread would get and that's fine. I realize it has been tried and tried before with mild success, but I have not seen anyone create the blade in the fashion I have.

I know that we cannot create an effect in real life that was created by computers, but I am hoping for an effect similar enough to that. Even if I do not get completely satisfactory results, I am having a fun time trying and tinkering with it. I didn't mean to debate things that have been discussed at numerous lengths already, but to see if it was possible to work around the issues I am having at the moment.

I do appreciate you taking the time for a wonderfully detailed post TimeRender even though it seems this thread has ruffled your feathers. I am not discouraged yet and hope I can get some better results soon, I guess I was just a bit giddy at my own creation, and if I cannot reach my goal then I will get in line with everyone else that has tried something and failed :)

I did put together a slightly better video but the effect on camera isn't nearly as good as in person. Another Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkXezR-YimQ)

[Rafalema]

You've got a great taste for music. :cool:

The blade, it's ok, but near the emitter it doesn't have the "black blade" effect.

[Insomaniac]

Thank you :)

But yes in the video/most camera shots the light near the emitter I would say 'washes out' because it is much brighter near the emitter than down the length of the blade. Which is another issue I intend to iron out hopefully soon is having the whole blade illuminated much better.

[TimeRender]

How exactly do you plan on illuminating the blade better?

Yeah, I do get my feathers ruffled because every element of your idea has already been discussed and debunked. You say that you have not seen anyone create a blade in this fashion, but that only shows that you haven't looked hard enough yet. Dual tube designs with an opaque inner blade will never work. Go back and re-read Vorian89's thread. In particular, read posts 13, 26, 37, 59 (ignore the fact that we're talking about UV, the principle behind the ring of LEDs is still relevant to your idea), 69, 92, 96-98, and 110. In fact, ESPECIALLY 110!

[Azmaria Dei]

you know, i still want to try my idea... take a rod of obsidian and toss it into one of the fukushima reactors for a few days. if it survives, it'll be black and it'll glow.

never mind it being radioactive. ^_^

[TimeRender]

Obsidian is fragile, maybe you should set it gently in the reactor instead of tossing it. Otherwise I think you might be onto something.

[Azmaria Dei]

Obsidian is fragile, maybe you should set it gently in the reactor instead of tossing it. Otherwise I think you might be onto something.

yeah of course. i'll encase it in a polycarbonate sleeve as well.

[grayven]

You can use it as a space heater too.

[Kental]

Personally I like the idea of a Black cored blade. Don't know if you will achieve it or not but looking forward to seeing your outcome. I wish you luck and please if you do achieve it tell everyone how and what you did to correct it.

A side note it's really frustrating to a new member like myself who is excited about the saber-craft to see people bashing others just cause its been tried before or no one has ever achieved it before. If GL listened to people like that then we would have never had SW cause he got rejected several times for SW. I can understand you not liking the subject of the thread or are tired of reading another failed test but that doesn't mean you have to come in here and be negative about it. Simple don't open the thread. The more I read from people that post a lot here the more I see they don't like people trying new things or even old things that people have already failed at. Who cares if it's been tried before, how many times did it take to create a light bulb? It is truly sad that people have to put down or belittle others ideas or projects to make themselves feel good as that is what I truly get out of posts that start out "Oh no not again" type of garbage . Yes we all know about the other threads where other people tried and failed at making a black core saber, but leave people alone and let them try it for themselves to achieve or fail in peace. Off my rant now and Good-bye TCSS

[Azmaria Dei]

Personally I like the idea of a Black cored blade. Don't know if you will achieve it or not but looking forward to seeing your outcome. I wish you luck and please if you do achieve it tell everyone how and what you did to correct it.

A side note it's really frustrating to a new member like myself who is excited about the saber-craft to see people bashing others just cause its been tried before or no one has ever achieved it before. If GL listened to people like that then we would have never had SW cause he got rejected several times for SW. I can understand you not liking the subject of the thread or are tired of reading another failed test but that doesn't mean you have to come in here and be negative about it. Simple don't open the thread. The more I read from people that post a lot here the more I see they don't like people trying new things or even old things that people have already failed at. Who cares if it's been tried before, how many times did it take to create a light bulb? It is truly sad that people have to put down or belittle others ideas or projects to make themselves feel good as that is what I truly get out of posts that start out "Oh no not again" type of garbage . Yes we all know about the other threads where other people tried and failed at making a black core saber, but leave people alone and let them try it for themselves to achieve or fail in peace. Off my rant now and Good-bye TCSS

a little history then... last year this very subject nearly tore the whole community apart and there's a LOT of hard feelings about it. this is generally a very friendly place, but it seems that you take things on the internet (and here especially) way too seriously. if you really don't like it and are leaving for good, then good luck with the rest of life. if you ever come back, calm down, remember that this is the internet and words can't hurt you, and try to relax.

[Sunrider]

Well I wouldn't say almost tore the community. Maybe some people stretched a muscle laughing. ;) But for future anti light saber blade attempts please make it impressive beyond what we've seen already or you will likely get an anti response. ;)

[Azmaria Dei]

Well I wouldn't say almost tore the community. Maybe some people stretched a muscle laughing. ;) But for future anti light saber blade attempts please make it impressive beyond what we've seen already or you will likely get an anti response. ;)

from the threads i read when i got here, it seemed that a lot of people stressed over it quite a bit and a lot of feelings were hurt then. i just don't want future generations of TCSS'rs to learn that lesson every few months.

i'm still serious about my radioactive obsidian though.

[Silver Serpent]

I give Insomaniac credit for actually trying to make something work. I think a lot of the hurt feelings from before were caused by too many people saying "try this" and "try that" without actually doing any experimentation themselves. Ideas were being tossed out and shot down at a very rapid rate.

It's a neat effect, and it looks really cool in video games or on TV. If anyone ever does come up with an easy and inexpensive method to faithfully recreate the effect, they'll definitely get the attention of the saber community.

Az, when you make your radioactive obsidian, could you make a second one and send it to me? I need something to keep my feet warm at night :)

[TimeRender]

Radioactive foot warmers have a slight drawback... You often wake up with more feet than you fell asleep with. Then you have to buy more warmers.

Kental, there's a difference between "bashing" and critically examining. Also no one criticized anyone because it (black lightsabers) hadn't been done before. That's a terrible mischaracterization of what took place here. The criticism was because people were attempting to solve the problem without first examining the problem, which is just plain bad science. You seem to think that it is somehow more noble to fail by trying than to avoid the failure altogether by achieving an understanding before you act. To me that seems a childish point of view.

NONE of the oldtimers on this forum have EVER to my memory tried to stifle creativity.

[Insomaniac]

Hey what's up guys, I was busy for the past couple of days, but what I did was I ordered a 3-UP Indus star because it has three LED's mounted in a triangle formation all within the star board along with matching optics. This allows more light to be put "around" the black core instead of losing it with the normal single LED set-up.

Here is the saber right now in the dark running the Indus star at about 1000ma with a max of 1500ma so I can still squeeze some light out of these puppies
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr103/Pecker49/Sabers/th_SANY0253.jpg (http://s474.photobucket.com/albums/rr103/Pecker49/Sabers/?action=view&current=SANY0253.jpg)
In the light
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr103/Pecker49/Sabers/th_SANY0254.jpg (http://s474.photobucket.com/albums/rr103/Pecker49/Sabers/?action=view&current=SANY0254.jpg)
Compared to stock Hasbro Vader in the dark
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr103/Pecker49/Sabers/th_SANY0255.jpg (http://s474.photobucket.com/albums/rr103/Pecker49/Sabers/?action=view&current=SANY0255.jpg)

I think it's getting better to at least my own personal goal, but I still have a few things to try and find a goldilocks zone for this blade. But hey some people learn a little bit better by doing things like myself so I am not too stressed about the result it's fun to do so that's all I need :)

[Azmaria Dei]

that's actually looking pretty good. maybe if you try tapering the LED end of that center black thing and add a bit of polypropelene as a diffuser up the sides...

they said no to my obsidian rod idea... they won't let me near those reactors... or travel north, for that matter. ^_^

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

Kental, there's a difference between "bashing" and critically examining. Also no one criticized anyone because it (black lightsabers) hadn't been done before. That's a terrible mischaracterization of what took place here. The criticism was because people were attempting to solve the problem without first examining the problem, which is just plain bad science. You seem to think that it is somehow more noble to fail by trying than to avoid the failure altogether by achieving an understanding before you act. To me that seems a childish point of view.

NONE of the oldtimers on this forum have EVER to my memory tried to stifle creativity.


I know I've been critical about this subject before here and other forums but as TimeRender says I would NEVER want to stifle anyones creativity...and I'll applaud anyone who proves me wrong and be happy for them, afterall I'd like a 'TFU-negative' blade too...but there's an old saying: A smart man learns from his mistakes not to make them again, a wise man learns from others' mistakes not to make them the first time. It behooves anyone wanting to make one of these oh so desired blades to get thoroughly informed on the quite extensive discussion of this subject on several saber forums by some very smart people who've examined this subject very very thoroughly from a great many angles from advanced engineering to theoretical physics.

Artists are taught that you have to learn the rules before you can break them, scientists are taught you can't break physical laws but if you know enough about them you can sometimes find specific conditions to allow getting around them. Either way knowledge of what has already been attempted is essential if for no other reason than to avoid wasting your own time and efforts retrying what others have already found out failed.

MTFBWY

[Insomaniac]

Too bad about the obsidian rod idea ;)

But yes I have been playing around with adding more/less poly-p and changing the size of the center to see which produces the best effect. I will be trying to get up a some comparison shots after work of the different combos.

And yes a bit of a taper does help especially in photos, I just for some reason haven't tapered this particular size yet but definitely will do that soon.

[Crystal Chambers]

I have to say I think the main reasons anyone is being any bit discouraging regarding this is it gets peoples hopes up who don't understand how difficult/impossible this effect is to achieve and I for one would hate to think of you wasting your time on it. If you enjoy the process somehow or learn other things that may come in handy otherwise then go nuts just don't go crazy..lol

If only there was an opposite of corbin film. Nibroc film?

[acerocket]

I am still trying to figure out why some of us spent hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars to get the brightest blades possible. Now we are on a quest fo find the darkest blade possible that will have only a slight glow on the top and bottom of the blade when viewed from a particular angle?

I am not out to tell anyone they shouldn't try to do it if that is what they want. I would however caution that you won't find much help on this issue. It has been debated in the past and many people just feel it is nothing more than a gimic and not really worthy of the huge investment it would take (monetary, timewise, and sweat equity) for a gimic blade.

[Zero Unit]

To be fair, all lightsabers are gimmicks. That means we are all crazy for spending time, sweat, and money on expensive, stylized, coloured flashlights with a translucent rod to carry light in a shaft: gimmicks. Oh, and some of them make noises on their own. If we don't try and do something special with our gimmicks, why not just buy the mass produced stuff and save ourselves the trouble?

Keep on truckin', Insomniac.

[Big_Furry_Oaf]

So my girlfriend said she would get into saber building with me... only if I could make a black bladed saber, "like Starkiller or the Jango Fett looking guy from the Clone Wars."
I don't think it's a pipe dream, exactly. I'd love to see it done.

[Sunrider]

So my girlfriend said she would get into saber building with me... only if I could make a black bladed saber, "like Starkiller or the Jango Fett looking guy from the Clone Wars."
I don't think it's a pipe dream, exactly. I'd love to see it done.

Many have tried....... They Failed. ;)

[ghost_a*]

The third method, which to my knowledge is still untested, relies on using a Makoto style string inside a dual-tube blade setup. The inner and outer blade tubes must be lined in polarized film which is oriented 45 degrees from the angle of the blade and 90 degrees from each other. Hypothetically if this was done correctly and if the materials used were of optical quality, this would create a black-cored blade that was visible from 360 degrees at all times. However, the cost of building such a blade would be staggering, the blade would be relatively dim, it would be incredibly difficult to build, and honestly it may not work at all.


is this what you're referring to here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjFZ8-dJmdA

[JamoUp]

that is only black from that angle. you can see before he turns it on the 2nd time that there is just black blocking the blade from that angle.

[TimeRender]

is this what you're referring to here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjFZ8-dJmdA

No. That's not at all what I am talking about.

[beggarsoutpost]

It's not that hard... Recipe for a black core blade...
1. 1 peice 7/8 inch thin walled poly C 35 inches long.
2. 1 36 inch thin walled blade from TCSS clear not the Transparent White.
3. Can of black high gloss spray paint.
4. 1 10w white LED... your choice.
5. Spray 7/8 inch poly C black...
6. Slide it inside the 1 inch blade.
7. wire up the 10w.
8. insert the black core blade and turn on the saber...
9. If you've done this right the light will travel up the clear blade and light up the tip...

Wala BCB baby Black Core Blade...This should give you a very close copy of the blade you see in the Force Unleashed...

[TimeRender]

See? This is exactly what makes me angry. Beggar I am sorry if what I am about to say offends you, but if you think this will work it means that you obviously haven't read or understood anything that has been said about black core blades on this forum, neither have you adequately examined the problem yourself to see why your solution won't work, neither do you honestly understand the principles that allow the traditional saber configurations to work, neither have you tried this yourself or you would already KNOW that it doesn't work. If you even took the time to look at THIS thread you would see that someone has posted pictures of something that is almost exactly what you have described, and yet he can't manage to get any light at all beyond the first two inches of his blade. Still you have no trouble at all flippantly and dismissively telling us all how easy it is to create a black core blade as though you had done it successfully a dozen times before. At best that is flagrant misinformation. And unfortunately that sort of attitude seems to be pretty common. Take Zero Unit, for instance, who has no qualms at all about telling someone else to "keep on truckin". But Zero's not the one footing the bill, is he? It's easy to tell OTHERS to take risks when you aren't spending the time, effort, or hard earned cash to perform the experiment yourself. At least Insomniac is only wasting his OWN resources.

[Azmaria Dei]

It's not that hard... Recipe for a black core blade...
1. 1 peice 7/8 inch thin walled poly C 35 inches long.
2. 1 36 inch thin walled blade from TCSS clear not the Transparent White.
3. Can of black high gloss spray paint.
4. 1 10w white LED... your choice.
5. Spray 7/8 inch poly C black...
6. Slide it inside the 1 inch blade.
7. wire up the 10w.
8. insert the black core blade and turn on the saber...
9. If you've done this right the light will travel up the clear blade and light up the tip...

Wala BCB baby Black Core Blade...This should give you a very close copy of the blade you see in the Force Unleashed...

i'm from missouri - show me.

[Sunrider]

See? This is exactly what makes me angry. Beggar I am sorry if what I am about to say offends you, but if you think this will work it means that you obviously haven't read or understood anything that has been said about black core blades on this forum, neither have you adequately examined the problem yourself to see why your solution won't work, neither do you honestly understand the principles that allow the traditional saber configurations to work, neither have you tried this yourself or you would already KNOW that it doesn't work. If you even took the time to look at THIS thread you would see that someone has posted pictures of something that is almost exactly what you have described, and yet he can't manage to get any light at all beyond the first two inches of his blade. Still you have no trouble at all flippantly and dismissively telling us all how easy it is to create a black core blade as though you had done it successfully a dozen times before. At best that is flagrant misinformation. And unfortunately that sort of attitude seems to be pretty common. Take Zero Unit, for instance, who has no qualms at all about telling someone else to "keep on truckin". But Zero's not the one footing the bill, is he? It's easy to tell OTHERS to take risks when you aren't spending the time, effort, or hard earned cash to perform the experiment yourself. At least Insomniac is only wasting his OWN resources.

Well said TR. To make something even close to what what you see in the game would never be an easy, quick, or cheap endeavor. Those three have been done many times only to Fail. :( Miserably I might add.

[Jedi-Loreen]

If you added paint to the outside of a 7/8" blade, then it wouldn't fit inside a thin walled 1" without scraping off some of the paint, anyway.

[beggarsoutpost]

Sorry... I forgot part 5 and 1/2....

51/2. Sand the inside of the 1 inch poly C the length of the tube to allow for the black spray paint on the 7/8 inch core....

[TimeRender]

Yeah, you're right... THAT fixes everything. I'm sure it will work perfectly now...

[Sunrider]

To hear one must listen I suppose.:?

[jin starkiller]

yes they first must listen

I myself have tried this and failed .....miserably I might add it didn't have a good lighting effect except at a certain angle
It was a bust .....alot of us have tried and failed at making a black core blade and it just doesn't produce the effect that we want

I have tried similiar to what he was saying except using a 1/2 poly c blade in the middle and no luck

[Silver Serpent]

For a slightly different effect, try removing your saber LED completely (you won't need it for this technique).

Paint the whole blade completely black. Then take a toothbrush and flick phosporescent paint (your choice of color) onto the blade. Don't cover it, just get little speckles all over.

Now comes the magic... Turn on the black light in your room and marvel at your black sparkly star saber. True, it will only work in your room or at raves, but it's an amusing effect. Battery life is greatly increased as well! :)

[ghost_a*]

that is only black from that angle. you can see before he turns it on the 2nd time that there is just black blocking the blade from that angle.

NICE catch. i actually added your explanation in a comment to that video to keep people from being fooled. as i was.
thanks for being a bit more tactful in your response.

this TimeRender guy seems a bit short, arrogant and rude with his responses.

[TimeRender]

Yes I am short tempered and rude, but only with people who are too lazy to read or think. I won't apologize for that. I'm not arrogant. I have analyzed the problem and feel confident in my conclusions. The predictions I made based on my understanding of the science involved have been tested and confirmed. That is not arrogance. Regardless, I have not been rude to you in any way. You asked me a question and I answered you. I didn't specifically call out your failure to notice the details of the video as JamoUp did. If you feel that this was rude of me then I will apologize, but you may want to be less sensitive in the future.

[ghost_a*]

My implication was more towards the way that you simply and obtusely answered, no that's not what I was talking about at all.
Rather than pointing my assumption towards the right direction.

It's attitudes/personas like yours that inhibit "n00bs" and "up & comers" from asking, what they might think to be, stupid/naive questions.

Not that I expect you'd care at all, but even though you might know what you're talking about in regards to all things "lightsaber" related, in the future, if I recognize your name/avatar, I'll breeze right past it.

[TimeRender]

I HOPE that the things I say discourage new users from posting questions they feel are stupid/naive, because anyone who feels that way about their own questions must honestly acknowledge that they haven't adequately searched for the answer themselves. I have no problem at all assisting builders who have made an honest effort but cannot find the information they need. As for you skipping over my posts, it is your own loss. I don't sympathize with anyone who ignores the help of others because they got their feelings hurt.

[ghost_a*]

No hurt feelings at all.
Simply a lack of respect towards you and the way you go about interacting with people who have less experience/knowledge than you do.

No worries though.

[Sunrider]

Settle down people. We need to remember that the new people are excited to learn & too impatient to read old threads on the subject. And the people that have been here a while are tired of spoon feeding old beat to death information.

New people do please try to read up on subjects. That is why the info is kept here. And the search function works well.

[TimeRender]

This shows your ignorance. I have always been helpful to those who have less knowledge and experience than me. I lose my patience with people who are lazy, ignorant, ungrateful, or dishonest. Inexperience and laziness are not mutually inclusive qualities. Call it a "lack of respect" if you want, but it looks like being butthurt to me. Now I think this argument has gotten too personal and the thread has been derailed. Let's try to keep it on topic.

[ghost_a*]

Nope, again, no "butt hurt" feelings or hurt feelings of any nature. Sounds more so like I've hit a nerve with you actually.
Either way I'm more than happy with keeping it on topic.

Thx Sunrider, I understand what you're saying. Being a noob myself but experienced in online message boards, most times the search function is too broad/vague to find specifically what you're looking for.
So people with more experience in the specific message board being able to find the topic/thread quicker or easier makes all the difference.
If someone's too frustrated or tired of spoon feeding, then they can simply move along and not spend their energy posting.

I agree that, in a 'physics' sense, black is the absence of light and therefore in the classical way, this is not feasible.
I simply didn't notice what someone else did notice about makoto's video in that it's back-lit and for show purposes only.

But yeah, who knows, some 'noob' might eventually come up with an innovative way to fake the effect, just like LED or EL blades are obviously not light-energy that can deflect blasters or cut through steel.
I for one would be intrigued in any that someone actually brought this to reality.

[Sunrider]

I did a search for 'black core blade'.

Major discussions.

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?10928-Black-Blade-development...&highlight=black+core+blade

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?9188-Black-blades&highlight=black+core+blade

These 2 were merged.

Makotoski

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?11528-Black-lightsaber-of-adhesive-tape.&highlight=black+core+blade

[TimeRender]

Ah... Memories...

Seriously that should be the default response to any new thread on the subject. Post links to the other threads, then immediately lock the new thread. If anyone makes any real progress they can show their pics in the first post. Otherwise it's all been said and all been done.

[oobie doobie kedoobie]

i know there's been some frustration with people throwing out ideas that haven't been tried yet but last night as i was listening to my cracked screen mp3 player i noticed something. Being that the screen is broken it is all black and displays nothing else i didnt think that it emitted any light but once that i turned the lights out to go to sleep i noticed that the screen emitted a white glow but the screen remained black. Just an idea sorry if i made anyone angry with my suggestion

[Jedi-Loreen]

I was hoping this thread was just gonna die............ http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/JediLoreen/Miscellaneous/Smileys/smileys04.gif

[Umbral Lotus]

That's cool, my tv actually does the same thing when there's no signal. It's "black" but still emits enough light to light up the living room... might be onto something here

[TimeRender]

I speak only for myself, but no Oobie your observation doesn't make me mad. However, what you and Umbral have experienced is NOT a "black" object emitting light. It's a GRAY object emitting a very VERY small amount of white light. The light emitted is so small that your pupils have to dilate to even notice it.

I offer you an experiment, and I have to insist that you TRY it before you go on the warpath and tell me how wrong and/or arrogant I am. You will need a computer, a bright-ish source of light, and a dark room. Turn on the computer, go into MS Paint or whatever image editing software you like, and create a blank black image. Now open the image and blow it up to full screen. Your screen should now be "black". Turn off the lights in the room. As Oobie and Umbral pointed out, the room will be filled with white light. However, if you look at the wall just behind your monitor, you will notice that the wall is "blacker" than the screen. Wait a few seconds until your eyes adjust, then turn on your bright-ish light source. Once again the image on the screen will appear black.

The screen was never black at all. It was always emitting a very small amount of white light. When the surrounding light sources are bright enough, your pupils will constrict and the light from the screen won't register. It will appear black. When the lights go out your pupils will dilate and the light cast by the screen will become apparent again.

This can be done in a lightsaber if you really want to. Just build your blade as usual, but instead of using Corbin film or any other diffusive material use something that is almost but not quite opaque. Maybe something like the film they put on welder's masks would work. You will NOT create a black-cored lightsaber with a white aura. What you will create is the dimmest blade ever. Congratulations! In a totally dark room your blade will glow a faint shade of gray. In a room with even the smallest source of illumination, your blade will appear dark.

[oobie doobie kedoobie]

makes sense... i kind of thought of this once i posted it but i just let yall go ahead and shoot down the idea just to confirm.:-(
plus i wouldn't go on a rampage of telling you how arrogant you are i'm not quite smart or dumb enough to do that ;) yet

[TimeRender]

I've just grown accustomed to the response. Thanks for being atypical in that regard.

[Jedi-Loreen]

Ok, I think this thread has run it's course now.

For anyone new to this forum, please DO NOT start another thread on this subject, it has already been discussed numerous times (to death).

If you feel you have to make a post about this subject, please find one of the other threads to do so.

Thanks