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View Full Version : Which TCSS blade should Choose?



JediGuardian18
05-25-2012, 03:15 PM
Hi guys. I want a blade that is:
Durable, that basically narrows it down to a thick walled blade.
Bright, a blade that allows light to come through easily and nicely.
Even, perhaps as important as brightness: I want a blade that is even from the emitter to the tip.
Which of the TCSS blades should I order? Which blade will come closest to what I want?

TCSS Battle Blade?
Corbin Style Battle Blade?
LED Trans White Blade?

I got an Ultra edge Heavy Grade blade from ultrasabers a while back and I observed that it is just drowned out all the color. I assume that a thick walled white blade would be similar to an ultra edge heavy grade so I'm unsure about this one.

Machinimax
05-25-2012, 04:39 PM
Yes you are correct. While the battle blades can REALLY take one heck of a beating, the color and light will not be as bright. My recommendation is to seek out Fender Bender here on the forums. He's from Vader's Vault and they make awesome blades from TCSS blade parts. Both bright and duelable. ;)

Takanis
05-26-2012, 05:29 AM
What color LED are you using? I would recommend the Trans-White thick walled blade if your using something like a blue, amber, white, and maybe green. I don't like the way the trans-white blades wash out the Red's. If you are using a blue, amber, white, or green, then I would go with the thick walled trans white with a few wraps of Polypropylene (clear gift wrap) in it. I recently did this with a rebel green and it came out nicely.


http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy348/SimpiGon/Padawan%20Saber/th_P1010918.jpg (http://s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy348/SimpiGon/Padawan%20Saber/?action=view&current=P1010918.jpg)http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy348/SimpiGon/Padawan%20Saber/th_P1010922.jpg (http://s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy348/SimpiGon/Padawan%20Saber/?action=view&current=P1010922.jpg)

Onli-Won Kanomi
05-26-2012, 08:51 PM
Blades are a very much a matter of personal taste and like many matters in life choosing which tradeoffs are most acceptable to you...maybe thats why TCSS offers more than one kind eh?

I.E. personally I don't 'gorilla' duel so *I* might choose to tradeoff the theoretical superior strength of TCSS battle blades for the theoretical brightness advantage of TCSS show blades...but if YOU DO 'gorilla' duel *you* might choose the opposite tradeoff.

But please realize those theoretical differences in blade performance are not extreme in actual use...when I was a noob I mistakenly thought they might be but in time trying out all the different blade types I found out that even though the blade's wall thickness doubles from 1/16" in thinwall Show blades to 1/8" in thickwall Battle blades in actual use its not like you'll double the brightness by going to a show blade or double the strength by going to a battle blade in my experience; the thickwall battle blades are NOT 'dim' with a decently driven LED and the thinwall show blades are NOT 'weak' if you are sparring [not trying to crack heads as a police truncheon lol] so both kinds of blades will work well under most normal circumstances imo...they just have different moderate advantages for different uses. And there are other factors one might also wish to consider.

I looove thickwall blades not for dueling but because the extra weight can be useful for training in Jar Kai by putting the heavier blade in the weak hand/arm saber to help build/maintain strength on my weak side and equalize speed over time, but I'm not naturally ambidextrous - if I was then it would be better to train with matched weights so Your Mileage May Vary...and *you* may or may not be interested in dual wielding anyway. I also find thickwall blades extra weight good when first learning new spins for the added inertia helping to complete the spins until I've gained experience with them...then when I've got it right switching to thinwall gets it FAST so thinwall blades are also awesome...again, YMMV.

I like Corbin film for the pseudo-extend/retract illusion when used with a suitable PWM equipped driver [like PC 2.0] and I like how the base flare and 'core effect' mimics a lot of the posters, comics and art depiction of sabers back in the OT era [I'm an old coot] so I prefer the Corbin blades/film for OT replicas or OT/NJO era saber designs but I also generally like the transwhite polycarbonate for PT era saber designs with certain but thats once again a matter of personal taste so once again YMMV. Colour also plays in to my own tastes there...I loooove transwhite for cyan and filtered white yellow, orange or pink sabers and like it OK for green and blue sabers, but not red or purple which imo get 'pinkified'/pastelized [as you put it "drowned out"] to some degree. Red or purple I prefer clear blades [or transparent red polycarbonate available here for red] and I also like my TCSS blue and green polycarbonate stock blades for LEDs of those colours but yep you guessed it YMMV.

As noted I don't 'gorilla' duel but if I did I might choose the TCSS style battle blade with 'solid' diffuser instead of any film...I've had very rare normally temporary minor issues with film 'crinkling' visibly on impact with clear blades which usually uncrinkle quickly; but I've NEVER ever had any crinking like visible effect whatsoever with my one TCSS diffuser equipped blade, so IF I did 'gorilla' duel then I'd probably go with the TCSS style battle blade for that use...but in fairness thats extrapolated not direct experience so as always YMMV.

As for evenness if choosing a Corbin film blade choosing the quad wrap option improves evenness, as does adding a few feet of clear gift wrap available at any craft store to any type of blade...if evenness is of utmost importance to you you'll definitely want to do so regardless of what TCSS blade you choose.

None of this is meant to suggest that anything I've said is the 'correct' or 'best' blade[s] 'solution' for YOU or anyone but me...just pointing out what considerations go into my personal blade choices FYI so you may consider those factors, or not, as you see fit...

...ultimately when it comes to blades I like them ALL though imo its nice to have a few different kinds of blades and match each one's strengths/advantages to their intended uses - just like how there is more than one golf club in a bag eh? ;-)

Imo its uber-cool that for just about any blade preference/need one might have it is likely TCSS has it covered. MTFBWY finding the best blade choice[s] for you.