The best of both worlds: 3/4" EL sized blades with LED

[Yoiaholic]

Hello everyone. I don't normally post on the EL side of these boards but I'm making a guest appearance.

Like many people initially I was an EL enthusiast. I first started working with them in 2003 (thanks J-Lo and Parks) and even built my own to sell online. To me EL has many advantages but the most important thing is the 3/4 blade. 3/4 inch blades are smaller, lighter and easier to use. However, like it or not, EL has advanced as far as the technology can take it. That is as bright as it will ever be and some colors, are just... poor.

Thanks to many on this forum I decided to try an LED lightsaber. At first I wasn't really convinced because at the time I only had a green EL blade with me. Green is the only EL color that can sort of compete with LED. But after I tried a royal blue LED that was it for me LED way the way to go. There is no comparison in brightness. The thing that really disappointed me though was the size and weight of the LED blade. Its not as maneuverable as a lightsaber should be since its a 'weightless' blade. And if you like to have custom designs made, keeping the inch plus in the hilt can really limit your designs.

What’s the solution to the problem? Merge the best features of both. I'm not going to claim that I'm the only person with 3/4" LED blades, they are sold by other vendors, but I think I'm definitely a vocal advocate. I recommend the 5 degree optics since you have a thinner ID of the blade. This will help better illuminate the blade and it is just as bright as a 1" blade with the correct optics.


Some pictures of my 3/4 inch LED Blades:

My Ki-Adi Mundi Lightsaber. This was an EL ready saber that I painstakingly converted to LED. Much of the interior of this saber needed to be grinded out but the results are definitely worth it. A 1 inch blade wouldn't even be a consideration in a hilt with the curves this has.

This is a Cyan K2 LED.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/ki-lit-cyan.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/ki-lit-cyan2.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/ki-lit-cyan3.jpg

This is 3 watt Royal Blue LED.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/3wattcorbinfilmRB.jpg

This is a 1 watt Blue LED.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/1wattbluecorbin.jpg

This is an RLSA saber I converted to LED. It has corbin's board with a shock sensor for crash and lock.

3 Watt Green LED.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/newsaber1.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/3wgreencorbin.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/newsaber2.jpg


As you can see with the 3/4 inch led blade and corbin's blade film you have a 'core' look that is more movie like. IMO a solid blade looks like a glow stick and breaking it up with the core really adds something to the realism of the blade.

Nearly anything that is already EL or EL ready can be converted to LED. The space requirements are pretty similar. And if you want an exotic color like purple, orange, or red there is no comparison to the brightness of an LED blade with EL blade tech.

[Lord Maul]

great work yoi
i was wondering if you would ever finnish that kia ad mundi saber. looks perfect with the corbin film and cyan k2

[Luke-SkyMarcher]

Cool! the 1" blades have been a bit of a deterrent for me... Can you give a little more detail on how you put the blades together and how the blade sleeve is set up? And I have always wondered if those LED blades really have as much of a core effect as some pics show... I know overexposing can make blades look almost exactly real ( as you can see in some of my pics)


-Luke

[xwingband]

He's using corbin film. I'd say all of the dark photos of his are pretty darn accurate of what you'll see. The flare is even less noticable too. In pics it seems like the first foot, but in real life it seems like only the first two inches is any bigger of a core than the rest of the blade.

As far as I'm aware all of the sabers he has were already setup for 3/4" blades so he didn't actually have to do anything to the blade holder. The heatsink is the part that matters, and that's entirely up to the hilt.

[Yoiaholic]

Xwing is correct, if I used a 3/4 inch blade it was because I either had an EL ready or already a 3/4 inch hole. I just got a saber today for my gf with a 1 inch hole but she hates the bigger heavier blades so I'll probably have an adapter made, no big deal.

I do have an MHS but mostly I either have custom designs made or I buy completed sabers that I like. If you want to use a 3/4 inch blade with an mhs I'm sure Tim would make an adapter for you.

[Luke-SkyMarcher]

Well, I finally got the rest of the stuff yesterday, and it looks awesome! I'm doing a MHS sith saber with the new claws, red luxIII, hasbro sound board, and a 3/4" blade.
Out of curiosity, do you use single or double wrap, and do you cut it down in proportion the blade ID? I got double wrap and didn't cut it down at all, so it's actually triple wrap with a small portion of quadruple wrap :D . Has anyone tried different numbers of layers to see how many looks the best? Anyway it looks really cool... Thanks for starting this thread!

-Luke

[GFORCE13]

Yes Nicely done came out great, interesting Idea I always wondered how a 3/4" Led would look. 8)