MR FX Sabers vs. LED Sabers from TCSS

[Slent Thndr]

Sorry if there is already a thread about this. I searched, and also read the FAQ, but could not find an answer.

I have an Obi-Wan ep. III Master Replicas FX saber. I’ve had it for a few months.

I was just referred to this site by a friend. Before today I had no clue that there were LED sabers like these on the market. I understand that this is a lot different from the MR sabers, since light is shone from the blade through the hilt, instead of the light being in the blade itself. But I was wondering what exactly the difference in performance is with a custom LED saber from here as opposed to my MR FX saber. Is it worth buying another one?

Will an LED blade be brighter than my FX blade? Will the saber be lighter, stronger, more to scale, etc? I’ve seen comparisons of LED vs. EL blades but not LED vs. MR-type blades.

Thanks,

[vortextwist]

Sorry if there is already a thread about this. I searched, and also read the FAQ, but could not find an answer.

I have an Obi-Wan ep. III Master Replicas FX saber. I’ve had it for a few months.

I was just referred to this site by a friend. Before today I had no clue that there were LED sabers like these on the market. I understand that this is a lot different from the MR sabers, since light is shone from the blade through the hilt, instead of the light being in the blade itself. But I was wondering what exactly the difference in performance is with a custom LED saber from here as opposed to my MR FX saber. Is it worth buying another one?

Will an LED blade be brighter than my FX blade? Will the saber be lighter, stronger, more to scale, etc? I’ve seen comparisons of LED vs. EL blades but not LED vs. MR-type blades.

Thanks,
um well I will give this a shot. For one you don't have the power up, power down effect like the MR.
On my red led a 1 watt red is as bright as an mr maul blade. with the led you don't have to worry about it goin out when dueling like an MR. The blades are much stronger than an mr. Your converted led saber will be a little heavier but not much. I have an converted Vader, Mace and Anakin. All feel great. I also have an custom MHS led saber. all are awsome. hope this helps. if not ask away.

[darthdan]

much brighter, much stronger

[xwingband]

There are some comparisons around if you lookat picture threads.

Depends on the color whether it's the same or brighter. Green is on par with the MR, but Red will whoop the MR like nothing.

It will be stronger since we normally use 1/8" blades. No LEDs inside to break. You lose the up/down. If it's a conversion that's about the sum of it.

[Slent Thndr]

I mean, what if I was to buy a brand new saber from TCSS using the MHS Builder tutorial thing? Would it be a lot better than my MR?

Would I be better off building my own with the parts, separate from the MHR builder? With that builder, are there things I need to do to make sure it will have the right parts in it? (e.g. make sure it has enough segments?)

[vortextwist]

with the builder it tells you how much it's gonna be and the length. It also gives you an idea of what it will look like. I know when I was building one i though "those would look cool together" and when I did it on the builder it didn't. It depends on what you want as far as a saber, do you want sound? I like both MR and MHS stuff. It depends on what you want.

[Slent Thndr]

I do want sound... do the sabers from the builder usualy not have that?

[vortextwist]

no they don't. when I made my mhs I had a busted Maul MR and I used the sound out of that.

[jjshumpert]

you can also buy mr luke soundboards from the store if you want your saber to have sound. depending on how you design the hilt and the placement of the speaker these hilts many times are much louder than your stock mr. tim is working on a conversion kit for the saber you have which should be available sometime in late march/early april.

welcome to the forums and good luck on your custom saber projects!

[Slent Thndr]

Im not all that worried about the sound.

But is a blade from the MHS builder lacking other things? Such as... does it come with the battery that it would need?

[Lord Maul]

the blade doesn't need batteries, the led does
you can buy them at any store :wink:
the blade on a mhs is twice as strong as a MR and there is nothing in it to break so you will never have dark splotches

[elrond.406]

I mean, what if I was to buy a brand new saber from TCSS using the MHS Builder tutorial thing? Would it be a lot better than my MR?

Would I be better off building my own with the parts, separate from the MHR builder? With that builder, are there things I need to do to make sure it will have the right parts in it? (e.g. make sure it has enough segments?)

By MHR, you mean MHS, rite?

[jjshumpert]

if you were doing a mhs hilt, what color would you want your blade to be? the mhs parts you need to understand are simply the body of your hilt and you will need to buy electronics to put in the hilt to have a lighted blade.
red
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/pc-774-21-led-basic-electronics-kit-3wred.aspx
blue
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/pc-831-21-led-basic-electronics-kit-5wroyal-blue.aspx
green
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/pc-830-21-led-basic-electronics-kit-5wgreen.aspx
if you want to have sound and be able to change your blade color easily or would like to go for a purple blade then your best bet is to go with a white k2, a luke mr board, and either tims color disks or email lee filters for their free swatchbook which has enough fun color slips to keep you busy for weeks
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/pc-824-23-luxeon-k2-star-white.aspx
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/pc-719-9-mr-fx-sound-module.aspx
any of these setups require optics and holders. i personally like to use 5 degree optics. remember that if you go with a k2 it uses a different optics holder.
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/pc-620-23-luxeon-collimator-lens-5-viewing-angle.aspx
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/pc-621-23-luxeon-iiiv-lens-holder.aspx
that should be all the info you need to decide which direction you want to go with your saber project. once you get parts ordered check the tutorials for any wiring questions you may have. with a few hours and a little patience you'll be ready to enjoy your first led saber

[darthdan]

You do also realize that YOU assemble the sabers from this site, right? It has all the parts to make sabers that are better quality than the MR's, but there is assembly required...

[jjshumpert]

i held his hand thru the electronics choices dan, someone else can teach him how to wire it up... ive done my good deed for the day :twisted:

[Slent Thndr]

By MHR, you mean MHS, rite?

Yes, whoops.


the blade doesn't need batteries, the led does
you can buy them at any store :wink:
the blade on a mhs is twice as strong as a MR and there is nothing in it to break so you will never have dark splotches

Oh... so it comes with a tray for normal AAs then? I had assumed it would require a rechargeable pack.

Hmm… the MHS builder let me pick what type of LED I wanted with it. Therefore I don’t understand your comment that I have to buy them separately. :? Am I misunderstanding something?

You mention that it’s necessary for me to build the saber even if I order all the necessary parts with the MHS builder. How hard is that? Is it simply screwing things together and such? Or does it entail a ton of soldering and drilling and such? :(

[Lord Maul]

you buy the parts here. you assemble it at your house. it will require a little bit of soldering and then ya just screw it all together :wink:

[vortextwist]

no you don't have to use rechargeable batt pack. you can use rechargable batteries and put them in a holder, (or reg batteries) which does not come with the mhs, I think one comes with the basic electronics package though.

for drilling, tim can do all that for a fee if you don't get a hilt section with a hole already pre drilled

[Slent Thndr]

What do I need a hole pre-drilled for? The on-off button or something? Btw will a blade from MHS come with that button?

The hole you refur to... is it the one refured to in the MHS builder when at the end it gives the option of "Add thumbscrew + drill/tap hole for $10?"

So basicly, if i order a saber from the MHS bulder, I will get all the pieces I need to build the entire saber (minus normal batteries of course)? How many hours worth of work do you think the assembly would be?

Once again, thanks guys.

[vortextwist]

What do I need a hole pre-drilled for? The on-off button or something? Btw will a blade from MHS come with that button?

The hole you refur to... is it the one refured to in the MHS builder when at the end it gives the option of "Add thumbscrew + drill/tap hole for $10?"

So basicly, if i order a saber from the MHS bulder, I will get all the pieces I need to build the entire saber (minus normal batteries of course)? How many hours worth of work do you think the assembly would be?

Once again, thanks guys.

well only 4 of the hilt pieces come with switch holes, if you are goin to use any other pieces then you need him to drill a hole switch. the thumbscrew is another option. if you don't do the thumbscrew option you will need to order an thumbscrew. maybe an hour or so with the soldering and makeing sure things are done right. Are you getting an soundboard or just wireing direct?

[darthdan]

I would just go ahead and have tim do the thumbscrew hole if you're not too expreienced with such things. otherwise you would have to drill a perfectly straight hole into a round surface and then tap the hole to make threads for the thumbscrew(for securing the blade). It's not like rocket science hard, but a lot more trouble than just paying the $10.

Building with the MHS builder you will get exactly what you check boxes for. Hold the cursor over the options(like basic electronics package) to see what all is included.

[Lord Maul]

just select your parts in the mhs and check all of the boxes below. that will get you everything you need except a solder iron w/ solder and batteries

[jjshumpert]

remember when you get your parts in that soldering is easy with a little practice. any good hobby store will have packs of assorted wood burning tips that are treaded to fit most good brand irons, and gives you cool tips like my most used that looks like a needle point with a bend in it that is absolutely awesome for doing small work like with the luke mr boards and lux emitters. for your other connections make shure to run some heatshrink on your wires before making your connections so you can seal them well after soldering. ive found using tape to secure the wires to your work surface before making your connections helps alot, or you can get one of those nifty little things that do clo uses with the adjustable arms that end in alligator clamps and a magnifying glass mounted on the top.

use some extra wire to practice with for a few hours before you jump into your actuall saber connections to give yourself a chance to get the feel of how your tips work with the solder. the cleaner your solders the easier it will be later to make it all fit back together and give you that professional look.

if your first saber comes out well and you decide this is a hobby that you would like to really get into, i would sugjest getting a butane powered cordless soldering iron and heat gun. the butane irons are a little pricey but you can get around 10 hours of use per tank with the better units and they can heat up to operating temperature as quickly as 5 seconds. the one i have is roughly the size of a large ball point pen and ive filled it maybe twice over the last 15 sabers ive wired.

[Slent Thndr]

Thanks for the tips.

I'd love to build it with the soundboard but its pretty expensive.

If I get the following, will it all fit together right?

Complete LED blade
SKU: LEDBlade40
Select Size: 40 inches $29.99

LED basic electronics kit - 5wGreen
SKU: LEDKit-5wGreen $34.87

Screw on LED blade holder style 4
SKU: Sledholder4 $23.95

Screw on pommel style 3
SKU: Spommel3 $7.99

Double threaded hilt style 2
SKU: Shilt2

The "Double threaded hilt style 2" has a hole for a button. So then do I need to ask him to drill any other holes? Isn't that the only hold I would need? What is the thumbscrew thing u mention for?

[Ryma Mara]

the thumbscrew hold in the blade, unless you want to drill it go to the services option and get the drill and tap hole.

[Slent Thndr]

Ooooooooohhhhh.....

Thanks. :lol:

[jjshumpert]

remember to lay out all your wires with your assembled hilt before soldering your connections and give yourself plenty of room in your wires to work with when its all wired up and ready to install in the hilt.

if you want to go with sound later its not that big of a problem to wire with the 5w electronics kit from tim. i would sugjest using the luke board, its the easiest to adapt to work with your lux wiring and the led jumper on the luke module comes off so its not in your way when you put it in the hilt. you could even hook up a secondary 3w or k2 lux off your luke module if you wanted to do the lighted and exposed focusing crystal look in a hilt. if you want to add the luke module later here is my wiring diagram for the 5w kit.

http://a661.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/62/l_3f7cb67a9dea2ae7e3c8ad6cc150aa2c.jpg

cut the switch wires and set it aside, solder the wires back together on the module to close the connection, solder the red and orange leads together for your + brown is your - yellow and blue are your speaker. on your battery pack solder a wire to the negative on one 3 cell stack so your bat pack will put out the 4.5 that the mr module wants and add a wire to your + between the switch and resistor so the sound module comes on with the led and you only need the one switch...