Maglite saber in theory

[Tigerantilles]

So...I was at work with my 3C cell maglite that had been retro fitted with their new 3W LED bulb. I was thinking it was about the size of a lightsaber handle. Has anyone ever gutted a maglite and put a LED saber into it? So that got me thinking of the best way to do it.

I own a 4D cell maglite and altho it would be huge, at 6'5" 270lbs, I believe it could be considered "proportional". I started thinking that I could probably get 3AA packs inside a maglite, and if I used a 4D cell I might be able to fit 4 sets in without sound, prolly 3 sets if I put a sound mod in it and drilled out the bottom.
3 sets X 3AA's a piece would give me 13.5V if I went Alkaline, or 10.8 using NIMH rechargables. (or up to 18v if I could get 4 sets and used alkalines).

Highest Green (because green sabers rule) Led I could find is a 192 lumen 5W LED. Anyone know of a better/more powerful LED out there?

Also, I'd like to keep the emitter of the maglite. After unscrewing one, I think it might be possible to drill out the emitter and secure a blade to it. If I could set the LED where the current LED is, and have the blade attached to the emitter; then I reckon I could switch out the emitter+blade with a regular maglite emitter and hang it on my belt without the blade. If everything went right, I could also have an ubermaglite.

Any suggestions?

[Firebird21]

There are a few people that have done the Maglight thing, so that's really nothing new...


But if you're going to make this thing that powerfull there are 10W LEDs out there that would probably suit your needs. But they are very excpensive, like $50-$90.

I don't remember where we found them and unfortunately I don't have time right now to look, but it's in here somewhere. And I do know that it's not in the Topic Title. Someone posted something about some other electronics and when surfing the provided sight I stumbled on those suckers.

[supertrogdor]

Do-Clo did an Atlas LED which runs at about 8-9 volts or so, and i think that the atlas LEDs are under $20, i have been contemplating doing one of those lately as well. With all the space you have you would not have trouble getting sufficient power to it and you may look into the buckpuck to run it, as there is one that runs dc at 1000mA, again about $20 for the puck. You might pm Do-Clo on that one as he put it together, he would probably be willing to give you some advice on the matter.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

A friend on another board I post on recently found these. (http://www.osram-os.com/ostar-lighting/products.php?lan=eng) They also make different types of led's which come in different colors. You'll have to search their catalog to find them though.

[Barmic Rin]

Tiger, get it done!!!!

Become like us, one with the Flashlight Saber.

Heed the true calling, it is your destiny. :P

[Tigerantilles]

I believe that the hardest part would be getting the blade to attach to the emitter.

[LAN-ED-TUL]

you have to use tims blade holders. just get the one that will go in sink pipe. it has the adaptor, that bolts on, then the blade holder just screws into that. only question is, the size. a machine job might be in order, to size it down to fit.

[elrond.406]

There are a few people that have done the Maglight thing, so that's really nothing new...


But if you're going to make this thing that powerfull there are 10W LEDs out there that would probably suit your needs. But they are very excpensive, like $50-$90.

I don't remember where we found them and unfortunately I don't have time right now to look, but it's in here somewhere. And I do know that it's not in the Topic Title. Someone posted something about some other electronics and when surfing the provided sight I stumbled on those suckers.

I recall stumbling on it in the TCSS gallery... 8)

[Tigerantilles]

http://www.gregor.4bz.org/Picture%201601.jpg

So here I am posing with my maglite saber at CIV. I'm proud that it's not photoshopped. Sadly I hadn't gotten around to throwing a single huge LED in it. That is instead a Hyperdyne blade system. I'm really happy with it, but will probably gut another maglite and start another project.

Any thoughts on just throwing a blade over the LED holder in a D cell maglite?

[Novastar]

No joke, Lan Ed Tul has it right.

I've said it before, I'll say it again too... Tim's blade holder/heatsink/LED holder/emitter parts are literally "kill 5 birds with one stone parts". Waaaaaay worth their weight in gold.

To this day, I don't know of another $20-$40 part that can do all of that stuff as well as Tim's. I mean, sure if you have your own milling machine, lovely. But even then--getting the dimensions correct would be no walk in the park.

To Obi-Lan you listen! Mind you what you have learned! Save you it can! 8)

[Victor Marklar]

I've managed to shoehorn a 2 cell, 3 watt, mini Maglite into an aluminum pipe/sink tube hilt I cooked up in my garage. You still have to twist the part of the Maglite sticking out of the base of the hilt in order to light up the saber. Pictures forthcoming when my life slows down a bit.

Still, I can't help but think that there must be a simple way to remove the LED from a 3 watt Maglite, wire it up to a battery pack and latching switch, and get the advantage of the LED and the electronic control that maintains constant brightness throughout most of the battery life.

Then again, you could always just buy one of Tim's LEDs and a order a Buckpuck online.

[xwingband]

The Lux Maglites are current regulating? Hmm... I may have to pick one up then. I'm not too interested in it for sabers, but heck I like flashlights too. :)

I always figured they were direct driven because I always see the bulb replacement sets for the normal ones... and no one bothers regulating a bulb.

[Victor Marklar]

Yeah, X-Wing. They call it "Intelligent Power Source Management" or somesuch. It's mentioned on the Maglite Web page about their LED flashlights. I came upon this solution for on how to make a Luxeon saber with the least amount of specialized tools and knowledge (read: soldering). The mini-Maglite is a workable, if slightly unwieldy, way to build a bright "flashlight saber". The only things I'm not happy with are the lack of sound and the tailcap-twist method of turning it on and off.

[Strydur]

I was thinking of making a screw on blade holder that would adapt any of the D-cell mag lights into a saber. It wouldnt cost much since it just needs to be a blade holder and would reuse the normal led or regular bulb. It could be setup for filters also I suppose. Any thoughts on this idea?

[Hasid Lafre]

That would be sweet.

I found hese flashlights that are a 5W and is gonna be come my next saber sometime in the future.

http://www.amondotech.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=937

[Victor Marklar]

MHS blade holders for a D (or even C) MagLite? I would certainly welcome that. A 3 watt MagLite saber with Lee filters would be great! The MagLite body would still be a blank slate for the beginning sabersmith to customize as s/he sees fit. I've already got some ideas cooking.