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xwingband
08-13-2007, 08:12 AM
I wasn't planning on trying this but I was on the subject and I remembered with the Quad wrap I pulled out my old film and put it in an MR blade. I found my roll of mylar too. So sweetness, I could try it.

I went as closely as I could to Erv's manual without following it exactly. I put a single wrap of Corbin's then about 2 feet of mylar. If I were to do it again I'd probably try the 35cm he says, instead of going with what my roll was. You can still see the seams and edges so that's probably why he said it.

Results, I finally could get an accurate picture:
http://www.incomsabers.com/images/ervblade.jpg

Now in person I'd never show this blade off. It's ugly as sin, but not due to any fault in it's design. When taking the tip off with a dowel it took some of the blade with it. Thus it doesn't sit well on the blade and wasn't perfectly aligned with the blade. Next, despite looking clean my mylar was blemished. It came second hand as manufactured left overs so it's not suprising. I will find a new source for the inner film, maybe get PolyP or Acetate.

My thoughts... it's a bright blade. Not as even as Ultra's (or other films), but given that I don't like Ultra's I would take this anyday. It is very even and edges out the quad wrap especially in this thin blade. The core is even less visible than the quad wrap. On the quad wrap it's there, but very soft. This blade it's hardly there... from a distance it basically disappears. Corbin's film gets rid of the funky edge illumination of the inner film so I think it's a trade-off.

I'm not sure I prefer it over the quad wrap, but I will take over the other films. It still has enough to retain the up/down but is really even.

Hasid Lafre
08-13-2007, 10:16 AM
Yeah my blade is of that "style" I got a double wrap of corbins (which I need to trim the side down just a tad) then get some clean static free other film cause ultras is hard to clean and when you do it leaves spots and just looks like ****.

But with the corbin style wrapted up then the other inside it.

It evens out the dim part of corbins film.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb168/Sidneyious/Lightsaber%20Pics/99FinishedSaber.jpg

Best pic I could get of the blade.

Iam gonna try again with a different camera.

Barmic Rin
08-14-2007, 08:50 AM
I built my short blade using the 'Billy' method from Erv's site.
I sanded the outside of it quickly as I was a bit rushed, and only used a double wrap.

I actually took it with me & used it with Don's K2 Imp. Knight as my off-hand saber at CE.
I got complimented on it alot whilst there, as I was one of only two people there with a White saber. The other guy is in Knights Of The Empire & was using one of Ultras Blades with the 'silver' film.
I can't say I was too impressed with the effect of his, nice guy though.

I'm gonna be using Erv's method to build my Niece's Saber as a 20" blade should be fine for a 4yr old half-pint! :D

neophyl
08-14-2007, 10:13 AM
Hey I had my Imp Knight sabre there at CE too :) Bumped into the guy who was in the IK armour at one point while carrying it. The P4 in mine is ALOT brighter that whatever was in his sabre and Im using an ultra in it at the moment.

Barmic Rin
08-15-2007, 07:37 AM
The Imp knight is one of Shadow's buddies.
I didn't go on Sunday, but I spoke to both of them on Saturday (They were in mando then) & from the pics of him on Firespray, his IK saber looks like a NocturneArmory one.
Hope he doesn't mind me posting a pic of him:

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb7/valcar_2007/Celebration%20Europe%202007/P1000442.jpg

Sorry Boys!!!! I figured i'd show off your MHS pieces too Shad!


The guy I meant was there on Sat as Corran Horn. Full green robes and all!

xwingband
09-10-2007, 03:11 PM
Okay... I've doing exactly what Erv describes and adding about 35cm to my corbin blades.

OMG... I put it in my 3/4" blade and you wouldn't believe the difference! You know what... I don't feel 3/4" is a light loss any more. It's THAT good.

I'll get pictures later at some point, but I've already switched half my blades to Erv's style now.

Hasid Lafre
09-11-2007, 03:50 PM
I dont remember but does erv sell compleated blades?

xwingband
09-11-2007, 05:31 PM
I don't think he does on his site. He ships his sabers with them but it's not a seperate option.

Shipping is really prohibitive for blades. So you can make it or find someone to do it for you stateside.

gundamaniac
09-23-2007, 01:13 PM
xwing, let's see pictures of the blades! And in side-by-side comparison to corbin and ultra blades too if possible :D

I'm just curious as to how the blades actually look in person. Do the corbin core and ultra blade effect (with the brighter borders) cancel each other out and just create an evenly lit blade? or is it like a corbin blade with a softer core and much more even diffusion throughout the length? etc?

Hasid Lafre
09-23-2007, 01:17 PM
The corbin style film is design mostly for a movie poster look back in the 70s, but it also has a better effect with the extend retract effect that most drivers have.

Now add ultras style film of pure even ness inside corbins and you got the great extend retract effect and awsome evenness.

I want to do it again but I want a film that isent staticy.

xwingband
09-23-2007, 01:51 PM
xwing, let's see pictures of the blades! And in side-by-side comparison to corbin and ultra blades too if possible :D

Okay, soon. I'll do it tonight.

I don't have/like Ultra's though. I'll make my own with PolyP but as it stands I like Corbin's or Erv's for my personal prefernces.

xwingband
09-23-2007, 02:26 PM
http://www.incomsabers.com/images/compare.jpg

Quick and dirty. I grabbed a bunch of blades and just wham bam did them all with the same saber and same settings.

gundamaniac
09-23-2007, 02:32 PM
Awesome, thanks!

So the erv-style blade does retain a bit of the corbin core look while being over-all more evenly distributed...or so it seems from the pics. This is something I've gotta try...

DACOTA
09-23-2007, 08:56 PM
It looks like the erv's double Corbin and poly-p thickwalled is the most even,so what is that plecter film and corbin film,ok I get that but what is poly-p?

gundamaniac
09-23-2007, 09:10 PM
clear gift wrap....i think....

gundamaniac
09-23-2007, 11:33 PM
k, I just took one of my corbin blades and rolled up some clear gift wrap and stuffed it in. Granted, i didn't have a long enough length of gift wrap, and i cut it badly so I can see bright spots from the rough edges...but that's besides the point.

It looks fantastic. The blade is really even, aside from the fact that you can still see the scoring lines on the film. There's a very very very faint trace of the core. And corbin's film helps hide the dust i got on the clear gift wrap- I can't see a trace of what could be dust. All the imperfections on my blade are caused by the lousy cutting job i did. This is the best looking blade I have right now, and I have an ancient Corbin single wrap that I had sanded, an old Corbin single-wrap, and some double-wrapped Corbins and an Ultra thin-walled. All my blades are thick-walled except for the Ultra...and I think the corbin blade I modded erv-style looks the best of the bunch. Very neat.

I'm going to be upgrading all my corbin-style blades this way. Sure, it's a bit of extra film, but the stuff is pretty cheap and it's easier to roll up than a pure polyp blade because you don't have to worry as much about the dust that gets onto your polyp thanks to the corbin layer.

killphil
09-24-2007, 12:23 AM
It looks like the erv's double Corbin and poly-p thickwalled is the most even,so what is that plecter film and corbin film,ok I get that but what is poly-p?

polypropylene-same stuff that's in Gelu's and Ultra's blades.

DACOTA
09-24-2007, 07:17 AM
Ok thats what I thought it could be.
So would the corbin and plecter film be made of poly-p?Or is it a different material?

gundamaniac
09-24-2007, 07:34 AM
Corbin and Plecter film you should get from TCSS. It's some sort of milky white film with scored parallel lines on it to give it its signature "core" effect when illuminated.

Jay-gon Jinn
09-24-2007, 07:34 AM
Phil, I believe Ultra uses cellophane (gift wrap), not polypropylene.

gundamaniac
09-24-2007, 07:41 AM
What's the difference between cellophane and polypropylene, aside from the chemical make-up? I believe there was talk about how both materials provided almost identical looking blades, with the metallic sheen when off and a pretty even glow (aside from the funky bright "edges") when on.

Hasid Lafre
09-24-2007, 08:39 AM
I thought ultras was ascitate(sp)?

I know he dosent use cellophane it dosent melt like cellophane does.

xwingband
09-24-2007, 10:12 AM
Ultra said cellulose acetate... so at this point I'm assuming it's different.

Mylar looks similar with the look (metalic), but jeez... let me tell you it was a PITA compared to PolyP. The results were slightly less too.

So I'm not sure because I have no intention of screwing around buying from Ultra when I can get a huge roll and make a ton of blades for next to nothing.

DACOTA
09-24-2007, 07:06 PM
Corbin and Plecter film you should get from TCSS. It's some sort of milky white film with scored parallel lines on it to give it its signature "core" effect when illuminated.

Well first I didnt know tim sold plecter film I thought you can only get that from plecter labs directly,and I already knew about corbin film,I've used it twice already. :roll: :lol: But I was not familiar with poly-p.Know I know.I'm sticking with Tims poly-c blades and corbin film,plecter film or gift wrap.Or a combo,but I cant wait to start trying some different stuff.
Thanks x-wing for your time taking the the pics. :wink: :D

xwingband
09-24-2007, 07:27 PM
No prob... the pics aren't perfect. It's not what I see in real life, but as a comparison to something you already know, say a double wrap of corbin's it should give you an expectation.

Basically I'm loving PolyP at this point. I was reluctant to try any other films after my attempts with mylar, but PolyP has been like a magic boost to my blades and now I can offer it alone for those that like the solid non-cored look.

killphil
09-24-2007, 08:06 PM
But without the Corbin film, it's still not a solid look, IMO. The edges are illuminated but the inside of the top half of the blade gets dark.

gundamaniac
09-24-2007, 08:16 PM
Also, poly-p blades have a tendency to look kind of funky if you look down the blade. They only light up evenly if you look at it straight from the side, but move your head towards the tip and look towards the saber, or vice versa, and it's looks sort of...strange. i dunno how to describe it.

The only advantage of pure poly-p blades that I can see is that they hold up extremely well in ambient lighting. If I hold a poly-p blade up to a lightbulb, I can still see the color of the blade throughout. If I hold up a corbin or erv-style blade to the same lightbulb, the blade washes out in the section the lightbulb is right behind.

And I think erv's "magic" film and corbin's film are the same thing. At least, from the descriptions, they sound almost identical.

xwingband
09-24-2007, 09:14 PM
But without the Corbin film, it's still not a solid look, IMO. The edges are illuminated but the inside of the top half of the blade gets dark.

I agree, but many don't like the coring. If I didn't offer the option I'd be stupid. When in doubt most will want what is closest to the MR blade and honestly the TCSS diffuser doesn't do anywhere near as well over longer blade lengths.

killphil
09-25-2007, 02:15 AM
But without the Corbin film, it's still not a solid look, IMO. The edges are illuminated but the inside of the top half of the blade gets dark.

I agree, but many don't like the coring. If I didn't offer the option I'd be stupid. When in doubt most will want what is closest to the MR blade and honestly the TCSS diffuser doesn't do anywhere near as well over longer blade lengths.

Well you could also try what I did: Quad wrapped Corbins, with a length of Ultra's film that would be approximetly 70-80cm less than the stock amount he provides in his blade.

It is pretty much perfectly even and brighter than a stock Ultrablade, but this way you cannot see the coring effect anymore.

gundamaniac
09-25-2007, 07:24 AM
quad corbins with that much ultra film in the blade???

Wouldn't all that diffuser material stuffed up inside the blade....decrease light transmission and brightness????? I like my erv-style the way it is already...but if putting in yet another two wraps of corbin film and even more poly-p/ultra film makes it even more even....(wow...awkward phrasing...)

killphil
09-25-2007, 08:22 AM
I didn't notice a decrease in brightness....the thickness of the film was still about the same as a full roll of Ultra's film more or less, and it's more vibrant and definetly more even than a stock Ultrablade.

Hasid Lafre
09-25-2007, 10:09 AM
The way I understand it the more of that style film that turns silver rolled up the more of it the better.

As it stands ultra uses what 8 foot of the stuff he uses? Iam sure another couple foot of films wouldent hurt.

DACOTA
09-27-2007, 12:53 PM
Ok I got some cellophane,does it matter whether its on the outside or inside of the corbin film?I would think not but who knows.

gundamaniac
09-27-2007, 01:29 PM
As I understand, the cellophane goes inside the Corbin film.

DACOTA
09-27-2007, 02:28 PM
Thats what I did,ok off to mess around with the cellophane in different layers.

DACOTA
09-27-2007, 03:51 PM
Ok here is a comparison pic,these are thin walled blades from tim with the thin walled shouldered tip and 3/4 mirror.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/DACOTA007/Bladecompare.png

Eandori
09-27-2007, 04:02 PM
Those look great Dacota!

I think the pictures would reveal even more if you brighten up the ambient light in the room just a bit. But it looks like you are making some very evenly lit blades there.

Hasid Lafre
09-27-2007, 04:17 PM
Yes the other film goes inside corbins.

I would do a quad wrap with 10 foot of the other.

Awsome blade that will be.

xwingband
09-27-2007, 05:13 PM
Yes the other film goes inside corbins.

I would do a quad wrap with 10 foot of the other.

Awsome blade that will be.

That's a heck of a lot of PolyP or whatever else you are using. I think the 35cm is just fine for me so far. I don't want to lose the coring.

gman666
09-27-2007, 05:34 PM
Where are you guys getting the film at? I need to make 5 blades and very interested in your results.

Thanks!

Greg

Hasid Lafre
09-27-2007, 05:55 PM
Well the corbin film can be found here and the other stuff can be found at places like walmart or a hobby store.

ITs basicly clear wraping paper of sorts, Its clear but when rolled up its got a silver look to it.

gman666
09-27-2007, 06:17 PM
If someone could help me out with a name or where in Wally World it can be found I would appreciate it. I have a store not more than a 1/4 mile down from me. I just know with my luck I would pick up the wrong type or be walking around for hours.

Thanks!

Greg

xwingband
09-27-2007, 07:14 PM
If you don't mind shipping a roll of Polypropylene from papermart.com is really cheap. You can get a 40" x 100' roll for about $6 + shipping.

DACOTA
09-27-2007, 09:14 PM
Yeah the cellophane is sweet,its clear but in a huge roll of it the roll looks chrome,but thats just cause its so thick.Thanks for the feedback.
Is poly-p just about the same as cellophane or at least does it do the same thing?

Jay-gon Jinn
09-27-2007, 09:16 PM
I found the clear gift wrap in the card ailse. Near the gift bags and such in our Wal-mart. My wife also found a roll of the stuff at a dollar store, too, for $1. (30 inches wide x 10 feet long)

gman666
10-05-2007, 07:52 PM
I has to search for mine. There was none in the card isle but I found a ton of it in the hobby section. Too bad they are phasing these out of the stores. You can find some neat stuff there. Well I got my roll and waiting on my blades. Tim sent me an update and they are scheduled to arrive on the 10th.

Thanks!

Greg

Steeljack
10-05-2007, 08:39 PM
If someone could help me out with a name or where in Wally World it can be found I would appreciate it. I have a store not more than a 1/4 mile down from me. I just know with my luck I would pick up the wrong type or be walking around for hours.

I've had good luck with Clearphane brand transparent wrap, which I bought out here in California from Michael's (http://www.michaels.com/art/online/home).

From what I can tell, the Clearphane stuff is slightly thinner than the material inside Ultra's blades, but is the same basic substance.

I've used X-Wing's tip for combining Corbin- and Ultra-style films, and been very pleased with the results. Thanks, X-Wing!

I also picked up some matte acetate (http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=253&) from my local TAP Plastics for experimentation. I don't know if this is the same material Corbin uses as the basis for his film is made from or not -- it seems similar, except for the lack of coring-effect scratches -- but it combines nicely with the Clearphane to produce a rich and even glow.