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Melek Taus
01-27-2006, 11:43 AM
Hi everyone....new here. I had a question.

I bought a 4 D-cell maglite the other day and was wondering how difficult it would be to use the handle for an LED saber?

I was going to gut the switch out of it and light parts and try to adapt the LED kit to it.

Anyone done this?

Also...I looked at the LED tutorial and was wondering how is the actual polyc blade held on to make it duel capable?

Thanks
John

GrimaOllak
01-27-2006, 12:10 PM
The polyC tube is held in place via the blade holders that Strydur sells (well, when they come back in stock, anyway), and the blades are tightened in place via a thumbscrew.

As for your maglite, I don't see why it wouldn't work, but we'd need measurements to be certain. For instance, length, outer diameter, and inner diameter, would be a good place to start.

P.S. Welcome to the forum! [:D]

Mur-Pa DiLos
01-27-2006, 02:06 PM
Welcome to the Forum![:D]

I've heard of people using a maglite for the hilt (look on the misc. topics under post your sabers here and you'll find one with a white led a and green and purple filters). I looked into it and the maglite combined with the mhs (modular hilt system) kit is perfect if you get the right size maglite. The blade emitter (as it is called by all us SW geeks) holds the blade pretty tightly on the mhs so you really only need to tap and thread a screw hole for one of Tim's thumb screws and then you're set! I've already dueled with my sabers (couldn't wait to start even without the electronics in them) and I can't believe how strong they are. I practice Iado and Kendo and these babies are sweet!

Read elsewhere in the posts, get to know some of the guys and welcome![:D]

oh and I just remembered something... some of the hasbro lightsabers hook up with the two C cell combo and such, could we wire up a lightsaber with Tim's led's to do the same? I saw a sweet lightsaber for sale on Ebay that did.[;)]

Melek Taus
01-27-2006, 05:13 PM
Thanks for the info guys....

I practice MJER Iaido myself. Did a bit of Kendo with the son until I got a stress fracture on my left foot from all the pushing of for a men cut. Now I stick with Aikido, Iaido and Jyodo.

Thanks again
John

GeluKhanGharr
01-27-2006, 05:40 PM
Welcome Melek. I am currently working on a flashlight based hilt, but not a MagLite. I am havving trouble fitting the emitter, so i'm sanding, and sanding, and sanding.....
Anyway, I'll post pictures once(and IF) i'm done.

Mur-Pa,
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Mur-Pa DiLos
oh and I just remembered something... some of the hasbro lightsabers hook up with the two C cell combo and such, could we wire up a lightsaber with Tim's led's to do the same? [b]<font color="red"> I saw a sweet lightsaber for sale on Ebay </font id="red"> that did.[;)]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Thanks for the compliment! That was my baby. There is one limitation to using C cells. You can do red or amber, but if you want any other color , you need to go with 3 cells. Red/Amber have a forward voltage of 2.95, so the 3 volts from 2 C cells barely cut it. Blue/Aqua/Green/Royal Blue/White have a forward voltage of 3.9 Volts, so you need the 4.5 volts from 3 C cells


Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

Mur-Pa DiLos
01-27-2006, 08:44 PM
How come every time I compliment a saber it ends up being yours! j/k lol[:D][:p] That was sweet did you just use 1 1/2" copper pipe for the inside? Nice job on the sales.

Pat

GeluKhanGharr
01-27-2006, 11:23 PM
The copper is 1 1/4, the steel on the outside(electrical conduit) is 1 1/2. You may recognize the electrical conduit couplings too. Cutting that stuff was a bitch though. I went through 6 reinforced wheels - the toughest kind they make for the Dremmel. As they were cutting I could see the wheels shrink in diameter.

For those wondering what the heck we're talking about:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6590184016&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESO%3AIT&rd=1

Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

The Plague
01-28-2006, 04:26 AM
I have a 4-D cell mag light and am currently in the middle of converting it to an LED. They're actually pretty easy to convert.

Those who live by the sword, will die by the sword

Daj Nallig
01-28-2006, 05:15 PM
To GeluKhanGharr-
I was nosing around in the forums and ran across your saber on ebay. I have only one comment-SWEET!!!! That is a very imaginative design- if I may ask, how do you get the coring effect?
I'm planning to build a saber when I get my tax return this year, and I've been burning up the internet looking for original designs-not copies of SW sabers, and yours really got the creative juices flowing.
This forum has been quite a Godsend for me. Hope y'all don't mind my dropping in and asking a stupid question or two from time to time........

xwingband
01-28-2006, 05:31 PM
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=205

and

http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=273

Read both of those. Gelu uses a type of clear film. What type of film we (and Gelu) don't really know, but the second thread there is vadeblade's attempt at replicating it with clear mylar.

If you are really interested in it I'd say find as many clear reflective films as you can and try them or look at corbin's film (www.corbinscomponents.com)

<center>http://www.dewbackwing.com/dewbacks/files/pinupbanner.jpg
www.dewbackwing.com</center>

GeluKhanGharr
01-28-2006, 11:50 PM
Now all I can add is "thank you xwing for doing all the button pushing for me" [;)]
Serious now, like xwing said, I have no ideea what kind of film i am using, I bought it as wrapping foil. I picture would be useless because it looks identical to Vince's mylar. Thanks for the compliments. Check out the pictures thread for my latest bragg [8D]

Born of Sith, seduced by the light.
http://www.saloncatalina.com/images/signature.jpg

Melek Taus
01-31-2006, 12:52 AM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by The Plague

I have a 4-D cell mag light and am currently in the middle of converting it to an LED. They're actually pretty easy to convert.

Those who live by the sword, will die by the sword
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Which one you using? There are various colors. Got any pics?

Thanks
Melek Ta'us

There is no light or dark...there is only the Force....knowing this...who dares to challenge me?

jedi-dad2
02-07-2006, 09:14 AM
The first machined saber I purchased from Tim was made from a maglight

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4817/mysaber2zj.jpg

macross73
07-20-2006, 02:29 AM
Hello everyone.
I've been fortunate enough to find this site and learn quite a bit.
My thanks to Do-Clo for offering his saber on eBay. I bought a bunch. I've learned alot from his work. I'm designing/working on a couple of lightsabers. When my order arrives later this week, I'll make a double bladed lightsaber. I'm also working on a maglite 4 d-cell all i need to do here is to get the sink tube to MHS adapter to fit inside the maglite. I'll have to sand it down or find someone with a lathe that can in my area. I'll be getting sandpaper later today. Any suggestions on Grit? I'm just gonna get the roughest grit. i have to take off about a millimeter's worth of material.
I haven't seen more than one Maglite conversion done here, is it b/c there just harder than the MHS offered? Well if i ever get the adapter to fit then I'll post pics when its complete. I haven't decided on the color of the led yet maybe amber or red-orange not sure yet. I want the led color to work with the black hilt/maglite.
Thanks in advance to any answers

james3
07-20-2006, 05:36 AM
Welcome to the boards. If you are to build following a saber of Do-Clos you are already heading in the right direction. I like the MHS stuff so much that I just haven't played with anything else lately. I have a red maglite that I was going to do and it is still sitting along with some other parts in the to be done box. You may want to also get you exact specs of the maglite and ask Tim to machine it down for you, custom pieces and services are avaliable with a quick e-mail. I realize that you have made your order already but that is not to say that you can't save that adapter and blade holder for another project down the road. [:D]
As for grit size I will leave that to the guys on here that know what their talkin about to go over that one.
Amber on a black hilt sounds awesome good luck with it.

<center>http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/Dadof3/kotor2.jpg</center>

xwingband
07-20-2006, 05:37 AM
Yeah, whatever grit you get will be fine.

The reason people do mag-light conversions is because they like the way it looks.[:p] Not that it's any easier...

<center>Read the FAQ (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=552) or x-wing won't be happy. :(
Before posting did you check the Thread Index (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=577)?.

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/6703/xwing8az.gif</center>

Do-Clo
07-20-2006, 06:35 AM
Welcome Macross, the mag light will make a good looking saber, in fact I have one in my project box that will be converted one day. I think that a red, green or amber led would look good with a black mag light hilt. Thanks for the kind words on my work and I am glad that you enjoy you sabers.

<center>http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/Do-Clo/DoCloSig.jpg</center>
<center><font color="red"><font size="4"><font face="Comic Sans MS">Darth Technous Sith Lord</font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size4"></font id="red"></center>
<center><font color="red"><font size="4"><font face="Comic Sans MS">Give yourself to the Dark Side</font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size4"></font id="red"></center>

Lord Maul
07-20-2006, 10:22 AM
maglights seem like a good hilt because they are essentialy a sink tube. that means that you can add a bunch of stuff onto it and the electronics are already in it.

At last we will reveal ourselves to the jedi, at last we will have revenge.

Jedi-Loreen
07-23-2006, 11:27 PM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Lord Maul

maglights seem like a good hilt because they are essentialy a sink tube. that means that you can add a bunch of stuff onto it and the electronics are already in it.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

<font size="3"><font color="purple">
Huh? What electronics are you referring to? Maglites are obviously set up for a bulb and D-cell batteries. (I don't know if a C-cell has a large enough ID)</font id="purple"></font id="size3">

In order to see the Light, you must sometimes risk the Dark.

james3
07-24-2006, 06:00 AM
I am surprised you haven't played with taking out the bulb and playing with setup to mount a LED in there. I was on my way to doing that and it should work out fine. I love the idea of using bigger batteries like MC does talk about long life[:D]

<center>http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/Dadof3/kotor2.jpg</center>

Do-Clo
07-24-2006, 07:25 AM
You can buy a luxeon conversion for your mag lite that just plugs in, then all you have to do is work out your blade holder.

<center>http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/Do-Clo/DoCloSig.jpg</center>
<center><font color="red"><font size="4"><font face="Comic Sans MS">Darth Technous Sith Lord</font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size4"></font id="red"></center>
<center><font color="red"><font size="4"><font face="Comic Sans MS">Give yourself to the Dark Side</font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size4"></font id="red"></center>

james3
07-24-2006, 10:07 AM
Good call, maybe that can be my project this week...(what's that honey? Yeah, no problem I will get those other 50 boxes packed today.
<center>[:p]</center>

<center>http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/Dadof3/kotor2.jpg</center>

macross73
08-06-2006, 07:39 PM
I was able to move on in the Maglite project.
i used a Red 3 watt led, 2.2 resistor and 4AAA
battery. I ended up cutting off the end of
flashlight and using 3/4" PVC tubing one just
behind the led to keep it from moving. The
lens is glued into a 1" poly C tube which is
glued into the 3/4" PVC tube. I placed a 1" PVC
tube over the 3/4" piece. I painted those parts
black. to match the black maglite. I know I need to do
more to the hilt it looks too much like flashlight still.
I thought about adding grips but when i tried i didnt
like the look. So maybe i'll add some buttons or screw-on
accents. What those accents will be i dont know. I
havent taken pics of what i've done so far but will
tomorrow. I'll hopefully get them posted in the afternoon.

Do-Clo
08-06-2006, 09:58 PM
Sounds interesting Macross looking forward to seeing pictures.

<center>http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/Do-Clo/DoCloSig.jpg</center>
<center><font color="red"><font size="4"><font face="Comic Sans MS">Darth Technous Sith Lord</font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size4"></font id="red"></center>
<center><font color="red"><font size="4"><font face="Comic Sans MS">Give yourself to the Dark Side</font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size4"></font id="red"></center>

macross73
08-07-2006, 07:29 PM
I've posted pics in the my Album of the Maglite
and my other sabers. These are sabers I bought
from Do-Clo and UltraSWG and TCSS all recombined.

/photoalbum/macross73/custom1.JPG
/photoalbum/macross73/custom2.JPG
/photoalbum/macross73/custom3.JPG

Step away from the Lightsaber. It burns.

Lord Maul
08-07-2006, 07:58 PM
sweet saber macross [:0][^]

i look forward to seeing it after you have decorated it [;)]

At last we will reveal ourselves to the jedi, at last we will have revenge.

Do-Clo
08-07-2006, 09:51 PM
Good looking sabers Macross, I even recognize a couple,[:D] glad you enjoy them. The maglite is really taking shape, now I will have to get busy and do something with mine.

<center>http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/Do-Clo/DoCloSig.jpg</center>
<center><font color="red"><font size="4"><font face="Comic Sans MS">Darth Technous Sith Lord</font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size4"></font id="red"></center>
<center><font color="red"><font size="4"><font face="Comic Sans MS">Give yourself to the Dark Side</font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size4"></font id="red"></center>

macross73
08-30-2006, 09:31 PM
So i've changed the maglite a bit since my last post. feedback would be greatly appreciated pos. or neg. The rings i've added are for sink drains they're just turned inside out. i had them bunched together it looked ok, but it made the hilt's lower half heavy so then i had 7 on the lower half and 7 at the top below the emitter. That was ok. Then I settled on them being spread out like it is.

/photoalbum/macross73/red3.jpg
/photoalbum/macross73/red4.jpg
/photoalbum/macross73/custom4.jpg
------------------------
Step away from the Lightsaber.
It burns.

xwingband
09-04-2006, 06:43 AM
While it was plain before (not really a bad thing since it was black. It has a whole different look this way.

I'm suprised it wasn't mentioned before... what kind of case are you using for the sabers?

<center>Read the FAQ (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=552) or x-wing won't be happy. :(
Before posting did you check the Thread Index (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=577)?.

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james3
09-04-2006, 02:45 PM
Very cool mac. I like the staggering as it goes up.

<center>http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/Dadof3/kotor2.jpg</center>

macross73
09-04-2006, 07:25 PM
[quote]Originally posted by xwingband

While it was plain before (not really a bad thing since it was black. It has a whole different look this way.

I'm suprised it wasn't mentioned before... what kind of case are you using for the sabers?[quote]



The case is an aluminum rifle case that
I got off ebay for about $40.oo the case
hold six hilts and blades, plenty of space.

thanks[:)]


------------------------
Step away from the Lightsaber.
It burns.

Eclipse
09-15-2006, 12:11 PM
ok so I like a little less bulk in my hand so will a 3c mag work to make a hilt???? what mods do I need to make?? should I just go with a 3-4d mag?? never built a hilt before and want to get it right (or as close to it as I can) the first time.

macross73
09-18-2006, 12:35 AM
I havent done it yet but I'v got a small maglite thats fairly beat up and I though about modding it for a saber. I want to do this differently than the last one. I hadn't used the electronics or original battteries b/c I was going to add sound down the road but I haven't yet.

On the smaller mag i may buy the Led conversion kit that i've seen offered but I have'nt seen it for less than $30-$40. So that may be out. otherwise I'll have to gut it out just like before, take a pipe cutter to take a bit off the end where its threaded and add Pvc to hold the led and hold the blade. this time the color of the blade will be Amber.