Fiber Optic Cable

[tetmatek]

I got some of that side glow cable and man is it cool. here are some photos. I is powered by a 3 watt Lux and it lights up 15 feet great. here are some pics for review
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/893/img01307ue.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
How bout that sringy Force Lightning LOL
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/1444/img01343ru.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
It has some potential especially for the glow factor.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[xwingband]

What kind is it? I hear the 3M stuff is great.

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[tetmatek]

not sure came from www.fiberopticproducts.com


http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[xwingband]

Costs out the wazoo. $35 minimum...[:0] Looks decent though over the short distances of a blade.

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www.dewbackwing.com</center>

[tetmatek]

compare cost of led plus fiber optic to el plus el wire

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Do-Clo]

Which type of fiber cable did you get, the solid core or the stranded core??

Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

[tetmatek]

solid 3/8 core

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3213/sig35jo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[WeirdoTransvestite]

Lightwhip anyone?

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http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/WeirdoTransvestite/LaughingManROTATE.gif

[danissith8]

Can it fit in a Poly C Tube? :lol:










The path I choos e is my Destiny.

[vadeblade]

tetmatek,
What are you using to focus as much light into the fiber? I read someplace that you need some sort of special coupler to get proper alignment and stuff.

it look s very cool and promising.

-v

[Sethski]

Hope it's OK to revive an old post.

I was just curious if anyone had used the fibre-optic cable in a thick walled 3/4" blade with a luxeon and how it worked if so?

I've got 3 3/4" EL hilts at the mo and my train of thought is that this is may be a better way of lighting it than with a hollow blade and diffuser.

I like the feel of the hilts with a thick-walled 3/4" blade; I know the thin-walled one's are better for lighting, but they feel too flimsy and I can't imagine they stand up to duelling very well.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

My Custom Luxeon saber originally used 14mm side-glow fiberoptic cable to light the blade....it was a thin-walled, but lit up fairly well. The major drawback to it for me was weight, and the dimming in the middle of the blade.

Here it is compared to an EL saber I had at the time:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o141/Jay-gon_Jinn/lux-el-comparision-1.jpg
The two blades look to be about the same in this pic as far as brightness goes, but the fiber-optic blade lit up a dark room, where the EL did not.

[Sethski]

Thanks for that Jay-Gon.

It looks pretty bright but not too even, as you pointed out. Is it using an optic and anything reflective in the tip with the setup you have there?

I may well do some shopping when I can next afford to and experiment a bit with this. I wonder if wrapping something translucent and semi-reflective like polyP would help at all with the evenness.

I'll certainly share how it works out as and when I do have a chance to do this.

[Sethski]

[EDIT - sorry-whoops, accidental double post...]

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Yes, there was an acrylic mirror in the tip, but no lens in the emitter. I had noticed the cable was brighter when the end of the cable was closer to the led. Lumileds has a fibercoupler made for using with optic cable, but I can't remember what size cable it would fit....it also didn't look like you would be able to use it with a removeable blade set up, either.

I've thought about trying to add polyp to that blade with the cable, but again, the biggest drawback to the size of cable I used was weight....that blade was heavy!

[Novastar]

Personally, I'd like to see a fiber optic cable "light whip"... especially since I've been thinking of making CF fonts for whip-style stuff.

Heck the "Phoenix Pyre" could easily be modified to make a nice flame whip... :)

[Sethski]

Thanks again, Jay.

Maybe the weight factor would just be too much, then, but I'd like to give it some testing when I can afford to.

I know you've used 3/4" quite a bit before - have you found any other solutions to get an optimal combination of lighting and duelability with an LED? I guess it'll end up being one compromise or another - trial and error and personal preference and stuff.

[Darth_DevilGuy]

Lightwhip anyone?

damn beat me to it, someone seriously needs to do that though it kinda looks like someone already did :mrgreen:

[Ghostbat]

At the big burning man lightsaber fight someone had made EL wire lightwhips... damn those things stung!

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I gave up on using the optic cable for a saber blade when I started using the polyp or cellophane wrap for light diffusion...it got the same results and was a heck of a lot lighter. I found this a while ago and thought it might work if someone wanted to do a lightwhip with a permanently attached cable:
http://www.luxeonstar.com/item.php?id=1788&link_str=121::329&partno=FFLI-07-LL-0
It can only use 7-9mm cable, but it should focus more of the light from the led into the cable making it brighter. It works with lux I, III, and V leds only, though. I haven't used one though, because they don't make them for the larger dia. cable like I've got.

[Sethski]

If the fibreoptic doesn't offer much boost in brightness over the polyp in a thick-walled blade I'll probably steer clear. this is all moot until I have some spare cash to get bits to start converting from EL to LED anyway. Thanks for your help and info sussing it out a bit better.

As for the lightwhips - I saw some pics of a mean looking double whip done with orange EL wire - it looked like it would burn and electrocute you. The EL wire was wrapped round soem other stuff, so more of an electro whip than a light whip, which the fibreoptic would maybe suit better.

From design and brightness point of view, I imagine that a longer handle would seem more normal for a whip or flail, so perhaps potential for a beefier LED as well with more battery room?

Has anyone made a fibreoptic one yet?

Oh and Ghostbat - is that burning man as in the big festival/gathering/event in Nevada at the end of August? Something I'd love to get to if I ever find myself in the States.

[Ghostbat]

Oh and Ghostbat - is that burning man as in the big festival/gathering/event in Nevada at the end of August? Something I'd love to get to if I ever find myself in the States.

That's the one, two years ago this crazy man brought a truckload of toy lightsabers up and handed them out for a huge saber fight, about 6 or 7 thousand people, it's what ignited my interest in custom sabers, the need to have something cool to bring next time :)

Next time (last year) he was even crazier and armed about 15,000 people, mortgaged his home to give away all those cheap little sabers!

It was way too much fun to be allowed!

[Novastar]

Mortgaged his home??? Holy bantha tracks batman...!!!

[Iria]

A friend and I have a saber blade plan that basicaly intails a bright led, the Light Injector Lens, with fiber optic cable wraped around a thin dowl of air craft grade aluminium all stuffed inside a poly-c pipe.

Any thoughts on that? Should I perhaps use some sort of reflective something inside the pipe?

[Agash]

A friend and I have a saber blade plan that basicaly intails a bright led, the Light Injector Lens, with fiber optic cable wraped around a thin dowl of air craft grade aluminium all stuffed inside a poly-c pipe.

Any thoughts on that? Should I perhaps use some sort of reflective something inside the pipe?

My thought is that it will not work that way. Fibre optic cables have a minimal radius when it comes to turning around a rod. Most cable will simply break inside by that diameter you plan.
Also light can excape because of the small turnings and you will never reach a even blade.

[Darth_DevilGuy]

also you'll run into the same problems that LED ladder style blades run into with that, mainly that the cable is fragile and strikes could make it's integrity fail, I'm not entirely sure that you can even get side emitting FO cable in a size small enough to do what you propose either.

[Iria]

My thought is that it will not work that way. Fibre optic cables have a minimal radius when it comes to turning around a rod. Most cable will simply break inside by that diameter you plan.
Also light can escape because of the small turnings and you will never reach a even blade.

Ha, that's brilliant. I knew it was fragile and I wasn't even thinking about it. Slipped right through my mind. Thank you. :) Honestly, it would just be easier for me to just do an LED lit blade, but my friend was quite insistent.


Also you'll run into the same problems that LED ladder style blades run into with that, mainly that the cable is fragile and strikes could make it's integrity fail, I'm not entirely sure that you can even get side emitting FO cable in a size small enough to do what you propose either.

Also, a really good point. I have not ever actually worked with fiber optic cable before so this is pretty helpful to know, thank you very much.

And one can never have enough extra stuff laying around the house to play with, including extra fiber optic cable. :D

[FenderBender]

Ha, that's brilliant. I knew it was fragile and I wasn't even thinking about it. Slipped right through my mind. Thank you. :) Honestly, it would just be easier for me to just do an LED lit blade, but my friend was quite insistent.



Also, a really good point. I have not ever actually worked with fiber optic cable before so this is pretty helpful to know, thank you very much.

And one can never have enough extra stuff laying around the house to play with, including extra fiber optic cable. :D

Not to mention the sheer weight of the thing if you could actually build it. It would be SOO heavy compared to a regular blade. I don't think it would offer any advantages anyway.

[kianboy]

Fiber optic cable is less susceptible to breakage than other types of cable, including cat 5 and coaxial cable.

(http://www.opfibrecorp.com)

[Jedi-Loreen]

Well, that post was semi informational.

But I don't really think it warranted bringing up a thread that's over 2 years old when there are newer threads about the same type of subject.

[Skottsaber]

Obvious spam. Look at the link, the spambot was referring to Fiber Optic cable for data use.
Its an advertising link.

[Jedi-Loreen]

I'll watch him, but his IP address didn't appear like a SPAMbot when I ran it through Stopforumspam.com.

I should probably remove the link.

If he posts more SPAM, he will be Banned and this thread cleaned and put back to sleep. I'll also run his IP again in a few days, to see if it's got more hits, could be a new IP being used for SPAM.