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View Full Version : Any idea on how to make a 1.25 sink tube blade holder?



Tekka
11-10-2007, 06:54 AM
Hi, i just bought got my 1.25 sink tube and all the blade supplies but looks like i fogot to order the blade holder. I tried ordering 1 today but it's seems to be out of stock and was wondering is there anything i can build as a temp holder until Tim gets them back in stock again. I know the holder isn't just some simple tube since it has that lip that holds the optic down but im just kinda impatient and wanna fire this thing up. anyone have any experience building a ghetto blade holder?

oh and 1 thing that puzzles me is how the blade holder actually locks down the blade into the holder. Does it just slide in and rely on a tight squeeze to hold it in place or do i drill a small hole in the tube and screw it in?

Vazan Maceu
11-10-2007, 07:25 AM
I´d recommend you to wait for the item to be back in stock, but since you´re in a hurry, try to make one out of PVC tubing. Sure, not nice, not very durable, but I´m sure it will serve its function pretty well por a while. Just make sure the tube you´re going to work with fits sungly into your 1.25" tube, and that it has an inner diameter of 1". And yes, you need to drill and tap a hole for a screw to keep your blade locked into the blade holder, for the blade´s bottom to have a clearance of approx. 1mm from the led optics. Try to heatsink your LED properly or it will fry (I´m assuming you´re going for a resistored setup).

Maliki Skywalker
11-10-2007, 07:30 AM
I be leave that PVC tube is what Tims uses for the blade holder? If it is you would have to buy a heat sink and Tap the holes

Vazan Maceu
11-10-2007, 07:45 AM
I be leave that PVC tube is what Tims uses for the blade holder?

They´re made of aluminium: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/pc-890-22-125-sink-tube-ledblade-holder.aspx

You can´t anodize PVC :wink:

Maliki Skywalker
11-10-2007, 07:50 AM
I be leave that PVC tube is what Tims uses for the blade holder?

They´re made of aluminium: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/pc-890-22-125-sink-tube-ledblade-holder.aspx

You can´t anodize PVC :wink:

Ah i see, lol my bad :lol: :oops:

Tekka
11-10-2007, 08:02 AM
thx for the suggestion. I managed to find a small 1" long copper heat sink from a broken motherboard that fits inside the tube fine but is such a small heat sink good enough?

Also i have some left over thermal compound/grease from when i built my computer and was wondering if i could use any in aiding with making maximum contact between the led and the heat sink.

finally before i go running to home depot again, do they make pvc pipe with a 1" internal diameter and a 1.25 inner diameter? i remember looking it up once and couldn't find any.

also i am planning on using 4 1.2V NiMH batteries to power this thing, but i also plan to use a Luke ROTJ MR board for sound. Would you reccomend using the board to power it or using a resistor and relay to power the led? I'm looking for max brightness

also if possible can anyone take a pic of the insdie of the blade holder I need and idea on how to hold the optic in place

Vazan Maceu
11-10-2007, 08:17 AM
That heatsink, along with the thermal compound, should do the trick for the moment. As for the tubing, your best bet is PVC tubing with an OD of 32mm, and an ID of 25mm. You´ll probably have to sand it to make it fit. I´m sorry I can´t help you with the MR board, because I haven´t worked with one yet... Although I´m sure there´s plenty of information about that around here :wink:

ArkaiHalon
11-10-2007, 09:34 AM
1inch copper coupling from the plumbing aisle at home depot.

holds a1 inch poly blade like a champ, and should fit nicely inside the sink tube. I'm using one in the saber i'm building my nephew and it works great.

Jay-gon Jinn
11-10-2007, 09:47 AM
What led are you using, Lux III or K2? If you really want full brightness, then you should use the appropriate buckpuck in the store. Some MR boards will drive some leds to their max, and some don't. Everyone that has tested the current output of MR boards has gotten different readings from the same type of boards.

Tekka
11-10-2007, 10:15 AM
Im using a Lux 3 Cyan and a 2005 ROTJ MR Board. I also have a question and feel like a retard for asking but how does the Lens fit into the holder? Does the dome side point in or out of the holder?

The reason i ask is because when i try to put the lens dome side into the holder it won't fit. The lens has a tab on one side that is kinda too wide fit into the hole.

Maliki Skywalker
11-10-2007, 10:25 AM
Im using a Lux 3 Cyan and a 2005 ROTJ MR Board. I also have a question and feel like a retard for asking but how does the Lens fit into the holder? Does the dome side point in or out of the holder?

The reason i ask is because when i try to put the lens dome side into the holder it won't fit. The lens has a tab on one side that is kinda too wide fit into the hole.

Have you picked up the K2 lens holder by accident? If not i have no idea. :?

Jay-gon Jinn
11-10-2007, 10:35 AM
heheh...it can be confusing, so assemble it like this:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o141/Jay-gon_Jinn/LED%20Optics/5-deg-optic-mhs-holder.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o141/Jay-gon_Jinn/LED%20Optics/optics-assembled.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o141/Jay-gon_Jinn/LED%20Optics/optic-led-heatsink-assembly.jpg

Remove the tab and it should fit fine.

Tekka
11-10-2007, 10:47 AM
lol thx for the help, that cleared up alot of things, guess i should sand the tab on the lens down or trim a bit off the holder

Tekka
11-10-2007, 11:06 AM
is it me or does this thing not fit properly? i have to force it in and it feels like at any second it can pop off flying. it seems like the lens is too wide it go on to holder. is it suppose to be like that or should it snap on perfectly??

Novastar
11-10-2007, 05:50 PM
I had the same problem, but recognized that some of the optics sold were meant for K2 holders and/or some other kind of reversal happened (i.e. you have a Lux III holder and a K2 lens).

It's definitely not fun, and messes up some of the "light grabbin'".

Jay-gon Jinn
11-11-2007, 01:01 AM
Okay, next question: Is it a 5 or 10 degree? The 10 deg lenses will snap right into the holder, but the 5's will not. The pics above show a 5 degree lens. and you'll have to modify the holder to get the lans to stay in place.

Tekka
11-11-2007, 02:23 AM
I'm using a 5 degree lens. I had to use a bit of force to the lens in but it still won't fit like it was meant to but i guess this is as close as i can get.

I went to home depot and actually found the perfect blade holder. I tried a 1" copper coupling but it would not fit into the 1.25" sink tube but luckily i brought my digital caliber with me and found out the outer diameter of the coupling was around 1.2x", the inner diameter of the sink tube was around 1.176" barely missing it.

I musta stood there for like 30 minutes until i realized that they were coupling so of course they were bigger than 1" so i tried a regular 1" copper tube and found the outer diameter was 1.125 and the inner was almost exactly 1". These pipes were perfect fit for blade holders for 1.25 sink tubes. The problem was they won't sell little pieces and the minimum length was 5ft for $30 so i left homedepot without buying anything.

On the way home i saw an Ace Hardware where the minimum length they were willing to sell was only 6" so i bought two 3" pipes and brought it home. The poly tube slide in perfectly and was pretty nice fit for the sinktube. A screw would securely lock it with no probs.

My dad managed to mess around with an end mill at work and managed to make me a solid 1" diameter aluminum cylinder for a heat sink. All i gotta do is drill some holes to secure everything.

I was wondering how do i keep the Lens and holder to stay in place inside the blade holder? I don't want my poly tube pressing against my lens and was thinking to use a 3-5 mm thick rubber washing in between the lens holder and poly tube to keep everything aligned.

I will try to post pics of blade holder with my heat sink tomorrow.

Oh year how do i go about putting 4 AA with battery holders into my sinktube. 2 batteries without holders barely fit as it is.

If i could go back i wish i remembered to order the blade holder kit from TCSS. All the time and gas i spent driving around looking for things to use and get custom made was not worth the few dollars i saved but atleast it gave me something to do during this 3 day weekend.

Jay-gon Jinn
11-11-2007, 10:32 AM
Those lens holders weren't really made to house a 5 deg lens, but a 10 will snap right in. You are correct, though, the 5 will just have to be forced in. For a 1" blade, the 10 degree is usually the better choice.

The 5 degree holders look like this (it's the white one on the right):
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o141/Jay-gon_Jinn/LED%20Optics/optics-holders.jpg
Unfortunately, there's no clearance for the led screws with this holder, so that's why Tim sells the clear one on the left. Usually the lens/holder assembly is held in place by a ledge that is machined into the aluminum blade holder, and is sandwiched between the ledge and the heatsink. The holder can be glued to the star base that the led is attached to if you're worried it will come loose when you remove the blade.


As far as the batteries go, I have a 1.25" pipe here and this holder (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/pc-725-6-4aa-battery-holder.aspx) fits perfectly with the batteries installed.

Tekka
11-11-2007, 10:39 AM
i read the lens focusing thread and it suggested that i use a 5 degree lens for a 36" thin walled blade.

Jay-gon Jinn
11-11-2007, 10:47 AM
You mean this thread?
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2951&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

At the bottom of Corbin's first post it reads:

"So to recap:

1" thick walled - Generally use a 5 degree lens. A 10 degree will give more base flare if you like that look, but will not light as evenly.
1" thin walled - If under 35 inches long, use a 10 degree lens. If longer, a 5 degree might be better for you.
3/4" thin walled - Pretty much a 5 degree lens all the time. A 10 would be OK for an extremely short blade, but a 5 would be better. "

Depending on the blade length, you should be using a 10 degree lens with a 1" thin-walled blade. I've never really noticed much of a difference with any size blade, so I make it easier on myself and just use the 10 degree with Tim's holder. Saves a lot of hassle. But since you've already got the 5 degree, I'd just force in there, it'll stay.

Good idea with the copper tubing, BTW! I noticed how well it fits a 1" polyC tube as well, but haven't gotten around to using any yet.

Tekka
11-11-2007, 08:00 PM
Well here is my ghetto blade holder and heat sink. Look at how perfectly a 1" aluminum cylander and 1" poly carb tube slides into the copper pipe.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c348/Tekka1/bladeholder.jpg




I was planning on setting up everything like this, using a Rubber Washer 5 mm thick to hold down the optic from coming out of the lens holder. If anyone knows a better way to keep the optic in place please help me out

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c348/Tekka1/bladeholderschem-1.jpg

xl97
01-02-2008, 10:14 PM
anyone got a hook up on these 1.25 blade holders? are they are ever coming back around? :)

thanks