Corbin's driver + Royal Blue LuxIII = not so bright

[strengthofrage]

Hey guys, I just wired up my latest MHS and was a bit disappointed with the brightness. It looks really dull. The blade I am using is the complete Corbin battle blade from the shop. I know it wont look as good as the show blade but this thing is pretty pale. I am running a royal blue luxIII with Corbin's driver and using a Hasbro board for sound on a separate circuit (aside from the power switch, the board is momentary to match the Hasbro). Any ideas why it would be so dim?

***Fresh out of the package batteries used when I finished wiring so it can't be dead batteries***

[Lord Maul]

Weak solder connections could be the culprit. Royal Blue LEDs are really weak with Corbin's blade. I know that from experience ;)

[strengthofrage]

That could be... I am a somewhat seasoned solder vet but I hear cold joints can happen to any guy from time to time.

I used one of the quick disconnect set ups for it... any possibility I am losing something there?

[DarthFender]

That could be... I am a somewhat seasoned solder vet but I hear cold joints can happen to any guy from time to time.

I used one of the quick disconnect set ups for it... any possibility I am losing something there?

If the royal blue is anything like the regular blue... it's just a dimmer LED. The blue lux III is about 40 lumens compared to the green at 80. Also the human eye sees green as brighter. Also, I think that with the royal blues some of the light is not visible as it is in the UV spectrum.

Anyone, please correct me on that if I'm wrong.

[xwingband]

Get some PolyP/Cellophane and put that in the blade. I like the saturation of Royal Blue despite it's "dimness".

[goldsaberwarrior]

Well if I knew this I would've gotten a regular blue with my saber parts. Sounds like a prob the EJ may have.

[ArkaiHalon]

to x wing you must listen, poly p the blade needs.

I've got 2 of these led's and they are plenty bright.

[strengthofrage]

I have a double wrap of cellephane under the Corbin film and I also sanded the blade. Is the Poly P better than the cellephane? If so where might I get a roll of that?

I do like the color saturation Xwing, royal blue looks nice. I just would like it to be brighter. I need to get a show blade from the shop as well, I dont have anyone close by to duel with anyway, my battle blade is unused as of now.

[xwingband]

So you only have a double wrap of the cellophane? In thin walled blades I use a double of Corbin's and 3-4 feet of PolyP.

I doubt there is much of a difference between the films. I just use PolyP because I can get really large rolls of it.

[strengthofrage]

Yep, I have a double of Corbin's and then a double of cellephane. It isnt a thin walled blade though, it is the thick walled 1" OD complete blade from the shop.

[BhujangiJedi]

I have two amber Lux III's that I was disappointed with, but sand blasting my blades made a huge difference. The blades are standard TCSS battle blades and I haven't put polyp in them yet.

I'm driving the LEDs with a 1000mA buckpuck, but the brightness goes down significantly while there's still a good bit of battery life left (4xAA NiMH).

[strengthofrage]

Did you sandblast the outside of the blade?

[BhujangiJedi]

Yeah, I blasted the outside. I don't really know how you'd sandblast the inside. The nozzle on my friend's blaster isn't something you could get inside the tube and blast it.

The blade has a nice frosted look (unlit) and feels perfectly smooth to the touch. When lit up, the diffusion is much better than before it was sandblasted. I'll try and get an illuminated picture up tonight.

I really like it - much more of an even glow, and greatly reduces the "column of light inside a tube" appearance.

Now I'm thinking of blasting some patterns on the hilt!

There's a small bit visible at the base that I did not blast:
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54&d=1202330600

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55&d=1202330605

[Hasid Lafre]

I need to find someone with a sand blaseter

[BhujangiJedi]

You definitely do. I'd never sandblasted before, but doing simple frosting on a blade is really easy, and the results are awesome. Just takes a few minutes. Tim should get a sandblasting room. :)

[strengthofrage]

I have a booth in my shop. Looks like my blade has a date with some sand, thanks for the tip :)

[Arm on Fire]

only problem with sandblasting the outside is that every mark will show and you can forget about dueling unless you are able to re-blast it regularly, if all you want is a show blade though it is a great trick. If you can, blasting the inside gives you the best of both.

[BhujangiJedi]

Unfortunately, this is certainly true. I was a bit dismayed at how much scuff marks show up on a normal blade, but it is even worse with the blade sand blasted.

So yeah... for a show blade, sand blasting is fantastic. For a dueling blade, you may not want to bother unless you have easy access to a sand blaster to keep re-touching it.

On the other hand, are there really any sturdy dueling blades that don't look bashed up after a good bit of use? I suspect a scuffed-up sandblasted blade will still look a bit better while being swung about (as opposed to being viewed while being held still, which is when all the scuff marks will really be apparent) than a scuffed-up non-sandblasted blade.

[Hasid Lafre]

What about etching the blade?

[strengthofrage]

I would think that a sand blasted blade would dent and ding the same as a blade that has been just sanded with sand paper or one frosted with krylon. For me, I have a dueling blade and no one to duel with so really I should just have a show blade I guess (didn't think of this until after I bought it)... I will sand blast and see how I like it. I dont like how my blade turned out after sanding.

[BhujangiJedi]

It's dark, so I put up an illuminated picture, and you can really see the improvement.