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View Full Version : Plastic dye for polyc blades ?



jamesjeffh
08-03-2008, 08:56 PM
I had an idea and was wondering if anybody else has tried and failed or just plain knows it cant be done with polycarbonate ? I was thinking ( HOPE is more correct) that if you could dye a blade say blue and have a white led that maybe you could get a little closer to movie blades in terms of a white core or at least a lighter core with a colored or tinted outline outline.

Vardarac
08-04-2008, 06:22 AM
From what I've read, polycarbonate has a tendency to resist tinting (which might be why it is expensive to get tinted polyc lenses for one's glasses). I could be wrong, though- that's just what I've heard.

Corbin had an idea earlier, I believe, that involves 2 tubes and a colored semitransparent torus for generating the illusion of a white core. You've basically got this colored disk with a hole in it in front of a white led. The colored light illuminates a larger outer tube, while the plain white light illuminates a smaller inner tube. I don't know how well this works.

Malaki Skywalker
08-04-2008, 06:39 AM
It could be possible, perhaps sand blasting the blade may help with the dye. :?

Ingchao
09-01-2008, 03:34 PM
What about colored acrylic inside poly-c?
I saw these but I don't know any of the specs on them.
http://polystyrene-hips-rods.com/pig-pipe.htm

Anybody got any more info?

Lord Maul
09-01-2008, 03:39 PM
If those are acrylic they will shatter if you duel. That illustration at the top of the page will give me nightmares for years...:rolleyes:

Ingchao
09-01-2008, 03:41 PM
If those are acrylic they will shatter if you duel. That illustration at the top of the page will give me nightmares for years...:rolleyes:

I meant using the acrylic inside the poly-c as a diffuser.

Lord Maul
09-01-2008, 03:42 PM
When you duel the poly C bends. That would mean the diffuser has to bend as well. It'd really be no different than having the acrylic as the entire blade.

Ingchao
09-01-2008, 03:50 PM
When you duel the poly C bends. That would mean the diffuser has to bend as well. It'd really be no different than having the acrylic as the entire blade.

I'm guessing that wouldn't be good!

Novastar
09-01-2008, 05:03 PM
Maul is absolutely right. This is also essentially why blades with electronics inside (or complicated yet delicate structures) have a systemic failure that will be repeated no matter how many times you fix it.

Granted, you COULD use a colored film or... a diffuser type similar to Tim's... but I really don't know how that would be better than doing the diffusion via a Lee Filter at the very source of a white LED (such as the Seoul P4).

Doing things with Lee filter offers so many more possibilities, whereas with a colored blade, you're essentially defeating the purpose of a "color changer" since... you're stuck with that color! :)

Jay-gon Jinn
09-01-2008, 05:32 PM
Doing things with Lee filter offers so many more possibilities, whereas with a colored blade, you're essentially defeating the purpose of a "color changer" since... you're stuck with that color! :)

Or, you end up with a closet full of different colored blades taking up space. :P

Ingchao
09-01-2008, 07:17 PM
I was just curious as to how acrylic would look as a diffuser.

Proximal
09-03-2008, 08:05 PM
Once PC (polycarbonate) is out of the extruder it can't be dyed. They obviously have color concentrates that they can add to any material to make it any one color or translucent colors but you may have a hard time finding that outside of an industrial setting.

Some forms of acrylic have a higher izod (impact strength) But it just depends on what application it is being used in, and what gauge it is. There are plenty of additives and modifiers that companies use to get the desired resin correct for their application. So with a lot of research I suppose you could find some form of acrylic to fit your needs but in my professional opinion it would be a waste of time.


Interesting side note to all of this. Most forms of plastic that are clear are considered "natural" in the plastic world. There are a few that in their natural state are an opaque white or milky color and change to the clear state after heat is applied (i.e. PETE polyester). PC is also like this except it wont turn clear when heat is applied. They actually have to ADD color to it to make it clear. Needless to say, that one messed with me for a while, and naturally made me ask the question, "what color do you add to make something clear?"

Cheers!