Purple LED

[james3]

Do-Clo that is an awsome job with the UV's. How much power did you apply?

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I will do what I must." - Obi-Wan Kenobi

[LAN-ED-TUL]

where? i musta missed it.

i found it. it is pretty darn nice lookin. i never woulda thought you could get that from uv leds. sweet color.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

[Do-Clo]

This a 1" polycarbonate tube with TCSS diffuser and lit by 7 standard uV leds, this was just a test to see what it would look like not bad over all. I am running the uV leds at 20 ma each.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/Do-Clo/IM000012.jpg
Do-Clo
Don't make me destroy you...

[james3]

Again, that is... impressive, most impressive. I agree with Lan-Ed-Tul wouldn't have thought to get that much out of those puppies.

sorry, I couldn't resist I've always loved that line.[:D]

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I will do what I must." - Obi-Wan Kenobi

[Do-Clo]

I have used uV leds with neon colored tubing to achive a true glowing look for the blade so I thought since they are purple why not try them in a blade with a diffuser and I was impressed myself. I know there has been a quest for a purple blade saber and I thought this could work and by adding some optics the results could even be better

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

[LAN-ED-TUL]

looks extremely promising for a mace colored blade do-clo. really good. indeed.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

[Do-Clo]

Hey guys I am famous I've been indexed

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

[xwingband]

lol, you noticed.[:D] I figured since purple is so desired many would be interested.

For reference to others it's here:
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=592

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[desertscorpion]

Do-Clo,

That blade looks more Macely than Mace's! - at least in the pics. I like it a lot!

[xwingband]

So did you actually use 7 5mm UV LEDs? I thought you used one of those clusters but I can't find ones like that so...

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[Do-Clo]

I purchased 50 5mm UV leds some time ago for a good price and I have been using them for many things, I had 7 leds mounted on a small circuit board in a circle.

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

[Hajime]

That's a great looking blade.Just to give some info there's a 1 watt uv led by Cree.Just google Cree Xlamp 7090 UV.I orderd one last Nov. and was told it was on backorder.Still haven't seen it yet.

[tetmatek]

Way cool!! [:D]I've been working on a jedi holo comunicator using the same uv led's. I have 5 mounted on a 2.5" acrylic disc. never thought to try them in a hilt. I am trying to mount a lens with a film cell on it then by using vapor technology i'll use the lens to prject the cell on to the smoke vapor. All theory so far. By the way the lens is a high beam projector from a 94 Lexus LS400. Will see. Any body else attemted or have ideas lets start a new thread. It would make an awesome prop replica if it could be pulled off!!

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

[xhypnauticx]

how about a 10mm led?? will it work the same?

[Do-Clo]

I only have 5mm uV leds by using 7 of them I am able to get a lot of light into the blade maybe if you used 3 10mm uv leds it would work, but they would need to be high output leds.

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

[LAN-ED-TUL]

indexed, cool do-clo. and i say again, that is a sweet lookin blade. makes me wanna give it a shot too sometime.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

[xhypnauticx]

so what kind of batteries are you using?

[Do-Clo]

Single 9 volt battery and a constant current circuit to drive the leds

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

[Jonitus]

Did you wire them in series or parallel? Are you using resistors on each LED? Is the blade removeable or fixed?

I am intrigued, to say the least. I can get a lot of 100 UV LEDs, but their forward voltage is 4.5 volts, so I was thinking of wiring them in parallel.

I could still have a sound module in a saber with UV LEDs!

...how will you know the light unless you have seen the dark? How will you know the good unless you have flirted with the evil?

[Do-Clo]

The leds are wired in parallel with a constant current circut for each led. The constant circuit circuts supplies 20 ma to each led and they are mounted in a circle on a piece of printed circuit board. The blade is the standard blade and diffuser from TCSS and the leds slide into the blade making a nice fit so yes it could be built into a removable blade saber you would need to work out fitting the leds into a blade holder but this would fit into a MHS blade holder very easy.

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

[Mur-Pa DiLos]

That really does look awesome! I've been reading about all the problems with the purple lightsabers and I got to say, that is by far the best option! It truly has a custom look to it. Nice Do-Clo. Also, thanks X-Wing for the posting index, that's how I found this![:D]

[Do-Clo]

This is a very easy way to make a purple saber and I was very pleased with the way the blade looked. And thanks for the kind comments everyone.

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

[Jonitus]

Could you give some specs about the LEDs you used? Luminosity and such?

I see a bunch of LEDs out there, but they range in color from a pinkish to a nearly blue, and the microcandela ratings swing from 190mcd to over 2500mcd. What did you use?

...how will you know the light unless you have seen the dark? How will you know the good unless you have flirted with the evil?

[Do-Clo]

The leds that I used are uV leds that I purchsed in a bulk pack on Ebay. They require about 3.5 volts and 20 ma for proper operation.

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

[LAN-ED-TUL]

still looks awesome do-clo. i still might give this a shot myself sometime.

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

[Mur-Pa DiLos]

Hey Do-Clo, how about a schematic for the way the LED's are placed? I really think you're onto something and it'd be awesome if it could easily be reproduced. (hint: TIM!!!!) That would be sweet if you can still use it in the MHS with the quick disconnect and everthing! There's got to be a way![:D]

Also, how bright is that thing in comparison to the other colors? I know it's brighter than the purple filter I'm using but it would be sweet if it could stand up to say the Green, Royal Blue, and Cyan![:D]

[LAN-ED-TUL]

do-clo, i think you really did start something here, just as you told me the other day. lol

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...

[Wolverine]

incredible!!! Looks incredible [8D][8D] Nice job!

[xwingband]

A diagram and pic of the board would help, but I doubt Tim would ever stock it. He'd have to make those suckers and he's got better things to do that sit there soldering a bunch of little LEDs.[xx(]

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[Do-Clo]

I will draw up a diagram later tonight and post it. The brightness is not as bright as the green or red colors but it does look good. I put the leds in a stock MR blade and they also looked good I will post a picture of that also. I am considering replacing the leds on a stock MR blade with all uV leds to see how it will look.

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

[Jonitus]

You said you used no optics to focus the light, correct? If so, you really did an excellent job of keeping everything lined up when you soldered the LEDs. When I try my hand at this, I am looking at using a small laser collimator lens to focus the light into a tight pattern.

I ended up ordering a bulk pack of 50 UV LEDs off of eBay that are rated at 3500 microcandela, 20mA forward current, water clear...and appear (from the photos) to emit in the deep end of "purple". I can hardly wait!

...how will you know the light unless you have seen the dark? How will you know the good unless you have flirted with the evil?

[Do-Clo]

The optics should focus the light better, this for me was an experiment to find a better purple blade. I may even build a complete purple lightsaber now.

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

[Mur-Pa DiLos]

Ho-Rah!!! You better! I'd say you definitely found a better purple! Send us some schematics! Don't keep it a secret!

[Do-Clo]

After all that I have learned about sabers from Tim and everyone here I would never keep secrets. That is the whole purpose of this forum to share information, but the kind words are nice too.

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

[The Plague]

This purple saber makes me want on soooooooooo much more.

Is that your lightsaber or are you happy to see me?

[Do-Clo]

Here is the diagram of the way that I arranged the uV leds in a circle. You could use heat shrink tubing or hot glue to hold them together your choice

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/Do-Clo/FridayMarch172006.jpg

This is the circuit that I designed to drive a led. It is a constant current circuit so the brightness doesn't change as the battery goes dead plus it gives you longer life out of your battery. I used a 9 volt battery but this circuit will work with 9 - 12 volts.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/Do-Clo/SundayMarch052006.jpg


My skills with MS paint are lacking, which is the reason for the hand drawn diagrams.

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

[GFORCE13]

Great Design I really like how it turned out.[:)]

May the Force
Be with You

Marc E.

[jedi_ the0ry]

What about making one big UV LED the size of the Luxeon, sticking that into the Luxeon, and using that...?

[Do-Clo]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by jedi_ the0ry

What about making one big UV LED the size of the Luxeon, sticking that into the Luxeon, and using that...?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

No one makes a large uV led at this time so you must use many small ones to get the brightness.

Do-Clo
Sith Lord
Brotherhood of the Sith
Don't make me destroy you...

[Raederle]

There is a 1W uv led emittor 400nm, 350mA at DX for only $8.
Anyone tried soldering this onto a star and collimating it yet?
I think the output might be better than a array of uncollimated leds with low output.

[Raederle]

another note. Since Do-Clo is using 5mm uv leds.

I think the 12 5mm uv led torch at DX might have comparable emittors. And you don't have to worry about building your own drive circuit since it is built into the torch. Did I mention that it costs only $6.

Just have to mod it to fit ito a hilt and take a blade.

[DACOTA]

Hey do-clo,did you have any kind of optic for those leds or were they just on their own focusing?I could get those at radio shack I think,I'll have to check.

[Do-Clo]

Hey do-clo,did you have any kind of optic for those leds or were they just on their own focusing?I could get those at radio shack I think,I'll have to check.

I didn't use any optics because they were narrow focused leds so no need for optics, I think they were either 20 degree or 25 degree I don't remember. When you mount the leds you can tilt them inward sligthly so that they point toward the center of the blade which will help focus light up the blade.

[JediTom]

A nice purple lightsaber there Do-Clo.
It could work out very nice.