Film versus Diffuser

[vsxultra]

Greetings,

By personal experience from those who have both TCSS Film and TCSS Diffuser. Which one is preferred?

I'm mainly speaking in terms of weight and feel of the blade while dueling. Not necessarily brightness. I know that both are pretty well lit.

I'd like to know opinions on this. By the way, what type of plastic are the diffusers made out of, and does it affect weight issues on the blade.

Any info on this would be great.

Thanks.

Ultra

[Angelus Lupus]

Three things:

1. There was a thread very much like this posted just recently here (http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=6699)
2. probably best to sign yourself as vsxultra so as not to cause confusion with Ultra the creator of the US soundboard (unlikely to happen, just me being anal, I guess)
3. Welcome! :)

[Jedi-Loreen]

Welcome.

First of all, you might not want to call yourself "Ultra", you might be confused, by some, with Ultra from Ultrasabers. Though the people who've been around here for a while will be able to tell by the questions you're likely to be asking. :p

I don't notice any discernable weight difference between the diffuser film and the tube.

I think the diffuser tubes might be made of nylon? There's something of similar thickness that I've seen in the McMasters catalog.


Edit:
Dang it AL, you beat me to it! Though I didn't refer to any other threads.

[Lord Maul]

For which style you like better, look in the blade comparison pictures thread. It's in the thread index. ;)

[vsxultra]

Very good. Didn't mean to take someone else's name. I am indeed VSXUltra, not to be confused with any other Ultra.

So far, I have put together 2 blades. Consisting of one 1/8" wall thickness and one 1/16" wall thickness. So far, I like the feel of the thinner wall, much lighter in weight. I have yet to actually light up either blade, as this is my first attempt at a LuxIII saber. I did however mount them firmly to my hilts.

True, the diffuser adds very little weight however, I haven't heard of anyone using a diffuser that fits a thin wall PolyCarb tube. That's also why I asked what are the diffusers made of, I plan to fit a thin wall with one of these.

McMasters got allot of stuff, I just need to be sure what the diffuser consists of. Perhaps I'll order another from TCSS and see if the drop down option allows for thin wall.

thanks

VSXUltra

[Jedi-Loreen]

I don't see any diffuser tube options for the thin walled blades, that would require a 5/8" OD. The ones for the thick walled blades are 3/4" OD.

You'd probably have to get this on your own.

I haven't tried it, and don't know if this is what Tim uses, so I can't vouch for it's diffusion properties, but this might be what you want from McMaster: Part Number: 8628K57 (http://www.mcmaster.com/itm/find.ASP?tab=find&context=psrchDtlLink&fasttrack=False&searchstring=8628K57)

This is 1/16" nylon tubing.

[vsxultra]

Thanks for looking that up at McMasters, Loreen. Its not expensive for 5' but it might be a gamble if indeed the diffuser is not made of nylon. I think I'll take the diffuser to my local plastics shop. They got everything there except PolyCarb. Either way, it'd be nice if the Shop offered diffusers for thin walled blades. Perhaps there's a reason behind why there is no thin walled diffuser.

In the meantime, I am going to attempt to integrate my BuckPuck 1000 with CloneWars Ultimate lightsaber sound board. Off to the other boards I go.

Thanks all,

VSXUltra

[Jedi-Loreen]

If you have a local plastics company, definitely go there and find out what they have. Not everyone has that option. I have one in town here, too. I used to buy my polycarb tubes there, before this Store opened. (I used to make EL blades for people). I've also bought colored acrylic rods there, too.

That was an opportunity to show that I know how to navigate through the McMaster's catalog. ;)

[vsxultra]

The guys at my local plastics shop said that the TCSS diffuser is most likely Styrene. They said it doesn't look like nylon to them. I went ahead and ordered some nylon tubes to fit in my thin walled blade, and so far it looks pretty close to the TCSS diffuser. If the shop does not offer a thin walled option, perhaps they can share what material it is made out of so that we can get this diffuser elsewhere for our thin walled blades.

Its my personal choice to duel with a thin wall, mainly because of its light weight, and because that was what I used back in the EL days.

Any info on the diffuser for thin blades would be most appreciated.

Thanks

VSXUltra

[Jedi-Loreen]

Parks blades used the thick walled polycarb tubes.

I started out making my EL blades from the thin walled tube, but upgraded them to the thick walled, because I found the thin walled too "bendy".

Though I have never tried a thin walled 1" tube. But with the larger diameter, I would think they'd be less compact, and therefore, still more bendy than the thick walled tube.

You can ask Tim about stocking them, but it might be bad form to ask him about his source for them. I certainly don't see any styrene tubing at Mcmaster.com

[DragonStar]

I've used 1" thin walled polycarbonate with 3/4" polyethylene tubing as a diffuser. The fit is nearly perfect, but it helps to straighten the polyethylene onto a dowel or metal rod and apply heat (such as a hair dryer). Be sure not to kink the tube when straightening or else there will be a noticeable blight in the blade.