Can I use a 3/4 inch blade for LED

[Zhi-don]

I noticed already that Corbin has tried using a thin walled 1/4 inch poly tube for LED with good results. My emitter on my protype will not allow room for the 1 inch poly tube. I need the thicker blade for dueling. Has anyone had any luck making a 40 inch 1/8 inch walled LED blade?

Zhi-don Aquintas
XO RL Sunrider Base
Treasurer/Head Instructor
Lightsaber training OCSWS

[informalmyx]

40 inch that is farly long for a saber. i made my blade that long and now i regret it

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[StrangeWings]

I agree on 40 being to long. My el is like that..it wobbles like a hot dog.

[WeirdoTransvestite]

Anywhere from 32" to 36" is probably the sweet spot for the blades, less wobble, and a controllable length.

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[Ambo]

I find that for a single wield u would want no longer than roughly 33", that creates a nice wielding blade with hardly, if any, flexin the blade when winging it around. I am sure you can make it slightly longer but i personally have noticed anythingover 36" u get a lot of flex and if you are over 5'10" the cieling becomes pock marked by saber tip strikes, not to mention lost and shattered acrylic tips. If one wants to dual wield u may want to reduce it down to maybe 30-31".

(I typed to slow and you beat me to the punch WT, and yes by the pics it dosnt look that different between 3/4 and 1" but to the naked eye there is a major difference.)

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
Albert Einstein

[james3]

A 3/4" blade does not look as good as an EL. It can be done but it is not very brite compared to the 1 inch. You may want to reconsider the 40 incher as well, they are floppy with the EL and diffuser in there to help keep it rigid. I would think that an empty 40 incher would just sling around all over the place.

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[xwingband]

"good results" is not a great way of saying that. Yes, it can be done but it's not better than 1". If you want to use a plain difusser like Tim's you'll have to find one and it won't work nearly as well. If you plan to use corbin's film than length is less of a problem since it evens it out to a taper anyway. The core will be much thinner though.

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[informalmyx]

i belive i read so where the blade of a screen saber was 34 or 36 inches do the lenth of the glass lights the modeled the saber from like overhead work lights

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[Zhi-don]

Thank you for your advice.

I've been using the standard 40 inch EL blades for years now and I am used to the length. Yes, they do tend to whip somewhat, but when you are dueling with people using 40 inch shinai, you are shorter then they are, they have longer arms than you do, you are the oldest guy there, and teaching the class as well, you need all the advantage you can get.

Has anyone actually made what I described above and how did it relate to the 40 inch EL or 40 inch LED blades?

I can go with EL for my saber, but space inside the hilt is a consideration too. There is only so much room inside a 7 inch hilt for electronics and I want sound in this one as well.

Zhi-don Aquintas
XO RL Sunrider Base
Treasurer/Head Instructor
Lightsaber training OCSWS

[xwingband]

Look at this:
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=84

I'm not sure of the blade length Corbin used but it does show how the diameter effects the amount of light going down the blade.

<center>Read the FAQ (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=552) or x-wing won't be happy. :(
Before posting did you check the Thread Index (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=577)?.

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[Do-Clo]

A 3/4" blade will work with a led but figure on using blade film as a diffuser and the led is so bright you will have to sand the end of your blade that goes into the hilt to prevent light traveling up the outside of the tube making it look strange.

Do-Clo
Brotherhood of the Sith

Don't make me destroy you...

[Jonitus]

Either that, or have a bushing machined to adapt a 3/4" blade to the 1" LED holer that Tim sells.

...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?

[Zhi-don]

I was planning on having the holder machined. So there won't be any problem with light traveling up the outside of the blade. Can I use the diffuser that Tim sells for his EL blades or do I need the special one that Corbin uses?

On the above reply. I spoke with Corbin and he used a 1/16 walled blade vs the 1/8 walled one that I want to use.

Zhi-don Aquintas
XO RL Sunrider Base
Treasurer/Head Instructor
Lightsaber training OCSWS

[Do-Clo]

The diffuser that Tim sells for the el is for el only you will need Corbin's blade film to make it look right. Be prepared to be fustrated because it is a booger to get the film inside a 3/4" blade.

Do-Clo
Brotherhood of the Sith

Don't make me destroy you...

[Zhi-don]

Corbin agreed to make me one if I want. He suggested that I go to EL. I'm still not certain which way to go. Part of the problem is the electronics that have to fit inside my 7 inch hilt.

Zhi-don Aquintas
XO RL Sunrider Base
Treasurer/Head Instructor
Lightsaber training OCSWS

[james3]

You can get it in a 7 inch hilt. Are you doing inch and a quarter or inch and a half? I made a handful of kids sabers and the blades may have only 24 to 30 inches but the hilts ran 7 to 9 inches. If you use the AAA 8 pack you get your switch, inverter, and batt. pack no problem.

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[xwingband]

He wants sounds though.

<center>Read the FAQ (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=552) or x-wing won't be happy. :(
Before posting did you check the Thread Index (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=577)?.

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[james3]

I know we have gone over the EL and sound thing a bit so let's see, switch, inverter, sound card, 9 volt battery or small rechargable, speaker. That would be tight but doable in a 1.5 inch hilt. May not have enough room in a 1.25 though.
Just curious, why a 7 inch hilt? I would think especially with that 40 incher that there just wouldn't be much to hold on to.

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[Zhi-don]

The 7 inch part is not counting the emitter assembly. see pics:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/zhi-don/saber5.jpg



http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/zhi-don/saber4.jpg



http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/zhi-don/saber3.jpg



http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/zhi-don/saber2.jpg

Remember this is only a prototype and cannot be modified for electronics. I'm going to need an entire new hilt machined. Of course modifications will have to be made to hold the electronics.

The emitter assembly needs to hold either the female plug end for EL or the heatsink, LED and lens. The larger section [business end] is where the thumbscrew goes to hold the blade. I had planned on using the middle section [between the copper spacers] for this. I can go 2 routes on the sound as well. Either the MR FX package or I can get a Hasbro setup. Which do you think would work better?

Zhi-don Aquintas
XO RL Sunrider Base
Treasurer/Head Instructor
Lightsaber training OCSWS

[Do-Clo]

The mr sound board will be the best sounding for both choices if you have room for it, if not then the hasbro would work fine. By the way that saber looks good.

Do-Clo
Brotherhood of the Sith

Don't make me destroy you...

[james3]

Very cool saber. We have all the room in the world now that I see where your going. With the EL setup you could have the emitter completely in the top so the only thing going down in the copper area would be the end of the 1/4" male along with the female end of the jack and 2 wires.(Copper section could be around 7/8" to 1 inch) Or have everything in the emitter area so you just have wires coming through but the emitter may have to be extended a bit. That center section would be an awsome place for the inverter, which means you have the whole body to load what ever electronics you could think of in there.
With the LED setup I would go with extending the emitter enough to fit the blade holder/lens holder. With having the blade go all the way to the center section you would lose most of your cool flaring effect that the LED produces, which we have already established isn't going to be quite as good with a 3/4" setup. That of course still leaves a ton of room in the body for Corbin board, sound, whatever.
Did I say very cool saber yet? I like it[^]

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[Zhi-don]

*Bows*

Thank you gentlemen. Compliments from those here mean a lot to me. This design was the first I thought of and the only non-functional saber that I have made. Others were made with the assistance of my friend Blademistress Jedi Loreen Shadowchaser, who revealed the secrets of EL to me. Ok, then....I will try to go with the FX sound package, LED package in the front emitter section, and corbins board for the special effects. I will use a 1 inch blade with Corbins film in it by 40 inches with an 1/8 wall. Now I have another problem. The 3 AA battery pack is not strong enouch to run the sound and Corbins driver board. So what do I do now? After I figure that out, I still have to decide who will build the bloody thing for me.

Zhi-don Aquintas
XO RL Sunrider Base
Treasurer/Head Instructor
Lightsaber training OCSWS

[LAN-ED-TUL]

to run corbins board you use more than 3 batteries. refer to the wiring schematics area and look up the corbins/sound board wiring. he uses 4 or 5 batteries.




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The Brotherhood Of The Sith

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

[Zhi-don]

Thanks....that helps.

Zhi-don Aquintas
XO RL Sunrider Base
Treasurer/Head Instructor
Lightsaber training OCSWS