blade construction?

[djosborne88]

hey all, love the site, gonna buy a led hilt kit and try my hand at this whole thing for the first time.

how exactly does one go about making a blade for a led saber?

also, what is a good length for the blade, and what degree colliminator lense should i go with?

sory for the stupid questions haha [:p] but thatnks much in advance!

[Strydur]

I will have the diffuser for the blades soon and will post how to build them. So far there doesnt really seem to be a noticeable difference between 5 or 10 degree.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

[djosborne88]

rock on!

oh, and i noticed that the green luxion III star leds are only 64 lumens. is that bright enough?

[LAN-ED-TUL]

hey tim, how soon will you be able to get that tutorial on making the led blades up? i am having a problem using that weld-on 3 and getting the tip to stay on. its not gluing up right, or im not doing it right or something.

[xwingband]

I the case of something as small as a saber tip you use a brush. You hold them together and use a brush to apply it. Disclaimer: Use a natural haired brush colored ones will bleed the color into the plastic. There is no need to brush it. Just put it next to the seam and the weld-on will flow by capillary action into the seam. If done right it bonds within seconds. As usual though full strength comes later.

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[informalmyx]

use very little weldon alot of it will cause over run and it takes a tad longer to cure and becoem hard

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[Strydur]

Just barely dip the end of the blade into the glue. Keep holding the end with the qlue on it down and push the tip onto it. Wait a few seconds and then flip the blade so the tip is up and make sure it is centered correctly. This takes awhile to master but it works great for me.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

[informalmyx]

hehe strydur you double posted i think thats the first for the forums i use the toothpick i mixed the epoxy with to apply the glue

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[Strydur]

Nice thing is I can fix mine...lol

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

[Slimer7]

forgive me if this is a stupid question, but PolyC means polycarbonite right? So these LED blades can take a beating? The reason I am asking is I plan on buying a few MHS kits for my martial arts demo team and the blades will be roughed up a bit. I have several lightech sabers that are polycarbonite blades, just wanted to make sure its the same thing. Thanks

[scaarmor]

Yes PolyC means polycabonite. And if you buy them from Tim, they are 1/8" walled and can definitely take a beating.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

[Madcow]

Hey all,
back to the gluing process...

What adhesive exactly do you use to glue the tip onto the poly C? will modelling glue work (the kind you brush on)?

MC



You want to go home and re-think your life

[xwingband]

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

Hey all,
back to the gluing process...

What adhesive exactly do you use to glue the tip onto the poly C? will modelling glue work (the kind you brush on)?

MC



You want to go home and re-think your life
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Weld-On, best stuff. It's a clear liquid. You hold the tip onto the blade and take a brush (natural hair) or applicator (some type of syringe or squirt bottle will small needle) to apply it. It only takes about a drop for it to go around the tip by capillary action.

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[Madcow]

Thanks,

Weld-on...

Next question - Where can I buy it? I looked at my local hardware store - nope. Any ideas?

MC




You want to go home and re-think your life

[xwingband]

I'd look at art supply stores or hobby shops. I get mine at an educational supply store since it popular with architecture (I'm one) and art students for all their projects that involve plastics.

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[LAN-ED-TUL]

i never thought to look there. i ordered mine online from a place. and looks like if i make another blade, i'll have to get more. i had the lid tight and its all gone. it evaporated on me. 15 bucks gone up in gas, lol

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

[scaarmor]

I had a hard time finding weld-on as well. I ended up using an epoxy I found at 7th ave. auto parts that was made to bond plastics. I had doubts about it because I read a lot of posts about epoxy being no good. That was until one of my friends decided to bash the blade on concrete, right on the tip! The tip shattered, after all its only acrylic. But oddly enough, the tip shattered AROUND the epoxy. Meaning the section of tip that was held on by the epoxy stayed in tact and the rest flew to areas unknown[:)]. I have been quite pleased with it.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

[LAN-ED-TUL]

what was the name of it scaarmor? if available around here i might try that out.

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

[xwingband]

I bet many glues would work fine but weld-on doesn't add any thickness to it and glues are not completely clear. Being a liquid it literally bonds the two plastics.

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[scaarmor]

It is Permatex brand-Perma Poxy-5 min. Plastic Weld. Its a regular 2 part epoxy but its made to bond plastics.

Cain

***It is now that we battle.When you die, await my arrival in the afterlife where we will battle again.Perhaps there you may have the ability to defeat me,but not here,not now,not this day.So let us part with words and embrace the blade.***

[Spencer_P]

I used LOCTITE super glue ("All Plastics" version) on my EL blade. I got it at Wal-Mart for around $3. It comes in a little package with a tube of glue and an acivator-primer pen. The tip hasn't broken off yet, but then again, I've hardly dueled at all with my saber.

[xwingband]

Well, if people really have an interesting in getting Weld-on I'd be willing to work it out to buy bottles of it for people. I know where to buy it so it's really no problem for me.

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[Protein5000]

Spencer,

I used Loctite on my EL too - except it cost $20 in Australia!!

I have hit it against wood and stuff a few times and it seems really strong. When I make my LED sabers and duel properly I'de say that would be the better test.

[Madcow]

Question for people who have done some dueling...

I'm building a 1" polycarb saber, and I'm wondering what you've found to be the minimum safe distance the blade should slide into the hilt?
I'm guessing about 2" to start my experimennts with... any thoughts?

MC




You want to go home and re-think your life

[wood7588]

Madcow,
Tim's blade holder is roughly 2 inches deep. The polyc fits in perfectly with no play. It seems to handle the dueling just fine. I hear that some dont even use the set screw but for me after a few blows the blade starts to wiggle loose. I dont do heavy combat but I think it works beautifully.

[Mur-Pa DiLos]

I agree with that last statement. I really like the way that Tim designed those emitters. At first I used it without the thumb-screw because I forgot to order them (doh!) but now after considerable amount of dueling I just put in a regular 10-32 screw until I can get the thumb screw. They work great, even in Kendo class![:D]