LED saber concept to applied to a sword?

[Aergis]

Anyone have an idea if it'd be possible to use a similar LED inside plastic to create diffused light technique to make a more traditional sword glow?

Not sure if it'd even possible to make the light from the LED follow more complex shape rather than a tube.


Ideas?

[cardcollector]

I'm having a hard time understanding what you want to do.

A broadsword shape? And which kind of LED?

[Aergis]

http://www.mymym.com/gfx/Frostmourne-writing.jpg


Here's an example.
Between what I've seen you guys do here, and the other things I've seen that use LED light with a hard plastic film and scratches to create a pattern glow i'm wondering if it'd be possible.

Here's an exmaple of the edge-lit scratches makign a pattern.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3081/3096986035_bec321e2c6.jpg


and here's the tutorial.
Edge Lit Cards (http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/edgelitcards)



I'm banking that someone here is smarter than me and can figure out how to combine the two techniques... :p

[cardcollector]

Well first you need the material the sword blade will be made of.
After that you will want to determine what LED's to use.

I don't know of a material that is hard and workable... and will be able to diffuse light.

Maybe someone esle will chip in...

[Aergis]

The sword is made of steel.

I was thinking of wrapping it somehow in a clear material that I could 'scratch' to create the smoke like glowing pattern, thus combining the idea for an LED saber and the edge-lit design pattern.


For me, the LED's just need to be blue. I didn't know there were various types to decide between.

[cardcollector]

hmmmmm... (thinking)

If you already have the sword in steel one thin that may work is to get flat sheets of fiberglass (or anyother clear material) and then scratch your deigns into that.

Then have four pieces (one for each angle) and so the same thing. Then it you took a 5mm LED, drilled a hole in the sheet, and lit it up the design should show up and the rest remain clear.

I don't know of that would work or not but it is one idea...

[Sairon]

It's been done with acrylic, but the whole blade was acrylic, the only thing I think would work would be a flexable fiber optic tube that could be melted around the blade.

[Revan]

i think it would require some kind of fiber optic setup, plus the blade would have to be custom made or something... i wonder if if would be possible to get a special "cast" to mold polycarbonate to make any shape of blade that you want?... hmmmm (time to go research he he he he :cool: )

[Jedi-Loreen]

If you had access to a scroll saw, you could probably make something like this out of polycarbonate sheet. Maybe a couple of sheets glued together and sanded on the inside to diffuse it so the light would travel through it.

Something like this would work, and it's a lot stronger than acrylic. It has good structural integrity.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog_name=USPlastic&category_name=68&product_id=12070 (http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog_name=USPlastic&category_name=68&product_id=12070)

[Revan]

If you had access to a scroll saw, you could probably make something like this out of polycarbonate sheet. Maybe a couple of sheets glued together and sanded on the inside to diffuse it so the light would travel through it.

Something like this would work, and it's a lot stronger than acrylic. It has good structural integrity.

that's the exact idea that i was thinking. (i just didn't know they had polyc. sheets lol!) this is the best solution in my opinion!

[Aergis]

Yep, already got a couple small 12"x12" sheets to test out, but now im wondering if the LED will carry across an oddly bend surface, and how to create the smoke like effect rather than just a pure glow...

If i leave it un-sanded on the inside, but then "fade" some lines in a smoke like swirly pattern, will it follow the shape of the curve? If so that will be the answer... :p

[Goltar Bias]

You might be able to get the light to go completely around a curve if you get thin plexi glass rods say 1/4 inch or smaller and embed them into a blade. say carve the blade out of styro foam and make a mold of it. Then bend the rods the way you want them put them in the mold and cast a blade from a resin that is semi clear. The light would follow the rods and bleed into the rest of the blade and if you want it to really look like metal you cold silver leaf the blade and just mask off where the rods run. Well just an idea thrown in to the ring.