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Totaloverride
05-05-2006, 06:43 AM
my saber is modeled after the luke skywalker saber, and i plan on mounting the LED under the copper peice and having its project throught the copper tube and into the blade. do you think that the LED will be bright enough throught the tube??

http://masterreplicas.com/file_cache/tmp43bb000c23807_Luke_FX_45d.gif

<center><font color="green">Do or Do Not, There is not try.</font id="green"></center>

james3
05-05-2006, 07:01 AM
[:0][?]

You doing a short blade? How small are you planning to make the copper section? How much of a blade holder are you going to have? What is the total distance between the LED lens and the blade? There are a lot of missing pieces for us to give a reasonable answer. I could sit here and say sure no problem and you build it all up with a 1/2" copper section and get P.I.S.T. cause it ends up looking dim. Give some details and we might be able to unravel this mystery[;)]

<center>http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/Dadof3/James3sig.jpg</center>

Do-Clo
05-05-2006, 07:11 AM
Need more input, but I can say this if you use a narrow focusing optic it will help a lot, there are some 3 degree optics out the for the luxeon leds they are normally used when lighting side glow fiber optic cable but will in this case help focus your light into a more narrow beam to shine down the neck, and if you polish the inside of the tube or place a silver tape on the inside walls it will help with light transfer.

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

Totaloverride
05-05-2006, 07:24 AM
well first off, im making the flange part the blade holder. and the overall length from the top of the LED to the blade is between 2 and 3 inches. but prolly more around 2".

<center><font color="green">Do or Do Not, There is not try.</font id="green"></center>

james3
05-05-2006, 07:48 AM
Ok not much but a start. So 2 inches of open space, the another 2 inches for the base of the blade to sit in the holder, so far we have buried half of the "Flare" that everyone like so much. you will really want some reflective material. The tight lens is an excellent idea as well. This sounds like it may an interesting project, I am still curious on how big you are looking to make the emitter/blade holder.

<center>http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/Dadof3/James3sig.jpg</center>

Do-Clo
05-05-2006, 07:48 AM
What is the inside diameter of the neck of the saber you have planed

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

Totaloverride
05-07-2006, 07:41 PM
ok here i been thinking and the part hasnt been milled yet so im gonna change it a little. im gonna have the inside diameter of the top hole on the flange where the blade protudes from be 1.5 inches then use a sink tube adapter to mount the blade holder. sound like a good idea?? reply asap cuz its being started tommarow.

<center><font color="green">Do or Do Not, There is not try.</font id="green"></center>

Do-Clo
05-08-2006, 06:42 AM
Sounds like it should work well and you will have a strong saber that you will be able to duel with without fear of breaking.

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

Totaloverride
05-08-2006, 07:39 AM
that was the plan, and thank for the help. but do you kno how many lumens the Luxeon III Star produces?

<center><font color="green">Do or Do Not, There is not try.</font id="green"></center>

Totaloverride
05-08-2006, 07:55 AM
I put a basic outline pic of my saber in my album. im also thinking of a way to mount a cooling fan, with a completely different switch from the blade. the small decreative led's will indicate if the cooling system is on or off. the on/off switch mounted on the bottom will make it pretty interesting because i can bump it anywhere and it will turn on. (kinda handy)
<center><font color="green">Do or Do Not, There is not try.</font id="green"></center>

james3
05-08-2006, 08:07 AM
As has been discussed in great detail, the lumen ratings don't really mean much. You can go to http://www.lumileds.com/ and get your specs and ratings but do not forget that your eyes have a big impact on brightness as well.
EDIT- Interesting setup, I like where you are planning for the switch. Jedi Saber Smith does that with his hilts and I love it. do you really need a cooling fan? If you run a 3w heatsinked well then I don't really see where it would be needed and I would think that would be a drain on the batteries.
<center>http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/Dadof3/James3sig.jpg</center>

Do-Clo
05-08-2006, 08:17 AM
Nice looking design. The red green and blue leds apear the brightest to the human eye. The lumens ratings will deffinately fool you because royal blue is very low but by the human eye it is very bright.


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

Totaloverride
05-10-2006, 05:37 AM
i wanted to do the cooling fan not because its really cooling much but i would like the humming the hilt would make.



<center><font color="green">Do or Do Not, There is not try.</font id="green"></center>

informalmyx
05-10-2006, 06:16 AM
fan idacould be nice at a convention in ya outfit nice personal fan

<center>http://webpages.charter.net/myxmyth/infomyx.jpg
"Many claim to have found serenity, and through serenity to have overcome anger. Such arrogance is astounding."
</center>

Totaloverride
05-10-2006, 09:37 AM
im still debating weither to put the fan on the inside with slots cut out or on the outside.

<center><font color="green">Do or Do Not, There is not try.</font id="green"></center>

Do-Clo
05-10-2006, 10:25 AM
The inside with slots would be cool because the hilt would vibrate slightly with the fan but you would not see the source of the vibration.[8D]

Do-Clo
Sith Lord
Brotherhood of the Sith
Give yourself to the Dark Side!!!

Totaloverride
05-13-2006, 10:22 AM
very good idea...i was thinkin sort of the same also.

<center><font color="green">Do or Do Not, There is not try.</font id="green"></center>

ELSABER
09-09-2006, 03:22 PM
OK... can Somebody tell how to get the LED blades soo bright??? the pics that people send in are soo bright. u can barely even look at the blade because it is so damn bright....its so awesome.. especially the green and blue blades... id appreciate any advice from anyone[?]

What
09-09-2006, 03:30 PM
1. pictures can fib
2. Optics, like 5 or 10 degree viewing angle with the holder like the ones Tim sell's
3. Use a diffuser in the blade ?

I havent even finished my first saber, so i can tell you that my advice may not be fully correct or anything..... but it sorta is.... i think...

http://img476.imageshack.us/img476/886/animation1cw1.gifhttp://img283.imageshack.us/img283/6678/stormtrooperca9.png
What, Jedi master, Sith Lord, Or COMPLETE IDIOT¿ What will it take to get me to stop?

ELSABER
09-09-2006, 03:41 PM
what exactly does a diffuser do??[?]

ELSABER
09-09-2006, 03:49 PM
go to the "LED Colors/Blades" section and check out the Cyan pics and the Green pics... they are extremely bright.. what batteries are they using and how do they get em so bright.. they almost hurt ur eyes to look at them... its amazing.. id appreciate any input from everyone or anyone..[:(]

xwingband
09-09-2006, 04:10 PM
What is correct. Pictures can lie, any that has a pure white core up and down the blade is over exposed. For batteries... it doesn't matter a darn bit. Regardless of brand or amount, etc... the resistor or driving board gives the LED the maximum it can handle.

Diffuser... just like EL (I assume you've done that from the name) it helps even out the light. Without one, the light goes everywhere and it's not all that bright.

Please read the tutorials... that's all it takes.[;)]

<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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JediMcD
09-09-2006, 05:10 PM
Man how are all of these old threads getting brought back from the dead? It seems like there are a lot of zombie threads walking around the old CSS forum. Quick someone help me find the original zombie so we can kill it and get rid of its' offspring. JK

By the way ELSABER I just thought you should know that you can edit your old posts. I noticed that you made three in less than 30 minutes. There is nothing wrong with that but the more posts there are the more clutter there is in the forum. It is also easier to edit than start a new post. Just letting you know. Also, I second xwing. The thread index, FAQ, and tutorials will help answer most of your questions. I would recommend reading them.

ELSABER
09-10-2006, 11:21 AM
sorry bout all the inconveniece guys .... i will read the tutorials and threads... im new to this whole forum and posting stuff...but thanks for your input and suggestions.[;)]



hey hey hey... check it out im currently editing my reply... i finally figured it out..awesome[:D].. hey what is a better luxwon driver for a say 30 inch LED blade? the 3 watt? 5 Watt or what??[?]

SilentBob501
09-10-2006, 12:02 PM
Well a driver is different then an LED and between the 3-watt and 5-watt it really depends on what kind of saber you want to build and how technical your willing to get. The 3W is a good all around LED to use. If you want sound, you can drive it from a Master Replicas Sound board easily. Also with the 3W, heat is not as much an issue, the 5W gets hotter and tends to need a longer hilt size to disperse the heat. Also you cannot run a 5W directly from an MR sound board. There are alot of guys you could tell you how to route it through relays or whatever to make it work, but again it depends how technical you wanna get. Mostly what you'll get looking around the forum is that its mostly a matter of personal preference, and that really you have to decide what kind of saber you want to make first. I hope that helped.



http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m117/semmerman/sig1.jpg
"Action, excitement, a Jedi craves not these things."

ELSABER
09-10-2006, 04:53 PM
thanks [:D] i'll take that into consideration

just out of curiosity.. what does Tim's sabers have over parksabers?[?] what are the advantages or disadvantages?

JediMcD
09-10-2006, 05:54 PM
The sabers made at parksabers are EL (electroluminesent) technology. They have an EL sheet in the blade. The store carries the same el stuff, but it is in wire form. The el will get dim over time, and I have heard that the el sheets sometimes will wear out from dualing. Parksabers does not build led sabers. Led sabers tend to have a brighter blade than el sabers do. Of course some of the el colors you can make fairly bright. Led sabers have nothing in the blade except a diffuser. This will make the blade lighter and easier to maneuver. You have missed all the el versus led arguments of the past, but from what I see led is the dominant technology right now.

xwingband
09-10-2006, 06:22 PM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by ELSABER

thanks [:D] i'll take that into consideration

just out of curiosity.. what does Tim's sabers have over parksabers?[?] what are the advantages or disadvantages?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

The main point is that Tim doesn't sell finished sabers...

I've heard Parks is using EL wire now too. If that's true then the difference is a finished hilt mostly. If you want to do it yourself for cheaper then here is the place. You can if you dive into this make it better with sound, etc...

<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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SilentBob501
09-10-2006, 06:24 PM
Not to mention parksabers are really freaking expensive and you lose any kind of customization options that Tim offers.



http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m117/semmerman/sig1.jpg
"Action, excitement, a Jedi craves not these things."

kinchar bamin
02-21-2007, 11:03 AM
maybe CSS could build their own completed EL hilts and sell them or they could open a shop in the uk, Im sure lots of UK citizens like myself would love to buy stuff from them :roll: :D

Lord Maul
02-21-2007, 03:51 PM
notice that it is called the custom saber shop :roll:
you buy the stuff here and assemble it on your own
tim doesn't do premade sabers, that would defeat the purpose of things like the mhs

xwingband
02-21-2007, 04:43 PM
maybe CSS could build their own completed EL hilts and sell them or they could open a shop in the uk, Im sure lots of UK citizens like myself would love to buy stuff from them :roll: :D

Many already do... he ships anywhere.

There is nothing stopping you from e-mailing him a custom assembly request. It defeats the purpose but if you want to throw the money to Tim... not my money.

elrond.406
02-21-2007, 06:29 PM
maybe CSS could build their own completed EL hilts and sell them or they could open a shop in the uk, Im sure lots of UK citizens like myself would love to buy stuff from them :roll: :D

Many already do... he ships anywhere.

There is nothing stopping you from e-mailing him a custom assembly request. It defeats the purpose but if you want to throw the money to Tim... not my money.

:!: Hey , don't discourage him from buying from Tim! :D

xwingband
02-21-2007, 06:31 PM
He would still be buying from Tim... just paying extra. You have me :?: too much.