View Full Version : Question about blade brightness and cyrstal chamber
Hello, I am new here and just starting to seriously get into saber building. I have built several static prop sabers in the past but none of those had LED lit blades. I have a few questions about a project I am working on and would like some outside input.
The base saber is an older Sabreforge Sinister Prophecy that I snagged of ebay for cheap. seen here
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/snipersidd/Custom%20Sabers/saber.jpg
Now this was a pretty great saber to start my collection but as will all things I buy I felt the urge to mod it, and mod it I did.
The first things I did were pretty basic stuff I bored out the blade holder a bit and added a thumb screw for blade retention as the model I had was designed for a blade with a diameter of less than one inch held in by friction and all I had were on inch blades. I also added a machined Covertec knob to hang this bad boy from my belt.
I also removed one of the windows and added a crystal chamber with a crystal I received with a purchase from Ultra Sabers seen here
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/snipersidd/Custom%20Sabers/DSC00498.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/snipersidd/Custom%20Sabers/DSC00499.jpg
The addition of the crystal is what brings me to my dilemma. After I install the crystal the blade itself became significantly dimmer. Looking down the tube at the LED while its lit it still looks as bright as it was before. But I am wondering if the crystal is defusing the light too much. The main LED for the saber is also lighting the crystal.
All of you guys out there with crystal chambers in your sabers, do you use the main LED to light the crystal or do you have a secondary smaller LED(which I plan do to for my light and sound build)?
The Batteries I have are kind of old so they will be replaced soon. Also would switching to Luxeon Star III help? I dont know what kind of LED is in the saber now as I have not changed it out.
Thank you in advance for you help
Shadar Al'Niende
10-24-2009, 05:18 PM
Most people use an accent LED for their crystal chamber. I would not put anything but a lens between my led and my blade.
DJMoonbass
10-24-2009, 06:22 PM
oh dude.... never put anything between your lense and blade. that completely defeats the purpose of the lens. nic try though. cool to see more and more new members who do there own machine work. nice. what lathe did you use?
so yeah i would get rid of that crystal and redo the internals and mount the crystal BENEATH the LED and illumininate it with a very bright 5mm red LED. go by MCDs on the LED. the higher the number the brighter the LED.
the trick is to illuminate the crystal enough make it bright and radiate but not bright enough to completely block out the features of the crystal itself know what im sayin? ;):D:p8-)
Yeah I have learned my lesson about crystal chambers as well as become totally addicted to saber building now.
I did not machine the saber it was a Saberforge Custom I bought on ebay, though hopefully custom machining is in my future as soon as I can afford a small lathe.
I will be making a trip to radio shack and Lowes today to beef up the saber a bit.
I will post more pictures of the saber after my work.
Thaxos
10-25-2009, 08:04 AM
Yeah I have learned my lesson about crystal chambers as well as become totally addicted to saber building now.
I did not machine the saber it was a Saberforge Custom I bought on ebay, though hopefully custom machining is in my future as soon as I can afford a small lathe.
I will be making a trip to radio shack and Lowes today to beef up the saber a bit.
I will post more pictures of the saber after my work.
Hey Sidd!
Welcome to TCSS, glad to see you here. Can't wait to see some pictures of how you modify it!
Well I have officially given up on trying to build a crystal chamber for this saber, there just isnt enough room in the hilt, maybe next build.
The blade is now a dim blue
thanks for all the advice
Jay-gon Jinn
10-25-2009, 06:46 PM
Well I have officially given up on trying to build a crystal chamber for this saber, there just isnt enough room in the hilt, maybe next build.
The blade is now a dim blue
thanks for all the advice
Why do you say it is now a "dim blue?" What type of led are you using in it? There aren't any led's at Radio Shack that will properly light the blade. You might want to order a few parts from the store this forum is attached to brighten up the saber. For blue, I'd recommend the Seoul P4 sold here in the shop.
Jedi-Loreen
10-26-2009, 01:38 AM
Were those oval window cut outs that bad when you bought it? Those look ugly.
Were those oval window cut outs that bad when you bought it? Those look ugly.
Gee thank you for your help, yes they were there when I bought it and I like them thats why I bought it:evil:
Why do you say it is now a "dim blue?" What type of led are you using in it? There aren't any led's at Radio Shack that will properly light the blade. You might want to order a few parts from the store this forum is attached to brighten up the saber. For blue, I'd recommend the Seoul P4 sold here in the shop.
Jay-gon,
The LED I have in it now is a Luxeon III Star that I bought from TCSS. The lamp is directly wired to 4 AAA and the switch, no boards or anything. I really think its because the batteries are low since its the same set up in my UltraSabers Pike and thats much brighter.
What would you suggest for the brightest possible blade?
Jedi-Loreen
10-26-2009, 01:07 PM
My post wasn't a dig at you, but at Saber Forge's now well known lack of finishing his work nicely.
It's a nice design, but it could have been executed with more care.
My post wasn't a dig at you, but at Saber Forge's now well known lack of finishing his work nicely.
It's a nice design, but it could have been executed with more care.
The saber is an older Saberforge build, but yes I agree there are spots that could(and will be better)
it will probably look like a completely different saber by the time I am done. My plan is to make it a Solid dueling/prop piece and not worry about adding any sort of sounds.
DJMoonbass
10-26-2009, 02:42 PM
a lot of problems with SF is that he doesn't do his mill work properly. he climb cuts and then doesn't go back to conventional cut and clean it up and he leaves lots of burrs.... aw gawd i hate burs. lol.
direct drive luxeon star with 6 volts.... hmmm. what LED are you running? we need to know. is it a lux 3? lux 5? P4? K2? those are all sold here. if its a lux 5 then you are under driving that LED big time. they typically need 7.2 volts. if its a lux 3 or P4 then then yo are seriously overdriving it. i would get a buck puck or at least a resistor. then your LED will last longer and not possible explode. jk on the exploding but seriously it could bust.
as for a bright blade. we all like to go by evenness of the blade and this is done by using blade film. typically cellophane. my favorite is the ultrablade. but i know that corbins blades are pretty chill. do clos look nice. just look round. there all nice. its just a matter of personal preference. i like to give my sabers the flaring effect.
Gee thank you for your help, yes they were there when I bought it and I like them thats why I bought it:evil:
oh total win response. i so fell outa my chair. ROTFL
Its Luxeon III and after I changed the batteries it got a lot brighter
Jay-gon Jinn
10-27-2009, 02:26 AM
Do you have a resistor in the wiring for the main blade led? If you don't eventually the led will burn itself out with the excessive current.
Do you have a resistor in the wiring for the main blade led? If you don't eventually the led will burn itself out with the excessive current.
no resistors
Rhyen Skytracker
10-27-2009, 04:20 AM
The LED I have in it now is a Luxeon III Star that I bought from TCSS. The lamp is directly wired to 4 AAA and the switch, no boards or anything. I really think its because the batteries are low since its the same set up in my UltraSabers Pike and thats much brighter.
What would you suggest for the brightest possible blade?
Are you using a resistor with the LED? The Blue Lux III is only rated at 3.9V and 1000 mA and you would need a 2.2 ohm 5 W resistor with it. I agree with Jay-Gon, the Blue P-4 will be the easiest brightest solution. Here is a LED data chart, you can see that the K2 and Lux V are a little brighter, but because of the voltage and current demands can be a bit harder to set up. http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/wiringbuilder/wiring.aspx You will need a 3.3 ohm 5 W resistor for the Blue P4 if you use the 4 AAA battery pack.
Thank you for all the help
on the chart when it says "forward Voltage" what is that refering too? does it mean the raw voltage into the lamp?
$tarkiller
10-27-2009, 11:44 AM
If you want to have a bright LED, then over drive it using 2 700 mah buckpucks sold here at the store.
ThreeQuadFive
10-27-2009, 12:12 PM
Yikes!
You will definitely want to put in a buck puck (or at least a resistor) in between LED and battery pack :) Believe me, those things can bust pretty easily!!
Also, you may want to have a quick peak at the following tutorial, as its an awesome resource for your first LED based saber :-D
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=20
Rhyen Skytracker
10-27-2009, 12:20 PM
Thank you for all the help
on the chart when it says "forward Voltage" what is that refering too? does it mean the raw voltage into the lamp?
It is the voltage of the LED.
Actually I am probably going to retire this saber to the shelf soon as I am planning a build with a couple MHS parts and a sink tube that was inspired by my katana.
the new saber is going to have a Lux III and a hasbro toy sound board in it.
Jedi-Loreen
10-27-2009, 03:54 PM
Thank you for all the help
on the chart when it says "forward Voltage" what is that refering too? does it mean the raw voltage into the lamp?
It is the voltage of the LED.
^^Kind of. ^^
It's more like the voltage threshold that needs to be reached in order for voltage to begin flowing through a diode.
Just think of it as the "working" voltage of the LED. ;)
Here is the final results of my monkeying around with this saber. I have more parts in not so I will be starting a new project.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/snipersidd/Custom%20Sabers/DSC00508.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/snipersidd/Custom%20Sabers/DSC00509.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/snipersidd/Custom%20Sabers/DSC00510.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/snipersidd/Custom%20Sabers/DSC00511.jpg
Jedi-Loreen
11-01-2009, 08:11 PM
Now that looks much better. :)
Thank you very much
I am going to redo that metal grating so its actually flat and not all rusty, that was just hammered in place for Halloween.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.