blade idea

Hi,
I just found this forum through the RPF and hopefully will start my first saber very soon. I had a blade idea and wanted to see if it would work. I have a few lengths of 1/2" polycarbonate left over from another project and was wondering if I could use it to replace the polyE. I would have to sand it of course to cloud it, but I wondered if it would make the blade stiffer. I've been making props for a few years, but have no experience with lightsabers, so I don't know how well it would work. Thanks for any feedback.
Zach

Just sanding it is a lot of work and the results would be less than spectacular. It would really make the blade heavy too.

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I agree, very heavy. However, if you wanted to you could always use a 1" blade and throw a 3/4" EL size blade in that, And then an EL size diffuser inside that...Of course it would weigh a ton but it would stiffen the blade like you want.

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.***

Thanks for the advice. I agree though, I don't think it could be sanded well enough to look as good as polyE. Since I want to make it stiffer for fighting purposes, the weight gain wouldn't really be that good of an idea. Besides, I haven't heard anything bad about the blades being too bendy anyway. Thanks again for the tips!
Zach

If you make them to long they can get alittle wobbly but even then I dont think it would be enough to worry about. Plus, making it heavier for fighting purposes is un-needed as it is already strong enough, and at its current weight hits like a frieght train. Heavier would lead to [B)][B)][B)].

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.***

Is there any good reason not to try an EL blade made out of 1" poly-C? It looks to me like the only concern would be the fit of the mono plug - I think I can make a 3/4 inch housing for that.

Has anyone tried it?

MC




You want to go home and re-think your life

Its been discussed before and I seem to remember that the mono plug wouldnt be the only problem. Something about needing more feet of wire and such as well. I havent built an EL blade only LED, but I've read about this subject before. Search around alittle and you should find it, I dont remeber exactly where it is though.

Cain


***A man is known by the enemies he carries, so make the best ones you can.***

***Give me a decent foothold and I will move the world.***

***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.***

Is the fit of the EL wire inside the 3/4 tube and PolyE tight? The amount of wire could be a problem, but only if you're not planning to also use two inverters as well. I'm not sure how much brighter it would be, but I'm sure anything more than the standard 17' would increase the total output.

i think i remember someone had figured out a way to chain the output of 2 inverters to accomodate more wire. i know they make bnigger inverter to push more wire but then you get into inverter sizes that wont fit into hilts.

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