Not *quite* n00b-ish: Introducing Myself

[Dex Antares]

Hey, all. Name's Dex. I guess you can call me a saber enthusiast. I say that because I lack the technical know-how and ability to make much more than a hardware-saber on my own. I have a *passing* know-how concerning the basics of LED/Luxeon style sabers and whatnot.

My current lightsaber *is* an aluminum machined piece, courtesy of Eric at http://holeinthegroundpro.com/ and I'm happy with the results. The sound board is stock MR, from the Anakin Ep. III FX saber, and the LED is a Cyan side-emitting setup from Luxeonstar.com. the overall design is very simple, which is what I was going for. It's based on my third, and most successful, hardware saber, which is now in tattered pieces. It's a long story, and suffice to say, I have the custom version now, so it's no big deal.

And now... Pictures!


I've replaced that thumbscrew with something a little less noticeable. I'd like to have the emitter powder-coated to get rid of some of the scars and nicks in the paint.


This is a much better view of the other side. I didn't want the thumbscrew on the emitter. I would've preferred it in the black recess toward the bottom of the emitter, but it's the best my prop guy could do.


The grips are currently wrapped with cheap-o fake leather I harvested from my girlfriend's broken purse. Like the emitter, I'd prefer to get those black pieces powder coated eventually.


The pommel is stock MR, from the Construction Kit. It's not the most creative pommel cap, but it does it's job and looks good. I stripped off the MR writing pretty easily.

Now, here's what I'd eventually like to do with my lightsaber:

-The LED is a bit more green than it is a true cyan. I'm thinking of adding a tinting lens to make it more of that cool "indiglo" colour. EDIT: I forgot to mention my secret shame... in my efforts to find a cyan LED, I bought one that was side-emitting. LuxeonStar.com was out of Lambertian(sp?) at the time, so I had to make due...

-The emitter and grips are simply painted aluminum, which is wearing off badly. I'd like to get those pieces powder coated.

-The power source is the speaker-pack from the MR "Build-A-Saber" kit, so the thing runs on a trio of AAA's. I'd like to install a dedicated power pack with a charging port, preferably hidden underneath the pommel cap, which is where the speaker vent is right now.

-The blade tube has a nasty wiggle, and most of my blades are (poorly) re-furbished MR blades. I've sanded the outsides and run some cellophane on the insides as light diffusers, but the shouldered tips keep popping off with impact, one blade is noticeably bowed, and both remaining blades wiggle way too much. The depth of the emitter/ blade holder is only a couple inches, and I'd like to get that fixed.

-I'd like a standard Covertec style button and belt holster, as well as some structural mods to make the thing easier to dis-assemble, but still nice and secure.

[Rafalema]

Hello Dex and welcome to the forums!

Tinting lens? I think that would make it quite a lot dimmer. I'd suggest buying a new Lux III Cyan while you can still get them. (They are not made anymore)

[Skottsaber]

Welcome!

Nice to see you have a great plan right away!
And, for the LED, you could get a luxeon Rebel (newer, brighter LED) Cyan to replace them. Tim (owner of TCSS) gets LEDs in Bin codes, and usually gets Bins 1 or 2 for Cyan, which are the most bluish cyans.

Have fun building!

[Jedi-Loreen]

Yeah, you can't really filter a colored LED very well and expect good results.

[Dex Antares]

Yeaaahhh, I've heard "not great" things about tinting lenses and whatnot... I did mess around with a couple fish bowl stones. Y'know, the kind of glass beads used for, like, TCG counters and whatnot... results were iffy, but got me thinking a bit. For now, I'm satisfied with the LED. It's those grips and blade wiggle that have me the most concerned.