What lens to get?

[Maggeh]

Hello! I'm new to this whole scene and just ordered all the parts to make my first LED saber. I did a ton of forum reading/research this weekend and was confident on what all parts I needed to get. Long story short is that I got to my basket and then realized that the "Luxeon Collimator Lens 8.7 deg" is out of stock. Since the other lens sold on TCSS says it needs modifications to work, I looked elsewhere for the out of stock one and according to the Luxeon site, it's been discontinued?

So I guess my point is,...what lens should I get that would be comparable to the Luxeon Collimator Lens 8.7 deg? I found tons online, but they're all different and I don't really know what to look for. Any suggestions?

Thanks so much in advance! This forum is so helpful!

[Jay-gon Jinn]

You can use the 5 degree if it's in stock as long as you have the "new style" heatsink/led module for your saber. That doesn't require a lens holder at all, so the modification note is pointless now, really.

[Xanatos1986]

jay will that still work if your using a rebel?

[Jay-gon Jinn]

jay will that still work if your using a rebel?

Yes and no....the lens fits just fine over the led on the star, but it might not be the best idea as the lens can easily knock off the dome on the rebel led if it isn't aligned properly. I'd still use the lens holder for a Rebel as it does fit in the new style heat sink module.

[Xanatos1986]

Ok cool are you familiar with the ledengin 10w with the new heatsink? Does it fit well?

[Maggeh]

Thanks for the info! So do I understand correctly that I should be able to use the 5 degree with the new style heat sink, the rebel star, and the holder? All of that will fit/work together?

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Thanks for the info! So do I understand correctly that I should be able to use the 5 degree with the new style heat sink, the rebel star, and the holder? All of that will fit/work together?

The 5 degree lens doesn't fit in the rebel lens holder. My previous advice was to xanatos as I thought he was asking about just not using the holder with the 8.7 lens. You could try it without the holder, but be careful putting it together so you do not damage the rebel led.

[ARKM]

Long story short is that I got to my basket and then realized that the "Luxeon Collimator Lens 8.7 deg" is out of stock. Since the other lens sold on TCSS says it needs modifications to work, I looked elsewhere for the out of stock one and according to the Luxeon site, it's been discontinued?

Carlco is the company that makes the 8.7 degree lens for the (20mm star PCB) Luxeon Rebels. I cannot find any info on their site, the Philips LumiLEDs site (Philips makes the Luxeon LEDs) or luxeonstar.com that mentions them being discontinued. Also those 8.7 degree lens are in stock on several websites. Could you please post the exact link that states they are discontinued?

[Maggeh]

I had googled "Luxeon Collimator Lens 8.7 deg" and picked a link that was on the Luxeon website that took me to a page saying the item was discontinued. Now I can't find a page that convinces me nearly as much that I'm looking at the same thing I was looking at the other night. Perhaps it was this one I came across and thought it was the same lens? http://www.luxeonstar.com/LXHL-NX05-.../lxhl-nx05.htm My apologies if I've misunderstood what lens is what. I admittedly don't know the differences in the lenses and after I ordered the rest of my parts and found out the lens was out of stock, I couldn't figure out what to get instead.

[ARKM]

Ah. Yeah my guess is it was the 10 degree lens that you were looking at before. I had heard over at the FX-Sabers forum that the 10 degree lens had been discontinued... which kinda sucks as they apparently work really well with the LEDEngin 10W LEDs.

One thing to keep in mind is that stuff will go out of stock in the TCSS store from time to time but eventually it will be restocked (unless of course it was discontinued by the manufacturer or Tim decides that it does not sell well enough to keep in stock). Also, sometimes out of stock items are removed completely from the website until they come back in stock which can lead some to wonder if Tim decided to no longer carry said item. When that happens and if you are concerned that it may no longer be an item that will be carried in the store, you can always email Tim and ask him about it.