LED "emitter", acrylic tube, mylar combo; "evolution"

[Buryaman]

good day, fellows with the force.

i will just share some things that yours truly has (re)discovered with regards to flashlight type blades.

i have been building sabers - rather, prototyping - using the materials available in my neck of the woods. this means not having access to polycarbonate tubes and proper tubes for starters. but through some fantastic stroke of luck, i found one shop that does sell good quality acrylic tubes. this is incredibly frustrating for a propmaker or sabersmith: i'd have to make do with the available materials.

i also "machined" my own tips because no shop carries hemispherical acrylic pieces.... sigh.

blades used for the first builds were "scrolling light" decor tubes - these were very thin acrylic tubes with unsightly ribs, but when viewed through a camera, wasn't actually much visible.

so... i will share some of the things i have found that works.

"Buryaman's Sabers" 1st generation build: this was the very first build that worked.
---- LED string blade @ 75 standard "hi-bright", LM317 regulator, packing foam wrap, onion paper diffuser ----
this setup involved the use of a 9.6 volt nickel cadmium airsoft battery, which meant that it had to have large ventilation holes. the "mark 1" actually fried 3 regulators before i told myself "pack it, there must be something better"


"BS Mark 1 Prototype Lightsaber"



2nd generation build: this was the build that wowed some people at the local cosplay convention and got the sabers noticed on account of their immense brightness.
----- automotive LED strip @ 12 volts, 3 lithium cells; opaque spiral plastic reinforcement/diffuser, packing foam, onion skin paper diffuser ----
this setup produced the brightest blade i have seen, and it was enough to produce some nice pics from the event. the led strip doesnt heat up at all though, even with all that 12 volts and 2 amperes it needs. i experimented with this setup with a few soundcards (fried one in the process).


the "BS Mark 2 Lightsaber" with her sister, the Kagemitsu G4 lightsaber from GGO anime fame.


the mark 2 is bright - it washes my room full of angry red color. still heavily dependent on 12 volts though.


the G4 with my friend's sister. that blade is much brighter than it looks like.


we also dueled for a bit before our batteries ran out. this was fun. fun fun fun.


3rd generation build: proper thick acrylic tubes, high power LED emitter/focuser
----- acrylic tube, custom machined tips, insulation plastic roll diffuser (mylar), 1 watt LED overdriven to 750-800 milliamps ----
an ongoing experiment, this blade aims to reduce the reliance on high voltage and thus economize on the batteries - it's hard to lug around 6 lithium 18650 cells like shotgun shells on a bandolier. LOL. not to mention that the setup requires a long hilt - in order of 11 inches minimum - for the batteries to fit. the automotive led strip also loves to drain the batteries. the single led however, is capable of running for - le gasp - 24 hours on a single (unregulated, with just a 12 ohm 5W resistor) lithium cell, which surprised me since i measured the ampere draw to be 750 milliamps on two lithium cells in series connected to a LM317 wired up as a voltage regulator.


first ever test using onion skin paper as diffusing material. didn't go too well, the light was concentrated on the emitter.


acquisition of mylar immensely helped and also gives the blade in its off state a nice silver sheen.


as it stands, this one is starting to look a lot like what you guys are building... and this may be the one setup i'll refine before actually using it in a production saber. hehehehe. =)

question is, is there a way to improve light diffusion by scoring the mylar sheet? or a layer of onion paper? because while the light is arrow straight and even, it looks like it could still use some diffusion. the roll of mylar i used was 1 square meter, i was thinking of doubling the plastic sheet. would it work? or is the blade as it stands is acceptable?

[Silver Serpent]

You could try lightly sanding the outside of your blade. That can help as well.

We typically use cellophane (clear gift wrap) as a diffuser inside our blades. The mylar should give a similar effect, provided it doesn't reduce the light too much. You can always add more diffuser material to try to improve the look of your blade. If it doesn't work, take some back out.

[Buryaman]

clear gift wrap... i'll give that a shot, will update when able =D

[hapki]

Nice work. Thanks for sharing.