Blade Holder

[dese]

Hello,

this is my first build and since none of the blade holders from the TCSS convinced me (I'm sorry...) I got some neat stuff as Emitter and hilt parts from a flea market.
And now I'm wondering what would be the best way to make it into a good blade holder.
This is what I found:
IMG_20160206_1550082.jpg
The red lined thing (an old part of a lamp) is a little under 2'' long.
It becomes very thin at the end (ca. 0,3'' ID) and therefore I guess I need to fit the LED, heatsink etc. into this piece alone because otherwise the LED+lens would be much dimmer when shining through this tiny hole into the blade, I guess? My idea was to 3D print (plastic) a blade holder to fit into the piece and secure it with the retention screw. But I'm not completely sure whether this will work. Maybe you could help me with some questions that bother me?

1.) All the blade holders from TCSS (except for 17) are about 2'' long. If I need to fit the LED, heatsink etc. into my 2'' long piece I obviously won't have 2'' for the blade to secure. Unfortunately I don't know how much place the LED, heatsink etc. will take. Do you think the remaining place will be enough to secure the blade?

2.) Or since the heatsink module is apparently .994" OD is it save to put it into the blade into the blade holder?

3.) Or is it possible to have the LED without the heatsink to have less place taken away?

4.) Do you think a 3D printed blade holder (plastic) with a blade retention screw would be strong enough to hold a blade? Or would the screw slowly cut through the plastic of the holder or something like this?

Or maybe do you have a better solution that I couldn't come up with?

If this is important: I would like to have a stunt saber with which I can do some tricks and duell a little. :>

Thank you very much in advance!

[grumblehound]

Hello,

this is my first build and since none of the blade holders from the TCSS convinced me (I'm sorry...) I got some neat stuff as Emitter and hilt parts from a flea market.
And now I'm wondering what would be the best way to make it into a good blade holder.
This is what I found:
IMG_20160206_1550082.jpg
The red lined thing (an old part of a lamp) is a little under 2'' long.
It becomes very thin at the end (ca. 0,3'' ID) and therefore I guess I need to fit the LED, heatsink etc. into this piece alone because otherwise the LED+lens would be much dimmer when shining through this tiny hole into the blade, I guess? My idea was to 3D print (plastic) a blade holder to fit into the piece and secure it with the retention screw. But I'm not completely sure whether this will work. Maybe you could help me with some questions that bother me?

1.) All the blade holders from TCSS (except for 17) are about 2'' long. If I need to fit the LED, heatsink etc. into my 2'' long piece I obviously won't have 2'' for the blade to secure. Unfortunately I don't know how much place the LED, heatsink etc. will take. Do you think the remaining place will be enough to secure the blade?

2.) Or since the heatsink module is apparently .994" OD is it save to put it into the blade into the blade holder?

3.) Or is it possible to have the LED without the heatsink to have less place taken away?

4.) Do you think a 3D printed blade holder (plastic) with a blade retention screw would be strong enough to hold a blade? Or would the screw slowly cut through the plastic of the holder or something like this?

Or maybe do you have a better solution that I couldn't come up with?

If this is important: I would like to have a stunt saber with which I can do some tricks and duell a little. :>

Thank you very much in advance!

years ago made something like this (actually nothing like this it was a light up base for fibre optic flower display but it was a similar problem/shape)
how about if the bottom of the part is flat mount the led (and I mean just the led not the led on the thin pcb ) directly on to the bottom using a thermal compound glue( not paste this needs to stick) and use the whole lamp fitting as the heat sink if the base is not flat you could maybe build it up with solder
connecting to the led may be troublesome but carefully soldering and some heat shrink may work you could always drill through the sides and take the wires out and back to the section with the battery dress it up to look like its in the design
fitting the lens may be more of a problem depending on the space you have you may get away with hot glueing it in place

but even if that all works your still only going to have just over one inch to hold the blade........ok for a show blade.... not recommended for what is a repurposed light fitting that you want to use as a stunt blade

build it as a show blade to show what you can do ......good luck

ps get the parts of ebay try a cheap 3w led, lens and holder and if you get it to work upgrade to better later.... my strange builds seldom go right first time

[dese]

Thank you very much for the fast reply. :>

Your idea sounds possible, yet I understand your point that the remaining space woudn't be enough to secure the blade for a stunt blade. Which is really unfortunate.
But what is with my second idea to put the whole optics into the blade within the blade holder? That way I'd have the whole 2'' of the piece to secure the blade, wouldn't I?

Actually, after thinking about it very long now, my biggest concern is the 3D printed plastic blade holder and whether it would be solid and durable enough to hold the blade. Any opinions or experiences about that?

[grumblehound]

cant help you with the 3d printed plastic strength ( am getting a 3d printer via a weekly magazine comes in 90 parts I think am up to about part 55 I think starting to regret doing it this way cant build it till I have all the parts have a box full of bits yet no printer) not sure I would trust it. but if it is just slots in to the metal lamp as a holder why not the lampholder should take most of the strain
I may be able to help you with your led heat sink problem20160207_231318 (800x450).jpg20160207_231257 (800x450).jpg20160207_231202 (800x450).jpg

it fits inside a 1inch thin wall tube works as its own heat sink has its own lens and when you swap out the 1 watt white led it comes with for a 1 watt green it works better then some custom setups ..... the pcb the led is mounted to about two thirds the normal size but a standard size led chip fits fine
I got this on ebay the seller is " friendshops852 " or search " 1w led ceiling floor recessed down light" it comes with a mains led driver psu (you wont need this) and costs under $3
hope this works
and hope these pictures work as this is the first time I have tried to upload pictures to this site


just to make things clear the illuminated tube is a ultrasabers white blade sorry only finished blade handy and the green blade the led light is inside is a 1 inch thin wall from custom saber shop

[BartElroy]

Dese. I would suggest looking at the FX conversion kits in the store. You could probably put one of the aluminum blade holders from one of those inside this piece, and attach it with set screws and get a good, solid piece. Nothing you'd want to duel with, but solid enough for display and cosplay . As for 3D printing a blade holder, you're not going to get something strong enough for another *other* than basis display. A wall hanger/shelf queen. I've been working a lot with 3D printed parts, specifically with PLA, which is the most common 3D printing filament. It's surprisingly strong, but it's also a bit too brittle for work as a blade holder. The situation with 3D printing will change in a year or two when the new CLIP printers come on the market, but the standard FMD printers everyone is using right now do not produce parts strong enough for what you want.

[dese]

@grumblehound:
This LED looks really great! I'll have to contact the seller though since it seems like Germany is the only place they won't ship to. But seeing this makes me feel like putting the optics with the LED into the blade could really solve the problem one way or the other even if I don't get this exact set-up.
(Good look with your 3D-printer by the way!)

@BartElroy:
Thanks for sharing your experience with 3D printing. I was afraid to hear something like this.
I've looked through the FX conversion kits and even considered just buying a normal blade holder to put into the piece but after all I have no idea whether it will fit or not. Most blade holders seem to be over 1.4'' OD and therefore would be too wide to fit into the piece. But if I can't find a fitting metal pipe from the hardware store I will have no option but to buy a blade holder and try to make it thinner, I guess.
I really won't be able to refrain from doing tricks and spins with the saber so I need to make it as stable as possible from the start. ;/

[FenixFire]

Dese. I would suggest looking at the FX conversion kits in the store. You could probably put one of the aluminum blade holders from one of those inside this piece, and attach it with set screws and get a good, solid piece. Nothing you'd want to duel with, but solid enough for display and cosplay . As for 3D printing a blade holder, you're not going to get something strong enough for another *other* than basis display. A wall hanger/shelf queen. I've been working a lot with 3D printed parts, specifically with PLA, which is the most common 3D printing filament. It's surprisingly strong, but it's also a bit too brittle for work as a blade holder. The situation with 3D printing will change in a year or two when the new CLIP printers come on the market, but the standard FMD printers everyone is using right now do not produce parts strong enough for what you want.

True for the home/low end FDM printers. Not true for the high-end manufacturing level machines Like the Fortus machines. The problem is really the material not the process. High-end machines can get you upwards of 80% strength using ABS, Nylon, and PC based filaments. 3DSystems has actually did test runs using printed molds to run injection molded, thermometer, and blow molded parts.

[grumblehound]

@grumblehound:
This LED looks really great! I'll have to contact the seller though since it seems like Germany is the only place they won't ship to. But seeing this makes me feel like putting the optics with the LED into the blade could really solve the problem one way or the other even if I don't get this exact set-up.
(Good look with your 3D-printer by the way!)

@BartElroy:
Thanks for sharing your experience with 3D printing. I was afraid to hear something like this.
I've looked through the FX conversion kits and even considered just buying a normal blade holder to put into the piece but after all I have no idea whether it will fit or not. Most blade holders seem to be over 1.4'' OD and therefore would be too wide to fit into the piece. But if I can't find a fitting metal pipe from the hardware store I will have no option but to buy a blade holder and try to make it thinner, I guess.
I really won't be able to refrain from doing tricks and spins with the saber so I need to make it as stable as possible from the start. ;/

if its ok on this forum give us your address and I will post you one I got a couple extra ( I always seem to get more than I need for my projects)
you will need to change the led over yourself to whatever colour you want unless you want the 1watt white led that's in it don't recommend anything over 3 watts as heat build up may be a problem

[BartElroy]

True for the home/low end FDM printers. Not true for the high-end manufacturing level machines Like the Fortus machines. The problem is really the material not the process. High-end machines can get you upwards of 80% strength using ABS, Nylon, and PC based filaments. 3DSystems has actually did test runs using printed molds to run injection molded, thermometer, and blow molded parts.

I really doubt he's going to want to purchase a printer the size of a refrigerator that costs more than my car to print a blade holder for a saber. I suppose he could go with some place like a 3D printing site we shall not mention due to forum rules, but it's also been my experience that even with the measure twice, cut once approach, there's *still* a lot of trial and error when designing parts. It's one thing to throw something up on a site and sell it after you've printed it at home and know it works. It's something else entirely to upload a design, wait 2 weeks for a part than costs you $25, only to find out, that's the the post print shrinkage of the material you used, your sound board will not stay in the chassis.

[FenixFire]

I would not expect him too, just correcting a blanket statement that was not entirely true...by the way it would cost more than most houses...not just his car. 2 weeks, who you using all my fdm and sla vendors have 2-3 day turns.