Thanks!
Customised the bullet tips to get rid of the dim-tip-with-bright-point issue. Modified tip on the left, standard Bullet on the right.
Thanks!
Customised the bullet tips to get rid of the dim-tip-with-bright-point issue. Modified tip on the left, standard Bullet on the right.
That's what I'm talking about . May I ask about your technique for customising the tip? I reduce the size of the mirrored disc, to allow light to pass around. I'm happy with result but I'm always up for new ideas and that left side looks seemless.
Very nicely done! Are you running all three LEDs on the Tri-Cree? Do you have any details showing the wiring (diagram or whatever)? I'm trying to see if I can achieve something similar with the Disney Store saber board. Also, seconding Greenie's request for details on what you did with the blade tips too!
Last edited by Meadows; 05-31-2016 at 05:17 PM.
On the blade tips:
1) Removed the mirror (tips light up a bit better, but still dimmer than the blade - light focuses to a ridiculously bright spot at the point)
2) Bored out the inside (Tool marks act as a diffuser - tip lights up brighter than blade. If you polish the inside, tips don't light up as well. Light still focusing)
3) Covered the base with a semi-reflective metalized film. (Tip now lights up evenly with blade. Light diffused and not focusing at point. Some light bounced back into blade, though not as effectively as a mirror)
As for electronics, if you understand the usual Economy Board diagrams, you can make any toy board work. A couple of quirks with the BladeBuilder board:
The Main LED- is always closed, so a Tip42 won't work on the main blade - it's the Positive line that's opened/closed depending on whether the board's powered on or not. You'll need a Tip31 or similar to read from Main LED+
Also, with the Tip31, I'm apparently reading from a resisted positive lead, so no extra resistors are needed for a Tri-Cree setup (all three LEDs are used on the main blade). Not entirely sure how a single LED would've reacted in that setup.
The Crossgurad LED- work as expected with a Tip42 transistor - however, the circuit closes when the board's main switch is switched from On or Demo to "OFF". I just went ahead glued the switch in the "ON" position. The two side LEDs share a resistor, each running at ~500mA. Don't need much light for 5" blades.
A few pics from the con (the last one was taken right before the battery died and the blade had dimmed - ran through three 2600mAh 18650s that day):
I figured you removed the mirror completely...never thought of boring out the inside.....good idea. Great con pic's...costume looks good. Your saber looks real good, unless told no one looking it would know it was made from PVC...shows everyone what a good paint job can do when taking your time with painting there saber.
Wow that is amazing.How did you carve the pvc?
Updated this hilt with some unstable day blades:
Main blade is basically some 40" clear thinwall bladestock, hollowed pointed tip, 4-5' of cellophane diffuser, hot glue for texture, and painted with some red Duplicolor Metalcast.
Exhausts are essentially the same, swapping the blade material for some Gemmy Shooting Star (Icicle) christmas lights - or rather the leftover acrylic shells after the electronics are gutted.
I always love how convention dealer rooms are kept just dark enough to really make a tri-cree blade pop in photos.
Last edited by Kouri; 11-01-2016 at 09:25 AM.
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