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Thread: curved blade katana saber

  1. #1

    Default curved blade katana saber

    i am currently making a curved blade katana saber. all the katana sabers ive seen are straight blade and just a katana styled hilt. so i decided to make a curved blade and curved hilt. With the curved blade the usual film used for diffusing the light doesnt work as it creases as it hits the curve. so if anyone has used the 40" LED blade diffuser for 1" thick walled blades before what material is it made out of and do you think it is possible to bend if i heat it up? if anyone else in the community has done something like this if so id love to see what has been done or advice for doing this.
    Last edited by Speckkoenig; 09-11-2016 at 02:15 AM.

  2. #2

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    katana saber.jpg
    this is the base of the saber after bending the blade and hilt

  3. #3

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    Diffusion or not, your blade is simply not going to light evenly. You may want to investigate string blades if you are intent on a curved blade.

  4. #4

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    Yes what jbkuma said..once you light it up you won't like the look..string LED's is your only alternative.

  5. #5

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    There's a guy on Facebook that makes flat curved blades using acrylic...You might do better to go that way. Honestly not sure how strong the acrylic blade is, but it'll make a nice show blade & if done right, you could easily swap out the acrylic blade for a standard polycarbonate blade.

    Here's one of the guys blades...


    ...hope this helps


    Naasad Tal - A.K.A. Chris S.
    My Saber Build - http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...from-MHS-parts

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by NaasadTal View Post
    There's a guy on Facebook that makes flat curved blades using acrylic...You might do better to go that way. Honestly not sure how strong the acrylic blade is, but it'll make a nice show blade & if done right, you could easily swap out the acrylic blade for a standard polycarbonate blade.

    Here's one of the guys blades...


    ...hope this helps
    That's because it is a solid sheet of acrylic. He also sells PC, but the photos are all Acrylic. Acrylic has an amazing Edge Lighting and light piping quality, PC has similar properties but only about 75% as efficient. To achieve this effect with a projection style lighting (LED Star) you will need to use a solid rod of PC or Acrylic, both will be heavy and Acrylic is and more brittle than PC. With a hollow tube, you will get a "Hot Spot" where the projected beam intersects the bend and a strong low spot for the "Shadowed" portion of the bend. Light can only be bent through a solid medium. Though both PC and Acrylic are used to make low-end non-communication fiber optic strands...think Christmas trees and novelty lights.
    Last edited by FenixFire; 09-12-2016 at 08:58 AM.

  7. #7

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    If you did go the rod route, you would need to rough up the exterior similar to the katana style blade above in order for the light to be seen. If left polished, much like the fiber strands, the light will almost all simply transmit to the tip.

  8. #8

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    A quick google search shows that 1" polycarbonate rod stock is available at a number of online retailers. 36" lengths for under $50. I'm not sure what the blades here weigh, but that rod would be close to 20 oz.

  9. #9

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    Also to heat it properly you're going to want to construct an electric oven capable of evenly heating the rod. As well as a jig that has the desired bend radius to bend the blade against. At that scale and solid a heat gun is not going to produce an even/smooth curve, and any imperfection will be noticeable as a hot spot in the lighting. Best finish would be to locate someone to media blast the surface to serve as the diffuser.

  10. #10

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    the hot spot problem has come to mind while doing this. i am building another saber at the same time and im going to use the light from that one to do some tests to see if i can make the hot spot problem small enough to not be all the noticeable. and the solid rod idea is indeed one that would work, to bend the tube i had i put it in my oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, im sure i can do some math along that to get similar results with a solid rod. also thanks for showing me the guy who makes curved blade with acrylic, i like to push the limits of everything and this is just another thing i will do everything possible to see if it is possible in any sort of way. along helping me i have someone in the lighting industry who has a diffusing material that diffuses light more forward than out, in doing so we hope it throws the light more down the blade to the tip. we are going to try putting that inside the tube hoping to make the hot spot less noticeable. thank you for all responses so far i greatly appreciate it.
    Im crazy enough to be sane

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