Saber Tip experiments for poly-tubes...

[xwingband]

just a thought I've had. A solid piece of PolyC. no plug, not tip, just one piece.

Yeah... been done and currently offered out there.

[ArkaiHalon]

hadn't seen solid poly, only acrylic, but then I have only recently started to worry about adding blades.

[xwingband]

Ultra's are solid PolyC... Tim's are a solid plastic too (forget which kind).

Basically being solid is okay, but doesn't help with eventually popping off. For 95% of people they'll never have issues with any shouldered tips, but for the rest it just delays when the tips will come off.

[ArkaiHalon]

If it's all one piece, nothing should pop off?

[Novastar]

We're confusing one another... I believe people mean "one solid piece of polytube, rounded off at the end, no tip, no cuts, only a single part".

If that is even POSSIBLE to buy, there would be the following things going on:

1. Solid Polytube. Heavy. Round off edges for "tip". Bore out LONNNNNGG center hole for diffuser. Not practical.

2. Even if you COULD do that without expensive equipment... getting the mirror material inside the tube would be a pain.

Another possibility is a "rubber sleeve", much like the shrink wrap idea NeoPhyl had... any luck on that yet NeoPhyl? I haven't had a speck of time to try the shrink wrap thing yet...

[xwingband]

Oh crap... I totally spaced. One-piece for the entire blade...

This would be SUPER EXPENSIVE. Do you bore out a PolyC tube? Lot of money and work...

You could cast something I assume but that's a huge initial setup to get any manufacturer to touch it.

Basically it's a huge hassle with little benefits as very few still have issues with tips coming off.

[LAN-ED-TUL]

no, not for whole blade, just a 3/4 inch long, lets say solid plug of poly c.

you could still put your reflective piece on the end of it. and do like one of my EL blades, a couple drilled and tapped holes from the sides, and a allen setscrew run in.

it wont come out at all unless you busted the blade apart.

[Novastar]

That sounds cool, Lan... care to post photos if you get the time?

I've been toying with the idea of using some nylon screws on the tips, but... it seems like overkill.

I guess tips are one of those things... they are so inexpensive and not-so-important... that when it gets expensive to make them better, it's sort of not worth it!

[xwingband]

It'd look terribly unattractive though.

[Novastar]

Like so many things--not from 5ft. + away, and certainly not while it was in motion.

I am also thinking from a stage performance POV... worried more of the audience than losing a tip. Worried more of a performance becoming wrecked as a "miniature spotlight" is cast all over the place, hahahah...