Jay-gon's PVC Hilts - Full tutorial on last page

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Did you use a copper heatsink for your pvc sabers or just get the Luxeon stuff? Thanks!

I didn't use a heatsink at all in these....the Luxeon I led is attached to an aluminum star base, and that acts as the heatsink for these type of led. This is mentioned several times in the topic.....

[Matakin]

Jay,

I understand you didn't use heatsink at all. But I still don't understand on how you get the Lux to be held inside the hilt?

[Jay-gon Jinn]

This was on page four....

Okay, I've had a few inquiries as to how to build these, and I really think they are pretty self-explanantory if you read the whole thread. But here's a bit of info that isn't in here:
The pvc used is 1 inch electricical conduit pvc. It's gray and can be found at any large home improvement store, or even your local hardware stores and lumber yards. those same stores will also have all the connectors and fittings....use what ever looks good to you, that's what I diod. Standard schedule 40 pvc plumbing fittings also fit the conduit pipe.

The leds are Luxeon I stars. Those can be found at any online store that sells leds. Most of those places also sell the Micropuck driver. That's what it's called and there are only three types of those drivers, I used the 350 ma version, because that's what the leds are rated for. I also used 15 deg. collimators because they are usually less expensive than the 10 deg version. I used the cheapest lens holder available as well. The lens, holder and led assembly looks like this:


There's nothing used to hold this in place, except the blade and the switch.

As far as the paint goes, any spray paint that is formulated to work on plastic should work. Follow the instructions on the can for preparation before painting.

As stated there, the led assembly fits in the hilt between the blade and the switch. it's simply held in place by the blae. These weren't built to be used as a regular saber that you would be removing the blade from to hang on a belt, they were built for kids to use in the charity photobooth with my local 501st, so the blades ween't meant to be removed, except for storage and transport. If you want to secrure the led somehow, it's up to you figure out how to do it.

[jedimastergarcia87]

Here is my saber so far. I don't know which battery holder to get for it though. Can I get a 1 AA battery holder since I'm just using a 1 watt LED like you Jay-gon? The second is an idea of what the OD is. Its 1" OD. I took the pics from my new phone because it has a camera. So atleast you know I'm actually making the sabers. XD

[Jedi-Loreen]

You can't run a Lux I off of only 1.5V, which is the output of a single AA battery. You need 2 batteries for 3V.

So you're going to need a battery holder that holds 2 AAA batteries to fit inside your hilt.

[LordJaivus]

Or he could use a single trustfire which is rated for 3.7 volts.

[Darthig88]

Jay
Thanks for all the info, It answered alot of Questions about building PVC sabers, One more question, How did you score the PVC to give it a grip???
If it was in any of the posts I must have missed it..

[Jedi-Loreen]

It looks like he did that the same way he does it on his sink tube shrouds and overlays. With a tubing cutter.

[Darthig88]

Yep found it, I just had to slow down on reading the posts Thanks, Now how to build the blades, Should I use a diffuser or bladefilm?
Is there a tutorial on building blades for LED Sabers????

[Jedi-Loreen]

Yes there is. In fact, Jay-gon did one.

It's the second Stickied post in the appropriate forum.