Yet another newbie thread...

[AardvarkSagus]

Well, as many of these stories begin, I have been reading up a bit (and even using the search function some!) for a little while now but I figure I should introduce myself. My name is Dave and here's a little back story on my current desire to build a saber:

My situation is a little unique. My 9 year old son has Asperger's syndrome and one of the things that he has been obsessed with in the last couple years is Star Wars. This has never shown itself more fully than when we have found ourselves at an amusement park with all the kids running around with $10 mock lightsabers that will likely only last the one night before breaking completely. Knowing how exuberantly he can play with his toys and how upset he would be when it broke, I have always denied the purchase of those inferior novelties which inevitably has given rise to major emotional meltdowns on his part. I have consistently promised him that I would find something better that would last for the two of us thinking specifically of the economy laser-saber that I would eventually build my own hilt for. I had to save up to do so however. Now I find myself with a good portion of the necessary available cash to purchase him a decent lightsaber to have fun with and I even went ahead and purchased a relatively low powered green laser pointer to power it, and I discover two things. First the price is not the what I thought I remembered and secondly (and more importantly) they are out of stock and discontinued.

In speaking with Cheyenne over there she recommended that I head over here to learn a little more and specifically pointed me to the EL style sabers. I believe that she was saying such because they are supposedly "safer" for children to handle, however when it comes to safety concerns he is of the type that is a real stickler for the rules. I have no concerns about him looking directly into the LED if I were to go that route since I have a few high powered LED flashlights laying around (I run a flashlight review blog) that he is one of the first to tell others not to look into. I even had no real concerns about handing him a laser powered saber to have fun with because of the understanding I have imparted to him about safety concerning laser pointers.

Now that I am here though I have begun seeing that nearly everyone here is denouncing the use of EL blades due to their inherent inferiority. I truly like the capacity to easily remove or swap the blade for basic hilt carry or color changes, but I want something that will be fun and most importantly, look cool.

My first question (in multiple parts): What is the brightest color of EL wire that I can get my hands on (likely through TCSS) to make a decent blade, or should I truly abandon all thoughts in that direction and head toward LED instead? This gift for him (and me ) is getting more expensive every time I ask these questions so I am almost afraid of what the answer might be! My spare cash is very limited at the moment, and I don't really foresee a change in the immediate future.

[Jedi-Loreen]

Welcome.

Your quest for building a lightsaber is a noble one, sir.

For your question about the brightest EL wire, Lime and Aqua are the 2 brightest.

It's up to you as to whether you want to make your son an LED saber. He would probably be happy with an EL one, as well, they are sure loads better than a toy saber.

The choice is ultimately yours.

[cardcollector]

That is a Serious mission indeed.
You may want to look at PVC LED sabers. they use a Lux I so they aren't as dangerous to the eyes. They also are relatively inexpensive ~$40 to make one without sound.

Jay gonn just made a great tutorial ot of his original thread- Read it here- http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...t=3266&page=23 his tutorial is post #228

Keep us updated on your progress!

[AardvarkSagus]

Yes those LED ones definitely look very nice. The more I see of them the more I am starting to think in that direction. Does anyone have some handy pics to compare brightnesses of EL and LED?

Out of curiosity, does it only work using the LEDs through the focusing optics or would a decent flashlight reflector work as well. I ask because I am seeing cheap prices on colored LED drop in's that would fit a P60 flashlight host. I could quite easily wrangle one of them into a custom hilt for cheaper than purchasing a standard driver. Then I would have a complete unit for the LED and driver that is easy to swap. I could just load up an 18650 Li-ion or a pair of CR123A cells and have a seriously decent runtime.

The only question if that would work then becomes the price of the blade materials and whether I want to go the PVC route or the Chrome sink drainpipe that I have used before in construction of a saber hilt for a movie prop. If I still had that one laying around it would solve that issue completely.

[cardcollector]

I don't have any comparison pics. Some older members may. LED is definately bright than El though!

As for the optics... I am not sure about the flashlight working as it would have to fit in the diameter of your hilt.
What I do know for optics...
PVC: The blade rests on the LED assembly. the hilt is the "Bladeholder"
Sinktube: You would have to buy the 1.25" bladeholder from the store. it is well worth $20.

If you are concered about LED price "LED supply" is the cheapest there is for optics.
TCSS has the best deals concerning LED's IMO because of the reliability.

I Hope that answers you questions.

[AardvarkSagus]

It does answer some of my questions, but not quite everything. It appears that the 1" blade is the most common and that actually seems to fit quite nicely with the flashlight drop-in that I am looking at. The bezel diameter of the drop-in is just over that at 26.5mm. I know I can manage ways to heatsink it properly so that isn't an issue, though the sinktube you pointed out does look quite adept at that if I go the standard route. The only question I have left is whether the reflector works as well as the optics to illuminate the blade.

If this method ends up working then I will save myself the $8 for the LED, $20 for the heatsink, $1.50 for the optics and $10 for the driver plus their respective shipping and instead spend less than $9 shipped for a drop-in that takes care of the whole electronics package and just leaves me with the project of constructing a decent hilt (which Andrew, my son, is really looking forward to).

I know I'd like to try that method personally, so I think I might buy a Red drop-in anyway to see if it might work. Buying just a blade and the necessary diffuser material plus that drop-in shouldn't set me too far back if it doesn't work (since I will be buying most of those same materials anyway if I go even the EL route) and if it doesn't work, I was kind of looking for a red flashlight anyway to take out for walks and see if the nighttime wildlife notices it much. If it does work, I'll also pick up a Blue one and build a second saber so he and I can both have one.

I'd just love to know if anyone here has used reflectors instead of optics and what the results were. Off to the search function I guess...

[Barmic Rin]

Welcome.
It's always good to see a new member with a decent amount of common sense making a saber for such a great reason.
I personally haven't used the reflector, as i'm quite a fan of the 5deg dispersion from the optics. I'm sure you could come up with something that would work, even as a temporary measure that could be upgraded later when the cash flow is a bit better.

I did have a comparison shot of EL vs LED, but I can't find it at the moment.
The closest I can do is MR FX Vader vs Lux3 LED, but it's not too bad a comparison as the MR's are brighter that EL, & the Lux3's just mop the floor with even that!!!



They all had fresh batteries in, and you can barely see the red as being on. Hope that helps a little!

[AardvarkSagus]

Yep, I can imagine that the EL would be quite dim by comparison then. I'm probably going to test things out with the reflector then since if the Lux III's are that bright, I can only imagine how the Cree XR-C/E's will be in the drop-in's I'm looking at, especially driven at 1A.

[lectricpharaoh]

Welcome to the forums, AardvarkSagus. I'm brand new here too, and I would agree with the recommendation to look into PVC sabres, for several reasons:

• The materials are a lot cheaper. A metal hilt can easily run over $70 US, and that's not counting the electronics, blade, or any special-order services like powdercoating or custom machining. You also save on shipping costs, which indirectly reduces the capital investment.
• PVC and related materials (glues, screws, etc) are all easily available at local hardware stores such as Home Depot. This means that should you muck something up (besides the blade or electronics), you can make a trip to the store and get new materials, rather than waiting however long for shipping.
• PVC is a lot softer than metal. If you need to drill holes or make simple cuts, this is relatively easy, and can be done with a cheap drill and a hacksaw. More complex operations can be done with a Dremel (or clone), if you've got the skill for it. Doing these operations in metal means taking a significant risk of damaging your piece (unless you do that sort of thing for a living) or paying extra for custom machining.
• PVC can let you prototype any designs you come up with, so that you can re-do them in metal when you're more comfortable with things. It's very likely that any electronics can be pulled right out of the PVC hilt and put into an MHS one, provided the dimensions are similar enough.

Depending on your son, he may also find the lighter weight to be more to his liking. This will allow you to build up a nice beefy hilt for him, without it becoming prohibitively heavy.

As far as the robustness goes, PVC is pretty durable stuff, so I don't think you need to worry there. When I was a kid, I had this length of PVC pipe (probably about 18 inches or so) with a Snapple lid on one end, and the entire thing wrapped in electrical tape. I used it on Hallowe'en as a fireworks amplifier; I'd drop firecrackers in and the boom would be deeper and louder. It stood up to this, along with all the other abuse, so I seriously doubt your son will break it unless he sets his mind to the task of doing so.

Really, all you need for the sabre's electronics is an LED (the Luxeon Star III should be more than bright enough for him), a heatsink, a battery holder, a switch, some wires, and either a buckpuck/micropuck driver or appropriate resistor(s). You'll also need some solder and an iron, and a basic knowledge of soldering (this can be picked up very quickly; just google 'soldering tutorial'- after all, it's just soldering a few wires, not tiny complicated PCBs). I'd recommend coughing up extra for the driver(s), as this will give your sabre a consistent light level even as the batteries run down. Apparently, you can wire them in parallel too (I saw it on the forums, so check first before attempting this). This will allow you to run the LED at a higher current, to get more light out of it at the expense of battery life. The flashlight you're thinking of cannibalizing quite possibly uses the cheaper resistor option, which you can test by letting the batteries die. If the light gradually fades, it's probably a resistor, while if it stays bright and then suddenly dies, it's probably a current-regulating driver.

The total cost for the electronics should be around $30 US, and then you'll have to buy the blade. Since you're going to need the blade no matter what, its cost shouldn't really enter into your decision.

Anyways, good luck, and let us know how it turns out. I'd like to hear both how the sabre works out, and how your son reacts to it.

[cardcollector]

Wow lectricpharaoh, that is pretty impressive for having less than three posts! *CC claps*

The only thing I would reccomend different the the LED. I would get a Lux I and use the 350ma micropuck.
Its cheaper, no heatsink is needed, and pretty much the same brightness as a lux III when driven properly.