white diffuser vs poly gift wrap

[Mobius]

Okay so this started with an FX ESB Vader saber that I wanted to be brighter and be able to use with and without a blade whilst trooping.

While I really liked the scrolling feature I decided that sometimes for the greater good sacrifices must be made. (looking back it wasnt a sacrifice)

I decided to go with a Seoul P4 instead of a Luxeon (only because the lux was out of stock) and since Im on a pretty tight budget I kept the stock blade and diffuser.

The problem was there were some really bright white spots in the diffuser and the blade cap shone like a beacon. I decided to remove the stock diffuser and used 7.5 ft of the dollar store poly giftwrap and glued a mirrored disc to the inside of the endcap that I cut just a little small to let the light pass around into the tip.

here are some side by sides to show the difference between the two.






These two are taken with a flash


Thoughts?

[tullfan81]

I Like It!

[pandatrooper]

Wow, big difference! Looks really nice and solid.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

That's how a lot of us do the MR blades when we convert a saber over to luxeon-style led's. The stock diffuser works okay by itself, but as you can see, they really benefit from a few feet of polypropylene. This same set-up works well with the blade film Tim sells in the store, too.

[ComdtJustin]

Is it wrong that I can't tell which one is which?

[Jordandau]

So if I'm building a blade myself with parts from TCSS would Tim's film act as the diffuser, meaning you don't have to buy the diffuser from the store?

[Jay-gon Jinn]

So if I'm building a blade myself with parts from TCSS would Tim's film act as the diffuser, meaning you don't have to buy the diffuser from the store?

Yes, the diffuser and the blade film are two different things, and are not meant to be used together. You can, however, add the clear gift wrap, or polypropylene to either of them to make them more evenly lit.

[Mobius]

Is it wrong that I can't tell which one is which?

Im not sure weather that was sarcasm but really all you have to do is look at the aura around the blade to see the difference as well as how the tip is more evenly lit rather than looking like a bulb at the end.

[Jordandau]

Yes, the diffuser and the blade film are two different things, and are not meant to be used together. You can, however, add the clear gift wrap, or polypropylene to either of them to make them more evenly lit.

Thank you very much, that was probably my only question after reading your tutorial. It's very thorough.

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

Nicely done!

The poly gift wrap makes a huge difference to the evenness of the blade. Here's a picture I took the other day while I was making a blade. It's a thick wall blade with the TCSS white diffuser. The top picture is the diffuser alone. The bottom picture has 3' of gift wrap added. I tried adding more, but in this case, it was redundant.