Does your saber have a blade?

[Noslen]

To you saber builders...

Does your saber have a blade?
If you do, what choice of material did you use?

I currently have a saber with a painted wood dowel that is removeable. I am refining the other to accept a blade as well, but my hilt won't accept the light-up blade electronics on the market. I am thinking of getting acrylic blades for this.

Also, is it worth having a blade or is it a bother to try and find a place to store it when you are at a show and need to use the refresher?

[Xana]

Mine has an acrylic blade and I love it! I haven't used it at shows yet, but it does get cumbersome I've been told.

[azfarmboy]

A few of mine have acrylic. I just like the looks of it better. I tried wood put the whole painting thing didn't sit well with me.

I do remember someone here saying the had sewn a pocket of sorts on the inside of their robe to keep the blade. Sounded like a great idea to me. But you just have to be careful when you sit. Wouldn't want that blade going places you don't want it to

[JediKai]

I have 4 acrylic blades, of different colors. My fav is a fluorescent green one. It seems to glow in normal daylight. This is an unaltered photo without flash



I used heavy duty stitch-witchery to make a long, narrow pocket on the inside of my robe to hold the blade. I runs from just behind my left armpit to the bottom of the robe. It doesn't seem to show much when I walk and I can sit easily with it, too.

[Noslen]

JediKai,
Where did you get that blade?

I've only found them from romansempireproductions.com.

[JediKai]

THIS blade I got from a merchant who is no longer in business. I discovered after I ordered some things that he had a bad rep for delivery but fortunately I got my stuff before he disappeared completely.

However, here are other sources I've since found:

www.a1acrylics.com/rodtubing.htm

k-mac-plastics.net/acrylic-rods.htm
scroll down for colors and further down for fluorescent

and Plastruct makes domes which someone suggested getting instead of sanding the rod to a round tip:

www.plastruct.com/Pages/Action.lasso?-database=PI.PRODUCTS.fp5&-layout=Complete&-response=%2fPages%2fOnlineCatalogIndex.html&-op=bw&SelectKey=V&-skipRecords=210&-maxRecords=30&-sortField=zfsequencer&-sortOrder=ascend&-search

[Noslen]

Thanks!

Those sites look promising.

[Laan Kro]

I sewed a long pocket (about an 1 1/2 inches wide) for my EL blade inside of my robe, carefully stitching along the side seam so it didn't show on the outside of the robe.
I can tell it's there, but it doesn't get in my way. It's handy to have the blade around for photos, without having to leave it in the hilt all the time.

[Roize]

Greetings...

I'll be starting a tutorial regarding light saber construction, including materials used both Raw and Polished. This would also include how to make a saber that looks like the ones used in the SW movie of course minus the effect. For now... I used an aluminum pipe same lenght as my saber and wood 2 and half lenght of my saber. Why wood? Remember that the saber's weight must not exceed the saber itself. Lenght also contributes to weight, It would be hard for you to swing it in duel fights. A good proportion would be 1 : 2.5 meaning if your saber is a foot long, then your blade is around 2 and a half feet long. Second, it is durable and can easily be replaced by a new one in case broken. Third, I need a guide to paint the FX of my saber in my computer.

May the force be with you.
Jedi Knight Roize.

[Roize]

By the way my light saber blades are detatchable...

community.webshots.com/user/roize1968

PS. I've constructed two new sabers with pictures of the materials used. I'll upload the pictures to my home page as soon as I have the pictures developed.

Jedi Knight Roize.

[Noslen]

I received samples from A1 Acrylics and they are nice! I like their neon rods, as they have a "glow" about them like Jedi Kai's photo above.

The company was very easy to contact and answered all my questions quickly, even though I am only going to purchase a single section of rod (they have a 6' min.)

Now I have to decide what color. It is between neon green (shown above) and neon medium orange.

A friend of mine who is slightly mechanically inclined suggested putting a high intensity LED or bulb in the hilt to have the rod "glow" slightly. It isn't much, but it does have some effect to it. Has anyone tried this?

(I'll let you know how my saber(s) turn out with the blade)

[zhidon]

the problem with acrylic and wood blades is that they break when you fight with them. the problem with metal blades is too much weight and no color taht wont wear off.. try buying polycarbonite tubing and insert a wooden dowel rod inside cover with refective/prismatic tape or sheets[your choice of color]. seal the ends with silicone and drill a hole and put in a screw to keep the rods from coming out. we have done this with great success. poly tubes cant break, so the wood is safe inside and gives it weight, but not too much and color that cant be knocked off. in the light the refective colors are nice.....and you can fight with them.

at night or dusk of course we use EL blades. havent broken one yet....even when we use them against bamboo shinai swords.....

[Noslen]

Where could I find polycarbonite tubing?

I am pretty much using the acrylic for cosmetic use. When I want to duel, I plan on upgrading to an EL blade... whether I buy a kit for my hilt or the entire package is up for debate.

Thanks!

[Primrodo]

Metal blades are the lightest...well Alumium tubes anyway.

For serious dueling I use fiberglass rods, light and best material I have dound to date. Plycarb is way to whippy for serioius duelling, for light fun they are great

For show Acrylic is the way to go!

[zhidon]

polycarb....whippy? no way dude. our practice blades have an oak dowel rod wrapped in reflective/holographic tape inside the poly tube. they are more rigid than a standard shinai [bamboo] sword. aluminum tubes tend to bend and the color can be banged off....not with our practice blades. i also think you would find that PARKSABER's blades dont flex that much. i use them for dueling against shinai's in the evening. there is nothing light actually fighting with a lit blade.

for where to get the polycarb tubing, i suggest you contact jedi loreen shadowchaser...you can find her in the members area. good hunting and may the force be with you.