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Post by Leda EmBorr on Nov 21, 2005 20:58:56 GMT -5
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Post by Seda Navilli on Nov 22, 2005 1:16:14 GMT -5
Interesting, but I have doubts as to how well they would make a beam effect. Light is light after all.
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Nov 22, 2005 3:00:21 GMT -5
Well I'm not looking for the movies.... but something brighter and blue and less diffuse than what I have in there now would do. I have many bladed sabers for dueling... this one just lights up.
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Post by Olos Nay on Nov 22, 2005 13:34:02 GMT -5
I don't quite understand what is it you're trying to achieve in here...
if you want to see light, you'll need an infamous ammount of brightness... I mean, even with a 100W spotlight, with no smoke, you have problems to actually SEE the light. You normally need a diffuser to see something cool, otherwise its just some blury color....
if you'd explain what you're trying to do, I'd try to help.
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Post by Ani-Chay Pinn on Nov 22, 2005 21:58:52 GMT -5
Do you mean to have the LED flashlight inside the lightsaber and have it illuminate an acryllic blade? It could work though it won't be as bright at the end as at the base.
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Nov 23, 2005 4:55:21 GMT -5
No I don't want a blade on this one. This is the saber that I wear. I have others that are bladed... EL's, etc... I'm not looking to do something complex, I just want to improve on what I have. Right now my saber has a blue LED installed inside of it, nested about an inch inside the hole where the blade would normally go. The LED is part of an old penlight and that piece of penlight housing is wired to the switch on the hilt. It is not very bright unless you look directly at it. It does not produce a very bright or direct spot (like a spot when you shine it onto a flat surface). You can't see the beam in fog or smoke, either because it spreads too much, is not reflected enough, or is too dim... I'm not sure which it is--- it's probably all of that. What I'm looking to do, is to replace that penlight part with a small flashlight, like a mini mag, but brighter, so that I would be able to see a beam outside on a foggy night, much like you see the beam of a very bright, solid spot flashlight under those same conditions. I have flashlights that do this, but they're too big to fit into the saber. A mini mag would fit perfectly, and I would use one if they came in blue. I was considering using a colored filter until I came across the above product. The reason I need the flashlight and not just the bulb is for its reflective properties. Obviously the beam will be very long, and it won't be visible at all without smoke, or fog or something to diffuse it, but like I said, this is nothing complex... I'm just making a brighter blue flashlight than I have now. I'm not content with a static prop on my belt.... I want one that does a little bit of something. It's not for dueling, or twirling, or special lighting effects... I just think it looks cool in the dark.... and I do alot of camping, so I'm out in dark, smokey, foggy environments often enough to geekishly enjoy a feature like that! I'd also never heard of the technology that they use with these lights... "chip controlled"--- it sounded intriguing.  |
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Nov 23, 2005 5:01:50 GMT -5
This is the size of the emitter hole... a mini maglite fits in there perfectly.  |
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Post by Olos Nay on Nov 23, 2005 11:08:21 GMT -5
As far as I understand, the "chip controlled" LED means there is a driver that controls the output to the LED light. The luxeon star/o have an optical and most of the light is sent in the same 10 degrees. That is what I used in my saber, and without the blade it is brighter then any flashlight I have at home, for a 1W setup. I know that the flashlight-guys that do speleology (? - cavern exploration as a hobby) often convert their maglight or other type to luxeon... there are kits for that. I got some parts of my actual lightsaber from Elektro Lumens - the guy was good to deal with. He have some lights converted to leds for sale on this page. I myself got the components from that page of himAbout filters, you must take into consideration that a filter will block part of the light from the lightsource, in addition to changing the color. A good filter will let 80% of the light pass, that would mean you loose 20% brightness.... which is a bummer. It is often better to simply take a colored light source. If you go into green or greenish blue, the 1W luxeon star/o might be doing what you want, with minimalistic trouble.... the problem would be in room for the light (1 square inch), controller and batteries. I hope this is helpfull.....? |
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Nov 23, 2005 21:00:11 GMT -5
About filters, you must take into consideration that a filter will block part of the light from the lightsource, in addition to changing the color. A good filter will let 80% of the light pass, that would mean you loose 20% brightness.... which is a bummer. It is often better to simply take a colored light source. That's exactly the trouble I was having... and combine that with a minimal light source, I really wanted to find a different way to do it. Thanks Olos... that was really helpful... I think I'm going to look into converting a mini mag. Maybe look for that kit you mentioned. Space is limited. And if all else fails, I just may build a new lightsaber to fit the flashlight! |
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) beam.
) beam.
