need LED advice

[Col-Mas Anor]

Hello,

I am working on my first LED blade. I am using a kit from The Graflex Shop. The kit comes with a Luxeon III. I realize that the blade will brighter closer to the hilt, but I was hoping the difference would not be as noticeable as it is. There is a pic below of my work in progress.

So my questions are:

1. Would upgrading to a Luxeon V made a noticeable difference?

2. Or, another idea I have is using something like this from ebay. I'm not planning to use my blade for dueling, so I'm not worried about damaging it.

Please let me know if anyone has some suggestions.

thank you

[Starkindler (The Naked Jedi)]

The LED strip from Ebay looks like it wouldn't give a full 360 viewing from the description.

as to the "fade" on the blade...there are mirror tips that can go inside the end of the blade to reflect light back down....and I believe there are different diffusion films to use inside the blade as well.........

looks nice!
making a Blue one myself........soon.

[Olos Nay]

I believe it comes from the type of blade you are using. I made blades like that. They are true to the most recent film version of the blade as the light you see is conical. If you want something that is more tubular, I achieved something very evenly lit with the blades from www.ultrasabers.com

you can get lots of info, tips and tricks from the forums on the custom saber shop at
www.thecustomsabershop.com/forum/index.php (remember its the forum of an online store)

did you get the blade with the kit?
do you have an electronic driver for the LED?
I do have a very similar blade holder from them, but didn't take anything but the holder+heatsink.

[Col-Mas Anor]

Tenric and Olos,

Thank you both for the suggestions. Yes, the blade came with the kit. It is tubular and not conical. It only looks conical in the photo because of the lighting. The blade already has a diffusion film inside. I'll check on adding a mirror in the tip.

No, I am still waiting to receive the driver. I am using the resistor that came with the kit. Will the driver result in more even lighting?

thanks

[Olos Nay]

phantom465 said:

Thank you both for the suggestions. Yes, the blade came with the kit. It is tubular and not conical. It only looks conical in the photo because of the lighting. The blade already has a diffusion film inside.

that is what I said - those films makes the blade appear to be conical while it is not. a different film would achieve a different result.

However, with this type of blade diffuser and a driver, you'll be able to see the blade extension and retraction. Kind of nifty

[zhidon]

This is correct. In our Saber Academy we use various types of lightsabers. Corbin makes one type of blade film and Alex [Ultrasaber] makes another. I prefer the diffuser tube myself. If you look at the closeup photos of Qui-gon holding his lightsaber, it flares at the bottom. My Ultrasaber [one of the earlier ones before blade film] had the exact same flare as Qui-gon's did. Photos taken looked very similar. Athough EL blades are lighter to duel with, most of us prefer the durability and lack of whipping you get from the LED blades. Just my 2 cents.....

[vortextwist]

How long is your blade. The longer the blade the dimmer it will get at the top also, everyone uses diff difuser stuff so you just have to find the one your happy with. the custom saber shop sells the mirror disks, I put them in my blades and made a real difference.

[Olos Nay]

I have to agree with VT... the secret is in the optics.

a good lens on the led and a good mirror, plus good alignment, makes a huge difference. The diffusing film/tube/whatever as well.

its always a matter of choosing what you prefer.