help with light from led

[Dunpeil]

hello, first time posting on this forum and would like to get some help on something to get as much light as posible in a wide area with the less leds as posible, i need this because of weight because im making a huge sword and its quite heavy so far. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLrQUXwK9I thats the sword im trying to do and all the red/orange parts on the center and tip of the sword glows but i cant fill with leds all that space so any help is wellcome =) also this is a pic of the progress from a few weeks back https://scontent-a-lax.xx.fbcdn.net...636_796732553692479_3637147158435616261_n.jpg

 

[irononreverse]

Have LEDs at the base of the sword and lightly sand the red transparent sections so they catch the light.

If you've seen those clear plastic blocks with laser etching that lights up, that's the effect.

Like these:

http://www.mickia.net/mod_product-prdlist-cap_id-76.html

 

[Dunpeil]

tnx a lot it gave a few ideas =)

 

[Robiwon]

LED tape is what you need. It comes in red and uses SMT LEDs. You can hook many strands together and they run on a 9v battery. Here is a link-
http://www.modelersbrand.com/html/category/ledtape.html

 

[Dunpeil]

i have seen the led tape also el wire/tape but both are way too heavy for the lenght of the sword, cant use them so far but tnx for posting

 

[Cenobyte]

What about using a reflective material around the LED like what is used around a bulb in a flashlight to multiply the brightness?

 

[RoboTrap]

To get even diffusion across a surface that large, you're going to need something like EL sheet or a great number of LEDs, otherwise you're looking at simply covering the "illuminated" portions with Scotchlite so that it looks to glow in flash photographs. What are you constructing the sword out of? The weight of the lighting equipment should be negligible in comparison to the exterior materials, support structure, etc..

 

[skint]

2m of LED strip would suffice and only weighs 60 grams + battery

 

[Dunpeil]

hello to all and tnx for the comments, i dont want to use the led strip cause what i need is something to add light evenly. ill leave 2 pics of the sword so far so you can see why
https://scontent-a-lax.xx.fbcdn.net...897_817673334931734_2359174963945825405_o.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd....538_819174364781631_2766413298072647452_n.jpg

 

[RoboTrap]

I'm terribly confused... you're not trying to put lights inside of the sword, you're trying to hang them off of the outside? If you wanted it to glow, why did you make it opaque?

Regardless, if you don't want to invest in EL sheet, or rip the sword apart to install translucent sections, then Scotchlite is your best bet.

 

[Dunpeil]

what i want is that with a few leds near the center of the sword and something to diffuse the light to all the red parts but i dont want the black or white parts to glow, only the red part should glow thats the problem, im very low on money so i cant get el wire/tape for now >.<

 

[RoboTrap]

I understood what you're trying to accomplish, but the photos made the red parts look opaque. So they're translucent, then?

 

[Dunpeil]

the sword is made of corrugated plastic wich is similar to cardboard but all plastic, the red parts is some kind of pvc plastic wich is quite translucent so led light can work but i want something like a transparent plastic wich i could stack on top of the red part and make it glow, the black part is another pvc but not translucent at all so it could stop the light from going anywhere else

 

[JiminSTLouis]

You could run an EL wire the entire length of the blade adding little to no weight (other than the battery pack in the handle). I've used this type of lighting before and it's very cool.

Here is just one of many sources.
http://www.electricstyles.com/collections/el-wire-kits?gclid=CNqutb6N0L8CFSdk7Aod_TcAag

 

[Dunpeil]

hello, i would use el tape instead of el wire on this project but still want some other option for this, something like duct tape but transparent that diffuses light so i can do what i want with the leds i have

 

[RoboTrap]

For clarification, what's wrong with putting LEDs inside of the blade? If the red is translucent, and light leakage wouldn't be an issue...?

 

[Dunpeil]

the red plastic is translucent but the corrugated plastic it is put on is not, i can make a few holes inside to put the leds but the light wont diffuse right this way i need something else (the corrugated plastic i got was white one side and green on the other side so its weird haha)

 

[RoboTrap]

So there's another layer beneath the red? That's some pretty important info to leave out when you're seeking help!

 

[Dunpeil]

so i had a small con this day so i took the sword for a ******** long ride haha, what do you guys think of it so far ? (have to fix lot of parts i cant wield the sword alone cause the handle is getting too much pressure i need to change it to a metal pipe or something else also ill try to take a few pounds off soon)

so sorry guys i tought i had put a link of a pic on this comment before >.< but here it is i hope you like it =) https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd....355_704155726323537_1454583407077426152_n.jpg

 

[JiminSTLouis]

what do you guys think of it so far ?

Your pictures are too close. Can you show us the whole sword, possibly with you holding it so we can see the size? It looks pretty cool from what we can see.