luxeon sabers

defleshjedi

New Member
does anyone know where a guy could find some simple how to

for these I find it kind of interesting of a project to build my own

I had also heard somewhere ( in small talk disscusion or maybe some thread ??) that someone builds drivers for these luxeon leds.
any body know the whats up ??
 
Hi there
If you have any questions on how to build the saber, please feel free to email me. If you check out My Website, there's a PDF file on there called "LED saber building manual". That should be quite informative.

Corbin Das

Corbin_Das@Hotmail.com

P.S. The Custom Saber shop has a really nice blade mount/LED holder that's made to slip inside a sink tube. It saves you a lot of hastle. I've been finishing the final design on my version and hope to have it available soon too.
 
Hi all.
I just wanted to share my 3/4" custom film blade. It's essentially the same as my 1" OD models, only in the thinner 3/4" OD polycarb setup. It's not as bright as the 1" blades, especially the last few inches before the tip, but it's still not bad. The main thing is that since the core is thinner, the blade loses some of its brightness. Of course, the base of the blade is extremely bright, as the Luxeon blades tend to be. Due to the upward viewing angle of the camera, I was able to capture a good deal of flare from the reflective surface on the base of the tip.

Here's a full blade shot of a 38" long, 3/4" diameter polycarb blade:

corbinspics6-cyanfull.jpg


Here it is shown next to a 40" long, 1" diameter polycarb blade:

corbinspics6-endscomparison.jpg


I'm thinking of offering these in the near future, but I'm still trying to "tweak" the design a bit to get more brightness, especially in the last few inches before the tip.

Corbin Das

Corbin@CorbinsComponents.com

Corbin's Components


By the way, you can read more about my blades and other LED saber components here.
 
Just a quick update for anyone interested:

I finally received these from one of my prototyping guys. It's a rounded saber blade tip with a small shoulder on it to keep it better secured within the blade. Here's a pic I just took this evening:

corbinspics7-tips.JPG


The bottom of the disk area is mirrored and they come set up for thick walled polycarb tubing or thin walled, both in 1" OD. I'm probably going to be offering them for 3/4" blades too, for you EL folks as well as the 3/4" Luxeon blade fans.
I'm still trying to nail down an exact price on my end, but I suspect they'll sell for around $5.00 per tip with the mirrored surface already attached. Just glue them into a section of polycarb tubing with a bonding agent like Pro Weld and you're good.
These should provide much better durability than just a flat bottomed plastic dome. I'm looking into having these cast in a semi flexible clear material as well, but more on that later.

Corbin

Corbin@CorbinsComponents.com

Corbin's Components
 
Hi all

In response to several emails, I thought I'd post a bit of a tutorial on how to best insert the blade film into the polycarb tube on the Luxeon based sabers. It's easy to just say "roll it up and slide it in", but I've found certain techniques save time and frustration. Having the film kink while trying to insert it leads to a visable crease that's exagerated when lit. So here it goes...

Cut the polycarb to whatever length you need. Make sure the ends are nice and square. Take the acrylic rounded tips and attach the reflective film on the bottom. The film I use is self adhesive. Just cut it out and stick it on. Make sure it's centered.
Then set the tip onto the end of the tube and get it as centered as you can. Get some Pro Weld made by Ambroid from a hobby store or a model/RC store (or something similar). It's a clear, watery bonding agent. There's a brush applicator attached to the lid. While holding the tip in place. Touch the applicator to the seam where the tube and tip meet. Capillary action will draw it into the seam and bond the two pieces together. Do this all the way around the blade. I prefer to hold the blade horizontally so that if there's any runs, it just goes around the seam rather than down the blade. Press the tip on for about 30 seconds then let it sit for an hour or so to cure. Thin walled blades might require longer cure time since there's not as much surface to surface contact. The new shouldered tips will alleviate this problem to a large degree. More on that later.
In the meantime, you can either make more blades or cut your blade film to length. I like to make the film about an inch shorter than the length of the tube. I'll tell you why in a second. Once you're ready to put the blade film in, take a 1/2" dowel rod about as long as your blade. Roll the blade film around it and try to keep it tight. A little tape here and there helps. Make sure you wash your hands before handling the film too much, as any oils will show up when you light it. Once the blade film is on the dowel rod, insert the rod into the tube. If you used tape, you'll have to remove it as the film is slid into the tube. If it gets about half way and starts to get harder to push in, start twisting the rod to take up the slack. This will cause a spiral in the seam though. Don't worry about it right now. Don't force it..
Once you have the film in the blade, remove the rod and insert your finger into the base of the tube and rotate the film back to where the seam is straight. Slide the film up until it butts up against the bottom of the tip. If you cut the film an inch short like I suggested, you can take a small strip of Scotch tape and secure the bottom of the film to the inside of the tube. You won't see this when the blade is inside the hilt.

I hope this helps.

Corbin Das

Corbin@CorbinsComponents.com
 
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