Sword Art Online II - Kirito's "Photon Sword"

[Gamera68]

Ah, sorry. Thought I had read them all, but yesterday was a very stressful day for me, so I'm not surprised that I missed it. Might be worth it to invest in at least some simple tools. I'm constantly amazed how I ever got by without some of the tools that I have.

Anyhoo, can't wait to see how this turns out. I've been loving the new season of SAO

No worries. We all have busy days and miss things. Not a problem though.
Once I come into some money (soon with a new job) then I can do that.
I bought the PEX pipe ( 3/4 inch (ID) by 5 feet) at Home Depot and it does light up
rather well but I'm going to need another, brighter light source which means
investing more money that I don't have at the moment. So for now the
project is on temporary hiatus until next week. I'll try to get some work done
on the hilt this weekend when I have time as I also have a project that needs
to be done since I was paid partially in advance. Same here, too

 

[ARKM]

If you can find something to cap the top of the pex pipe and if you can somehow insert a piece of mylar tape cut into a circle into said cap, it will help reflect light back down the tube a little bit and light up the "blade" better.

 

[Gamera68]

If you can find something to cap the top of the pex pipe and if you can somehow insert a piece of mylar tape cut into a circle into said cap, it will help reflect light back down the tube a little bit and light up the "blade" better.

Thanks. I haven't gotten that far yet. I saw a turorial on a saber site that mentioned that. But when I find a bright
enough LED (either magenta to be screen accurate) or turquoise, I'll go that route as the way I wanted to have the
RGB color changing LED unit is not bright enough for a 30 inch long piece of PEX pipe. I tried finding the frosted clear
ones but they're only available online (from what I searched for) was at Lowe's. I only shop w/ cash so that was out
of the question. I really appreciate everyone's insight so far. I'll try to update as often as I can. Already have the pex
cut to the length mentioned, BTW

UPDATE -

Actually the RGB LED unit IS bright enough but I need the light to be more focused (cheaply)
and then get some sort of end-cap (rounded) and a small, reflective surface. And maybe something
inside the pipe itself... (cheaply) Anymore ideas are welcome as long as they are inexpensive, LOL.

 

[Gamera68]

Check it out... I removed the cheap plastic blade from the Hasbro Luke ROTJ Ultimate FX lightsaber and replaced it with a
24 inch (27 inches, in total) length of PEX pipe I bought last night at Home Depot ($3.64 w/ tax)
(The remainder of the 5 foot pipe is for my Sword Art Online II custom photon sword)

This looks much better and evens the light out a bit. I had removed all of the other diffusers, too except the one where the LED
strip is inside. I reinforced the area inside the hilt where the blade 'holder' was with some hot glue around the bottom of the pipe
and drilled 2, small holes so the blade could be held by the 2 prongs inside. Total time took me maybe 30 minutes or so.

You can still see dark spots in real life, but it is still a big improvement, overall. Plus the new blade is quite sturdy and won't crack or break
like the original, cheap, plastic blade. The photo looks overexposed b/c of my cellphone's camera. Now to find a brighter LED source for my SAO II photon sword prop.

 

[robotboy]

Okay so heres what i have so far i got my pieces 3d printed and need to clean them up alot! But the fit the 1" pvc pipe like a sock ! and heres the front end of the sword where the blade comes from and heres back of the hilt with the carabiners i bought alot of sanding and filling to do but a good start !!

 

[Gamera68]

Okay so heres what i have so far i got my pieces 3d printed and need to clean them up alot! But the fit the 1" pvc pipe like a sock ! View attachment 361323 and heres the front end of the sword where the blade comes from View attachment 361325 and heres back of the hilt with the carabiners i bought alot of sanding and filling to do but a good start !! View attachment 361328View attachment 361471

Really nice so far. I haven't gotten this far but I will try to get working on it soon. Are you going to have a lighted blade or not?
And this is 3-D printed? Lucky you!! How much is it costing you, if I may ask? I'd give anything to have an identical one myself, LOL

 

[robotboy]

Really nice so far. I haven't gotten this far but I will try to get working on it soon. Are you going to have a lighted blade or not?
And this is 3-D printed? Lucky you!! How much is it costing you, if I may ask? I'd give anything to have an identical one myself, LOL

Yes i am going to have a lighted blade and all the pieces (minus the pvc pipe obviously ) are 3d printed by this guy i have in ca only cost me $10...he offers his services on make xyz its a website were people with 3d printers post and you can get a quote if you need something printed

 

[Gamera68]

Yes i am going to have a lighted blade and all the pieces (minus the pvc pipe obviously ) are 3d printed by this guy i have in ca only cost me $10...he offers his services on make xyz its a website were people with 3d printers post and you can get a quote if you need something printed

Good to hear that. How are you going to accomplish that? With a kit or just simple electronics? And $10 isn't too bad. Did you send him photos of the hilt as a reference? How does that work exactly? He must need some sore of blueprints to go by, right? Thanks for the info on the website though. I might check it out when I have the time

 

[robotboy]

Good to hear that. How are you going to accomplish that? With a kit or just simple electronics? And $10 isn't too bad. Did you send him photos of the hilt as a reference? How does that work exactly? He must need some sore of blueprints to go by, right? Thanks for the info on the website though. I might check it out when I have the time

No problem c: and all i did was send him the 3d files i made and he printed them for me , as for the lighting im probably gonna buy parts from the custom sabre shop unless i can find a cheaper alternative

 

[Gamera68]

Cool. I appreciate it. I might just make it myself from plumping supplies.

I do like yours and it's the first one officially made as far as I know.
Is it 1:1 scale? (10 or so inches long)

Please keep us posted and feel free to add more photos whenever you can. I made a rough prototype with the aluminum Ray-O-Vac flashlight, an LED pen light (90 mcd) with a magenta lens (made from an old pair of 3-D glasses), and a 30 inch length of pex pipe. The only thing is that the magenta color is too deep so I'm gonna figure something else out for as lighting goes and also work on getting the pieces for the actual hilt in the next week or so, when I have some free time. Anyway, keep up the good work and best of luck with the lighting kit

 

[robotboy]

Cool. I appreciate it. I might just make it myself from plumping supplies.

I do like yours and it's the first one officially made as far as I know.
Is it 1:1 scale? (10 or so inches long)

Please keep us posted and feel free to add more photos whenever you can. I made a rough prototype with the aluminum Ray-O-Vac flashlight, an LED pen light (90 mcd) with a magenta lens (made from an old pair of 3-D glasses), and a 30 inch length of pex pipe. The only thing is that the magenta color is too deep so I'm gonna figure something else out for as lighting goes and also work on getting the pieces for the actual hilt in the next week or so, when I have some free time. Anyway, keep up the good work and best of luck with the lighting kit

Yup its 1:1 and ive been thinking of an alternative way of lighting with led strips

i just finished painting this

 

[The Ronin]

Please keep us posted and feel free to add more photos whenever you can. I made a rough prototype with the aluminum Ray-O-Vac flashlight, an LED pen light (90 mcd) with a magenta lens (made from an old pair of 3-D glasses), and a 30 inch length of pex pipe. The only thing is that the magenta color is too deep so I'm gonna figure something else out for as lighting goes and also work on getting the pieces for the actual hilt in the next week or so, when I have some free time. Anyway, keep up the good work and best of luck with the lighting kit

If the LED is a bright white, there isn't much of the red spectrum of light that it emits in the first place to pass through the red filter of the 2 lenses, so you're probably getting a very dark blue/purple tone. Either an unfiltered magenta or a warm white LED would probably work better in this case.

 

[guyverx]

I am actually building myself one of these on my spare time at work. Im a novice lightsaber builder myself and this is actually a fairly easy body to make. its the deciding the layout and connections for the saber (lights and sounds sections) I already have it about 1/4 done on the basic body built. In a day or 2 i should have the body about 50% done. I will try to remember to post pics when its done and or just close since the electronics sometimes are not in stock.

As for the length I to measured it at 9.5-10 inches simply based on how Kirito holds it and allowing 1.5 inches of thumb reach for the on/off at the tip, 4 inches for the hand and about 25-30 % still being behind his hand. made a rough measurement before i put it in the lathe and it was 10 inches exactly on my first draft.

 

[Gamera68]

Yup its 1:1 and ive been thinking of an alternative way of lighting with led strips

i just finished painting thisView attachment 363266

Looks great! That's a cool idea - please update w/ new pictures when you can.

If the LED is a bright white, there isn't much of the red spectrum of light that it emits in the first place to pass through the red filter of the 2 lenses, so you're probably getting a very dark blue/purple tone. Either an unfiltered magenta or a warm white LED would probably work better in this case.

It is a bright (cool) white. I see. It's more pink than anything. I might have to go another route. I'll be busy all this week w/ various projects and will be going out of town this Friday and won't be home until Monday sometime. So for now (this week at least) this project for me is on hold as I don't have any free time to spend on it. But thanks again for the info - I appreciate it.

I am actually building myself one of these on my spare time at work. Im a novice lightsaber builder myself and this is actually a fairly easy body to make. its the deciding the layout and connections for the saber (lights and sounds sections) I already have it about 1/4 done on the basic body built. In a day or 2 i should have the body about 50% done. I will try to remember to post pics when its done and or just close since the electronics sometimes are not in stock.

As for the length I to measured it at 9.5-10 inches simply based on how Kirito holds it and allowing 1.5 inches of thumb reach for the on/off at the tip, 4 inches for the hand and about 25-30 % still being behind his hand. made a rough measurement before i put it in the lathe and it was 10 inches exactly on my first draft.

Cool. LIke I mentioned earlier in this thread, if anyone decides to build one, they're more than welcome to add any information on "how to" as well as progress photos.
Any info is more than welcome.

 

[guyverx]

Well as Gamera said to here is some pics of my progress on my Kagametsu G4. Since I have some experiance with making lightsabers this is right up my ally.

A few days ago I made a first attempt / mock up to find out what exactly the issues I might run into. It went well but I needed to make a few changes mainly to allow the later added D ring at the end. Its a very minor change but i changed the end angle from 45 on the end to 35* to give me a few more mm's. (new one is on the top)

Here is the new back end slid in place on the main body so far. The back of the body slips into the front of the back end a 1/2 inch.

Slightly pulled apart (sorry its a bit blurry)


Here the back end is fully exposed. its actually 6 pieces here sas some are compressed in place and are basically now 1 piece

Having access to a Lathe and mill are nice so this is going rather smoothly. Only down side is its not go go go, for every piece I make i have to plan ahead 3-6 pieces so i can make sure they all remain "fit together" able. Any way this next explanation is more for the other Saber enthusiasts and for them looking to become one. Right now I am planning on using a Nano Biscotee soundboard with a single 18650 battery and a Tripple cree LED assembly (royal blue, Red, white). The Royal blue and a few ohms of resistance on the red give a great purple for the Photon Swords color. White will be for the Flash On Clash (so the purple blade flashes white when struck). Right now there is still potential to put a Petite crouton sound board in but atm the only reason to do that is for the Blaster block option (for this build think of it as a bullet slash effect sound i can trigger at any time i chose) but not sure I have the room for that battery option.

The Tight spot I still have to work on is the speaker and Recharge port. They both fit in this section easy enough it will just be tight to get the 3-4 wires for the recharge port past the speaker.

And the recharge port showing in the back end. (sadly this set up means the later added D-ring cant go fully through and meet end to end)

and heres me holding it so far. Later on I will add the set screws that hold it all together in the triangle set up it is on the central fins down the body. And good news I can take the old first attempt fin section and use it as part of the front end. yay less parts to fabricate for this. But I will have more pics over the next few days as it bets built, I only hope the sound board is in supply when I need it.

 

[robotboy]

Well as Gamera said to here is some pics of my progress on my Kagametsu G4. Since I have some experiance with making lightsabers this is right up my ally.

A few days ago I made a first attempt / mock up to find out what exactly the issues I might run into. It went well but I needed to make a few changes mainly to allow the later added D ring at the end. Its a very minor change but i changed the end angle from 45 on the end to 35* to give me a few more mm's. (new one is on the top)
View attachment 368387
Here is the new back end slid in place on the main body so far. The back of the body slips into the front of the back end a 1/2 inch.
View attachment 368388
Slightly pulled apart (sorry its a bit blurry)
View attachment 368389
View attachment 368390
Here the back end is fully exposed. its actually 6 pieces here sas some are compressed in place and are basically now 1 piece
View attachment 368391
Having access to a Lathe and mill are nice so this is going rather smoothly. Only down side is its not go go go, for every piece I make i have to plan ahead 3-6 pieces so i can make sure they all remain "fit together" able. Any way this next explanation is more for the other Saber enthusiasts and for them looking to become one. Right now I am planning on using a Nano Biscotee soundboard with a single 18650 battery and a Tripple cree LED assembly (royal blue, Red, white). The Royal blue and a few ohms of resistance on the red give a great purple for the Photon Swords color. White will be for the Flash On Clash (so the purple blade flashes white when struck). Right now there is still potential to put a Petite crouton sound board in but atm the only reason to do that is for the Blaster block option (for this build think of it as a bullet slash effect sound i can trigger at any time i chose) but not sure I have the room for that battery option.

The Tight spot I still have to work on is the speaker and Recharge port. They both fit in this section easy enough it will just be tight to get the 3-4 wires for the recharge port past the speaker.
View attachment 368393
And the recharge port showing in the back end. (sadly this set up means the later added D-ring cant go fully through and meet end to end)
View attachment 368399
and heres me holding it so far. Later on I will add the set screws that hold it all together in the triangle set up it is on the central fins down the body. And good news I can take the old first attempt fin section and use it as part of the front end. yay less parts to fabricate for this. But I will have more pics over the next few days as it bets built, I only hope the sound board is in supply when I need it.

looks great !

 

[guyverx]

Well I basically went back to the drawing board on my version I posted above. all said and done it was 11.25 inches without the D ring and to me that was way to long. Not to mention in the final steps of completion I sort of killed a part on the mill so it was a fair reason to stat over and get it right. After checking the screen grabs and several dimension references of it i settled with the 25cm version (9.86 inches) and im not including the D-ring in that measurement. Plus i didn't like the placement option of the battery recharge port killing the D-ring bit. I will update you all in a few days when im back to or further than where i was in this.

 

[Gamera68]

Well I basically went back to the drawing board on my version I posted above. all said and done it was 11.25 inches without the D ring and to me that was way to long. Not to mention in the final steps of completion I sort of killed a part on the mill so it was a fair reason to stat over and get it right. After checking the screen grabs and several dimension references of it i settled with the 25cm version (9.86 inches) and im not including the D-ring in that measurement. Plus i didn't like the placement option of the battery recharge port killing the D-ring bit. I will update you all in a few days when im back to or further than where i was in this.

I do like yours so far but IMHO, it's too long.
10 inches (minus the d-ring) sounds about right.
But that's just based upon the screen caps I posted on page 1
assuming Kirito's hand is 3 inches wide wen he first holds it.
(rough estimate of course) But I do like the all-metal version too,

 

[robotboy]

I do like yours so far but IMHO, it's too long.
10 inches (minus the d-ring) sounds about right.
But that's just based upon the screen caps I posted on page 1
assuming Kirito's hand is 3 inches wide wen he first holds it.
(rough estimate of course) But I do like the all-metal version too,

[emoji57] you know whats coming



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[Gamera68]

[emoji57] you know whats coming
View attachment 370725


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Nice. LED strip, right? Love the color too. NIce and bright. (unlike my attempt, LOL - no extra funds at the moment)