Lightsabers & Blasters EL lightsaber

The places that sell EL wire also sell the inverters. Now if what they sell can fit inside a handle along with a 9V battery it depends on what they offer.

 

how much do the lighttech ones cost? i cant buy a really expensive one. why do you know how to convert a graflex?

 

The lightech one costs about $40. As to how I know how to do it I have spent the last 2 years researching various lightsaber tutorials and have made my own lightsaber out of a Heiland flash gun.

 

I don't recommend using 3 seperate strands for an EL blade. I've tried it. Wiring the EL wire can be a pain. The pair of fine wires that wrap around the phosphorus core break easily. And if one of the them breaks then that strand of wire won't light, so guess what? You get to restrip the wire and start soldering your connections all over again. And if you're using multiple strand all soldered together, you have to do all of the wire over again, if you want to do a neat job that won't break at the solder connection. Though it might be possible just restrip and solder the one wire. That's not the way I do things, though. The more strands you have, the more there is to go wrong, I learned that the hard way.

And every time you have to restrip the wire, you lose another 1/2", and sometimes you have to strip the wire multiple times if you keep breaking one of the fine wires. I think I've had to do it 4 or 5 times on the same piece of wire before. And I even have an automatic wire stripper, though you can use a regular one, but be very careful when doing so. For me, since I make so many blades, the $16 price of the stripper was well worth the price of saving some of my sanity. But not if you're only going to make one or 2 blades.

Now I use a single strand about 10' (8' for the Pipsqueak inverters) long and fold it twice, at top and bottom to make it look like 3 strands.

People don't generally use the 5mm wire, because it has too large of a bend radius, unless they are only using one strand of it, which I don't think would be bright enough.

The 3.2mm I use (for the regular brightness wire) has to go into a tube with an Inside Diameter of 3/8" so I actually bend it more than the manufacturer recommends, so that it'll fit, but I haven't had any problems with that aspect of it in the 40 something blades I have made so far.

To make an EL bladed saber, I would say you need a minimum of 1 1/4" diameter for the inverter and battery, below the 3/4" diameter area you need for the blade, depending, of course on what inverter you use.

As far as length of space needed, I would recommend at least 3" for the blade to be held stable (4 would probably be better if you're going to be doing a lot of dueling), another inch for the female connector; say, another 2-2 1/2" total for the inverter and space for the switch; and about 1 1/2" for the 9V battery. So that would be a minimum of 8", but you don't want to cram everything together too tightly, or you might start cracking solder joints and breaking connections, so 9" would be better.

When I made my lightdagger, I wanted to see how short I could make an EL bladed prop, and 9" was what I came up with in practicality.

 

HawkNC,

I spent the better part of friday ringing around lots of shops/sign builders/neon suppliers, all of which have heard of EL wire, but either haven't seen it or have had it and didn't bother to re-stock. As usual, it won't be popular in Australia until its been popular in the States for a few years

Jaycar electronics sell a EL Wire kit with 12v inverter, but I think its only 2.3m, and its a pre-cut 1.5m kit. Its around $38, which hurts. This is about the ONLY place you might be able to find it.

The other kinds of places which have had it are Neon suppliers. I've run the local one up here in Queensland, but they pointed me to Jaycar.

Your only OTHER option is to get the stuff from a supplier in Canada. The exchange rate is awesome (1 for 1) at the moment, and the kit I'm getting from there is $17 for the same thing jaycar sell for $38. I've got one of the guys from work over there at the moment, so he's bringing them back for me (to save the overly ridiculous cost of shipping stuff here). I'll let you know if I can find a supplier in canada, or if anyone else can suggest someone within canada that can supply the stuff for non-ridiculous prices.

The place in Canada which sells the kit I'm buying is:

http://www.vibecomputers.com/index.cfm?loc=iview&if=n&vID=190391

I'd KILL for some if the High-Brightness stuff, but I can't see it ever happening. I have just recently started with a certain world-wide travel company, so I might be able to strike up a friendship with someone from a remote office, and get the stuff sent that way. PM me your email address and I can let you know if anything eventuates, if you like.

W.

 

Regarding blade thicknesses,

If I'm going to build a blade which is going to sit on a stand attached the hilt, and not be waved around, should I be using a thicker segment of wire, to give a more even look for daytime display?? Most of the blade photos I've seen are always taken in either a dark room or within a darkened environment.. I'm just wondering what the blade would look like in daytime conditions.

W.

 

Yeah, the only place I could find is Autobarn, and I haven't actually checked to see whether it's in store or whether it's just in their catalogue. $38 is a bit steep, though...I'd order from Canada, but I don't have a credit card (I refuse to get one on the basis that I'll use it too much ), so if I go EL it'll have to be the more expensive option.

Is the wiring for EL simple? I mean, can you just run wires between the inverter, the battery and the switch, or is there something more complicated I need to know?

 

You will not see very well that an EL blade is lit in day time or bright light conditions, that's why everyone takes pictures of them in low light conditions. And it's also why I have colored acrylic rods for daylight, like if I'm going to be walking around outside (I've been in some parades dressed as a Jedi).

Wiring EL wire is a bit more complicated than just wiring it right to the inverter. I use the soldering instructions from elwirecheap.com. Coolneon has different and more complicated instructions.

Here is the instruction page to check out:
EL wire soldering instructions

Here is a picture of a recent Timothy Zahn book signing event that took place in Orange County in Southern California. You can barely tell that some of the EL blades are even lit, with the camera flash:
(Photo property of Britt Dietz)

[image=http://www.ocstarwars.com/multimedia/imagegallery/2004-02-13-timzahn/images/PICT5952.jpg]

(I'm the one kneeling with the blue blade I made. I also made the red blades that are hard to see lit, and one of the green blades that also looks kind of dim. The other green blades are in Parks sabers and use EL sheet, as opposed to the wire. And no, I've never worked with the EL sheet or tape)

 

Are any of the avalible colors for the wires ultravilot ?


Ive been wanting to make a blacklight saber for a long time, but all I can find is a UV neon bulb in the correct shape/length, and Im prone to dropping stuff and dont want something that breakes real easily like glass.

 

A UV saber? That'd be so cool...

Woodgee, I checked out the prices for EL wire at JB HiFi - they're charging $50 for 1.5m, and $75 for 3m. I need to find a Jaycar somewhere in Victoria.

 

No, EL wire doen't come in ultraviolet. It comes it 10 colors: aqua, lime, blue, yellow, pink, red, orange, green (more of a teal), purple and white.

White is the dimmest because they have to heavily dope (to introduce impurities to change it's properties) the phosphorus to get it that color, since it's naturally aqua colored when it lights up. With all the other colors of wire, a colored sheathing over the phosphorus changes the color.

 

Hmmm, then I'll have to think of something.


If I can get some heavy gauge clear PVC (or some other heavy plastic) tube with a rounded and closed off end then I could put the UV bulb into it, then Id have to find a way to insulate the bulb from shock and such (I'd like to make it possible for light dueling, but want it as a visual prop mainly)

 

WooHooooo!!!
GOt my supplies this week and I built my blade and hilt last night and finished them up tonight. THe blade isn't as bright as I would have liked it to be but that is because I used only 2 strands of wire instead of 3 and I had the 9 volt inverter instead of the 12. Still it is awesome to finally have an EL saber especially knowing that I made it myself. I will post some pics later this week. O and my blade is orange(my favorite color).

 

HawkNC,

$50 for 1.5m?!??! Thats like $10 per foot (roughly) and you can buy it in the states for $2 per foot, even with the exchange rate being bad, thats like $3.20 per foot.. man.. JB are cashing in, arn't they?!?

If you can hang off a week or two, leave it with me, and I'll see if I can get a contact happening in our Canadian office. I can order the stuff and have it delivered to the office, then get someone over there to send it via regular mail. I can't promise anything, but let me see what I can do. My pet hate is seeing people blatantly ripped off.

Something interesting could be the EL tape though. Might be better for a display stand version, as the visible tape will give a much more uniform look, even if the glow isn't that bright in daytime. The green ones in the back of Jedi-Lorren's photo look good - thats basically what I'm after, just in Red.

HawkNC, roughtly where abouts in Melbourne are you?

Regards,

W.

 

Down the bay a little, towards Southland. I wouldn't need the EL wire/tape yet, I haven't even been able to buy the materials for the hilt yet. I'm having a hard enough time finding the EL wire, I can't even imagine if there's EL tape or sheeting anywhere in Australia. You reckon your Canadian supplier would have any? The sheeting would obviously be the way to go if you're wanting a Parksaber-quality blade, but I'm sure that'd not only be expensive, but difficult to find and connect. Using EL wire with something to diffuse the light, e.g. translucent paper, would probably work just as well.

 

HawkNC, I read somewhere(cannot remember where) that paper will yellow over time so that my not be the best option.

Anyhoo I've got pics of my freshley built EL saber!!!

See them Here

Just click on the EL saber link(as if it is'nt obvious).

 

Good job man, that's pretty cool!

 

Nice work. It looks like you used the bottom bushing idea I posted about, unless you already had that idea on your own.

I'm wondering why you chose that particular kind of male connector at the bottom, though. And how is it held in the blade, glue? I use the 1/4" male mono audio connector like the professionals use, except for Parks, who uses a stereo connector.

This is what I use:
[image=http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/ProductImage/274/274-348.jpg]

My blades can work in Lightech and Parks (though dimmer)sabers as well as the ones I make. I decided to go with the "industry standard". I also hold them in with a set screw, because there have been times where I've needed to take a blade apart to redo something.

I'm surprised your blade is as bright as it is, since orange is one of the dimmest colors. Probably because you're not diffusing it very much. Can you see the individual wire strands when it's lit? That's the main issue I have with not diffusing it enough.

Also, what diameter of wire did you use, and how much? And what kind of inverter are you using? I like to know what other people come up with on their own.

You obviously had your own ideas beforehand and didn't need to wait for a tutorial. Did you use any of my suggestions from earlier in this thread?

Some people are probably going to think your blade is red, that's what people say about mine, though I don't really use it (except in my "sample case"), because it is as dim as it is. (And I'm a Lightside Jedi, so I prefer blue) Noone's asked me to make that color for them, yet. All the others of the 10 colors of EL wire there are, I have made for other people, even the teal-looking one.

 

Thanks Jedi-Loreen and ge_rpger.

As for your questions Loreen:
I'm wondering why you chose that particular kind of male connector at the bottom, though. And how is it held in the blade, glue?
I was going to use the same 1/4 inch audio connector the you used but I could not for the life of me find the female end in Radioshack so I went with RCA connectors. And I did glue the connector in place at the bottom.
Can you see the individual wire strands when it's lit?
Yes I can, but only up close if it is about 3 feet away you can't really tell. Also don't let the photo fool you the blade isn't quite as bright as it shows. I can see that it photographs really well but in person it looks just like any other EL blade. I difused it with 1/2" polycarbonate that was sanded vertically and horizontally(took forever).

Also, what diameter of wire did you use, and how much? And what kind of inverter are you using?
3.2 mm wire and a little under 7 feet of it, bent in half once. I am using the ELwirecheap.com 9v inverter.

You obviously had your own ideas beforehand and didn't need to wait for a tutorial. Did you use any of my suggestions from earlier in this thread?
I had a rough idea of what I was going to do but this thread has provided alot of useful information. For instance the whole bushing idea I got from you thanks BTW.

Some people are probably going to think your blade is red, that's what people say about mine.
I don't mind it being thought of as red because I actually wanted red but from seeing red EL wire first hand I decided to go with orange because it is a bit
brighter IMHO and it is my favorite color.

 

Two things:

1) For anyone that owns a Park Saber, can someone tell me what the blade looks like up close?? I'm interested to see whether its worth pursuing using EL Tape instead of using EL wire and then having to diffuse it. I'm assuming that you would run the tape from the bottom to the top, and put enough runs to make a complete 360 degree cover.

2) HawkNC (and anyone else in Oz). Try a place called GameDude (http://www.gamedude.com.au). Check the Casemod section, they sell wire and tape kits which come with inverters, 150mm of wire, and cost about $29. The best price I've seen locally.

W.

 

Okay I have found everything I need for my but but the polycarbonate tube. Jedishack sells them but he has already burned me once so I refuse to buy from him. Where can I get the elusive polycarbonate tube? And do they need endcaps or can you get them with rounded ends like the MR blades?

Any help with this will be appreciated.

 

You can get polycarbonate tube from usplastics.com
just go to the sheet/rod/shape section, then click on the polycarbonate link and finally click on the tubing section.

 

If you go with US Plastic, they only sell the polycarbonate tubing in 8' sections, which is no big deal for me, because I buy enough to make several blades at a time (the last time I bought enough to make 20 blades).

You also need to ask them to cut the 8' piece in half, otherwise, you're going to end up paying at least $35, just for shipping! It's much cheaper to ship 4' sections. It'll cost you $1 per tube for them to cut it, but it's worth it, believe me. Unfortunately, you can't do that online, you have to phone your order in and tell someone you want them to cut the pieces in half.

If you just want to make one blade, see if there is a local plastic company in your area that you can just drive to.

 

Can anyone give me a full parts list ive yet to find a list of required parts if so it would be apprecaited.

 

Thanks guys. I was looking all over that site last night and couldn't find it anywhere.

EDIT: Also I still would like to know if these need endcaps or if they can be rounded off and if so how. I really appreciate everyones help.