Lightsabers & Blasters LED Blade Q and A's

Oh, good God. I can't believe you actually "edited" a posting of mine for grammar and punctuation. This entire thread has not only become a huge nerd fest... it's become a bitch-about-pointless-crap session.

And YES, you HAVE become a punctuation and grammar Nazi. Absurdity seems to be your primary language, Henchman. Oh, and for the record--many excellent writers actually BREAK rules in order to accomplish what they like with their words. Forrester would be a good example. So... take your grammar and punctuation choices and keep them to yourself.

WT*... this is just plain ridiculous. I don't have to stand for this kind of bull--[it's a waste of everyone's time[/i]. Especially when I was AGREEING with Henchman in the first place about the tutorials. So... back to the original point: THERE ARE PLENTY OF TUTORIALS ON TCSS, SO IF YOU NEED ONE--START LOOKING AND PAY ATTENTION.

Take care, and good luck to all.

P.S. Don't end a sentence with "to", Evil Henchman. At least one of your so-called corrections... made things WORSE grammatically. Nice going. *sigh*

S_S edit: removed disallowed words/euphemisms, and name-calling.

 

Wow, way to overreact there buddy. I wasn't trying to "flame" you but you took it the wrong way and flamed me. I was trying to help you become a better at written communication, not insult you. Since you are obviously not going to take my word on that, it's best that we end this discussion in this thread now. It is off topic (sorry about that) and you obviously aren't going to take my posts in the way they were intended.

EDIT: I also want to apologize for stating how I was interpreting your posts/sentence structure in a public forum. I should have done it via PMs. Now that I have thought about it, stating it to the public like I did was rude as well as off topic. I still feel the way I feel as I'm sure you do but still, it was rude for me to state what I did publicly and I see how it could be insulting even though that was not my intent.

 

Thank you Henchman, that is a gentlemanly apology.

Back on topic, thanks folks.

 

As I run back towards to border that is "on topic" I want to say that I think I finally found a place that is willing to powder coat my saber. I've been looking in phone books and on the ineternet for about a month now after I found paint was a superbly poor substitute. Amazing how unwilling most companies are to do one off items.

 

Tim at TCSS is gearing up to offer several colors of powder coating.

 

I'll keep my eyes open on that option as well. Though I have the feeling that between shipping my saber out, getting it coated and then having it shipped back will cost way more than what I've been offered by this company.

 

If it is so expensive to powder-coat with TCSS... you could try something a bit more simplistic. Certain specific "Rustoleum" paint sprays provide pretty nice color, texture, and excellent grip. $5 + barely any effort.

Unless there is some gigantic advantage to powder-coating over hand painting/spraying. In which case--exactly, do whatever you like.

 

Simple answer? Powder coating creates a hard coat on the surface, unlike paint. The baking process causes the powder to bond with the aluminum/steel, which in turn makes it much harder to chip off if you drop it.

 

I also don't get GreytaleNovastar's joke either. I have observed his interpretation of a situation and his articulation to be way off at times also. I saw no ill intent in the way you articulated yourself Evil-Henchman. For what it's worth.

.....and back to our regular scheduled programming.

 

Seriously dude. Do you sit in the shadows waiting for an argument to start just so you can throw your two cents in and knock things back off topic?

 

With the recent derailing of this thread going on with the bickering. I thought I post something that's ON topic.

http://m.youtube.com/details?v=evb5Zl_31_g&warned=1

 

Disturbing, when things are over/finis/dealt with you always seem to bring them up again and throw in a little more negativity to get people riled up.

That discussion was over, closed, and the thread was about sabres again - JUST LEAVE IT. It wasn't even your argument.

 

Here's the desktop verson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evb5Zl_31_g

 

That makes sense, but... I've not chipped off nor "rubbed away" much of the paint I used on my sabers.

And as you know, our sabers get used most every week. Something like twice a week, for at least 5 total hours per week. I can't speak for others, but... the "Rustoleum" paints I've used seem to work pretty well, and again--I believe the rigors we put the sabers under are what most would consider "very harsh"!

 

For some reason I can never get Krylon, Rustoleum or any other brand to stick well. I always sand the metal to get grooves for the paint to adhere to, I always primer it first, and then two coats of paint, and then a sealant. Doesn't matter as even after 2 days of curing I can still just take my nail to it and scrape it off super easy. And this is on TCSS modular pieces as well as the regular aluminum I use.

I dunno what I must be doing wrong, or maybe you have extremely good luck but I'm pretty much tired of trying to get this stuff to stick.

 

My saber making "mentor" stated that black primer from a spray can works well in deep grooves and such. I tired it and he was right. It stays on pretty well. A lot better than the paints I have tried.

I have also powder coated a saber hilt. That stuff is awesome and better than the primer. It's also very thick compared to paint but that's kind of a plus as you can sand it for a duller finish.

I'm going to try anodizing next. I'm not sure how much that will cost though.

 

Well, in many cases, I'm "tiring" (sorry, I mean trying) Rustoleum's "anti-slip" aerosols. That might be the difference, although I'd have to test differing sprays to look for differing results.

For the record, I've sprayed the "anti-slip" stuff on TCSS parts/hilts, unsanded sink tubes and so forth--it stays put for the mostpart, although YES--some touch-ups are needed. But then again--like I said--I put these things through massive amounts of rigor.

 

I would think anodizing would be cheaper. After all, all they would be doing is electrifying a water based solution with what equates to food coloring in it.

I was debating that myself though. While Powder Coating looks gorgeous, anodizing will hold up to just about anything since the color actually becomes a part of the aluminum. It doesn't just sink into the pores.

 

Hi folks
It's been a while since I've been over here so I thought I'd check in and say hi. I'm all moved into the other place now and trying to get my new workshop all set up to start getting back into the swing of things since I'm no longer with TCSS. Lots of saber projects waiting...


I see folks are talking about saber finishes. Among the things I'm going to be doing is a moly/teflon coating service. This is similar to powder coating, though in my experience, it's more appropriate for items that are going to be handled a lot. Moly coating is one of the things they do for some types of Military firearms, where durability and resistance to chipping or flaking is important. Since moly/teflon coating doesn't add much to the thickness of a part, they don't have to worry about tolerances like they might with a thicker coat. I've already got the special oven. I just need the spraying cabinet and the air gun. Powder coating is a good system, don't get me wrong. I just prefer moly coating and plan on making it available for others, if they're interested.

Anyway, now that I'll have more free time available, you can expect to see me put one of my CF driver/soundboards into the Killer Penny saber. I have a couple other sabers that need finishing too, one of which will have the another CF board installed. By the way, I'm thinking of selling off a couple of my MHS sabers. Just FYI.


I'm thinking 2008 will be a great year for the saber community. There are several of us developing different saber related things, there's new technology to keep raising the bar and the consumer has (and WILL have) more and more choices. I'm looking forward to seeing what the year has in store.


Corbin

 

So you've piqued my curiosity. Can this teflon coating come in different colors?

 

Uh, not quite.

To anodize properly, it is a multi-step process and the chemicals and equipment are not cheap.

First, you need to finish your part with an appropriate finish (polished, brushed, and or blasted).
Then it needs to be degreased in a heated solution to clean and degrease the part.
Then you will need to de-oxidize the part in a second heated bath of de-oxidizer. This is to remove any traces of oxidation from the surface so the anodizing will grow. - Aluminum begins to oxidize the minute it comes in contact with air and anozing will not grow on oxidation.
After that, it will be anodized in a bath of water and acid with a constant current power source.
Then it can be dyed (usually in a heated solution).
Finally, the dye will need a sealant in a heated tank to protect the anodized film from fading over time.

As far as the color becoming part of the aluminum, that is not true either. Anodize is a microscopic porous layer of hydroxide monohydrate that is literally grown on the surface of the aluminum part. This 'honeycomb' layer is what accepts the dye and then must ultimately be sealed to fill the microscopic pores. This coating is extremely thin but suprisingly tough. While it is a tough coating, it can still be scratched and dulled if handled roughly (dropping it, throwing it, using it as a hammer, etc).

Don't be fooled by people who say it can be done in the kitchen with a few pots and pans. You will be very unhappy with the results. I have done anodizing before and I still have my kit - I just need to rebuy all the chemicals so I can set it up again after moving (the moving company would not transfer the 30 gallons of hazardous chemicals so i had to dump them before the move). Perhaps I may offer my services in the future if all goes according to plan.

 

Well. That was certainly informative. And certainly put me in my place when it comes to knowledge on that sort of stuff. I'll have to wait for Corbin to answer my question before making a final decision.

 

Well I certainly didn't mean to insult your intelligence. I looked into the 'kitchen' method when I first wanted to do some anodizing and the results were very, very poor. Spotty finish, weak coloring, some places with no anodizing at all, and just poor finish overall. I just wanted to save you the trouble of finding this out on your own dime (or many dimes). Mistakes can get expensive and I just wanted to save you the headaches. Now, I have seen some 'kitchen' anodizing that looks good, but it does not hold a candle to a properly done job with the right equipment. There's a reason why anodizers (and all platers for that matter) charge so much - they can do it right the first time (well usually).

As far as moly coating Corbin will have to answer on what colors he will offer, but I know it comes in a few colors. Mostly blacks, greys, OD green, tans/browns, off-white, and a stainless steel. Since it is primarily used on firarms, i don't think you will find bright colors.

 

Actually I'm glad you put me in my place. I had no reason to really look into how to do it myself as I had just read up very quickly on it. So you saved me from making an ass of myself in real life.

And black will be fine for right now, but I might want to do some other more vibrant colors in the future. So yeah I guess I'll just wait in my cube here at work until Corbin stops by.

 

Ah, welcome back Corbin! Glad the move went well... and cool, the coating stuff sounds great.

Ace, thanks again for the help you gave me earlier... that particular event is going to be happening in February! I'll have to send something cool your way as tribute, heheh...