Lightsaber Blade Material...

Hello everybody,
I was wondering where to look for some stunt lightsaber blades that are light and affordable. Right now I am using 1/2" (ID) PVC, and the vibration from the block or hit is terrible. I have been to the FibreTube website, and I can't find anything that even metions 1/2" x41 (36?)
inches. Websites would be helpful. Thanks,
Steven

 

bamboo. bamboo garden stakes. the best blade material you can get, and dirt cheap.

 

Um, I would actually go with carbon fiber on the "best material you can get" side, but amongst the more common blade materials, cheap stuff is generally a good idea since you're likely to break whatever you use, and will need to replace them. I personally use 1/2" aluminum tubing which you can most likely find at your local hardware store(s) for a relatively inexpensive price.

 

Neo: I have some bamboo garden stakes, and I painted them yellow and red, and they are still very hard to see in order to roto, espicially when they are moving at high speeds.
Ryan: I have Googled 'fibretube', and I can't seem to find the page on the Kilwell Website for the right sized tubes. I have thought about aluminium, and I'm just too lazy to replace them after every other shot, when they bend. Maybe I would be able to get more use out of them if I bend them back into shape, but... My current lightsaber setup is: a 1/2" PVC tube, painted bright orange with the street marking construction paint, with clear packing tape over it so that it won't chip or rub off. The PVC is inserted into one of those Hasbro flashlight sabers that I gutted, and they work great, BUT: They are very heavy and bulky to swing around. You've held the real thing right? The sabers that were used in EIII? Are those blades light? That is what I'm trying to go for: Lightweight and easy to fling around. Is aluminum like that?

 

Fiber glass rods are the best

Indestructable as far as I've been able to tell

You can cut through small trees with them

Don't ask how I know that

Cheers

 

Neo: I have some bamboo garden stakes, and I painted them yellow and red, and they are still very hard to see in order to roto, espicially when they are moving at high speeds.
Ryan: I have Googled 'fibretube', and I can't seem to find the page on the Kilwell Website for the right sized tubes. I have thought about aluminium, and I'm just too lazy to replace them after every other shot, when they bend. Maybe I would be able to get more use out of them if I bend them back into shape, but... My current lightsaber setup is: a 1/2" PVC tube, painted bright orange with the street marking construction paint, with clear packing tape over it so that it won't chip or rub off. The PVC is inserted into one of those Hasbro flashlight sabers that I gutted, and they work great, BUT: They are very heavy and bulky to swing around. You've held the real thing right? The sabers that were used in EIII? Are those blades light? That is what I'm trying to go for: Lightweight and easy to fling around. Is aluminum like that?
I'm currently machining a lightsaber out of aluminum, at a guy's machine shop who I know, and It is going great. And one more question: What is the best blade width of the prop? 3/4", or 1/2"?
Thanks for all the feedback,
Steven

 

I personally use 3/4 dowels cut to a 37 inch length sticking out of the hilt. They are durable(We only shattered 1 dowel during the shooting of Dark Prelude) and if you paint them a bright florescent color(yellow works beautifuly against anything but green screen I found out, alas ) you can track them easily. My problem with aluminum is that it bends and bamboo is to springy.

 

wrap them in tape. stripe them with different colours.

 

It may be of great financial consequence (well... MAYBE)... but you might want to try a Luxeon saber--polycarbonate + LED + hilt, etc.

Three decent reasons:

1. Polycarbonate (hollow) blade is nearly indestructible, and doesn't have overly-huge amounts of flexion.
2. Easier to rotoscope.
3. Residual "glow" left around objects from the saber (however slight, depending on lighting conditions).

Not to mention they're just freakin' SUH-VEEEET! Worth every penny. Especially when custom-made!

 

I have to agree with Neo on this one... Bamboo is the way to go, seeing as it is cheap, durable, abundant, and wont break bone, or even bruise for that matter. should you happen to be hit by it accidentally. Where as carbon fiber would... well, hurt like hell.

But it all depends on your prefernce and skill level i suppose...

 

it's also a good idea to have different materials depending on what the blade will be hitting and how. bamboo for twirling and quick hits, dowels for harder hits, broom handles or broken hockey sticks for really hard clashes, or a big metal pipe if you want to have something get smashed

another reason not to have your hero prop hollowed out for a blade. build a duplicate. like this:

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v705/neomp5/hilt10.jpg]

 

1" diameter polycarbonate can handle all of that.

Ok, minus super-fast twirling, but that all depends on the balancing, if you have "choke" points, and wrists or fingers with any skill / strength.

 

Like I said earlier, depends on your skill level really. I would use bamboo for starters, and to finish with as well, but if you feel confident enough to go at it with polycarbonate rods, its all up to you. Not to mention in terms of money and availablity, bamboo is cheap and can be gotten anywhere. If you live in a small town, like I used to live in, carbonfiber and what not aren't the easiest things to come across.

 

i have used bamboo for so long that anything else throws off my balance. the weight must be in the hilt, as close to the centre as possible, or it will look wrong. the way to do that is to have a light blade and a pommel-heavy hilt.

 

Actually, to balance a weapon, the weight should be near the "end" of the hilt, basically the pommel. In general, the weight of the length of the blade showing should be less than (but nearly equal to) the weight of the entire hilt. Balancing it near the ricasso is great, but some people prefer it a few inches higher or lower.

Luxeons tend to have a favorable "balance" due to the batteries / hardware / boards, etc. all being located in the hilt. Nothing is in the polycarbonate TUBE. It is hollow. These are unlike the MR blades (just in case those who are reading this didn't know).

 

I've used PVC for my first rotoscope attempt, but I am switching to a 2/3-inch thick wooden dowel for my second rotoscope attempt involving some fighting. It is hardened wood; it will get marks on it (I bashed some stuff to test this), but won't break easily. And if it does, it is relatively cheap to replace.

It has some flexibility, but it won?t bend as excessive as PVC. Not to mention shatter in a million pieces. But, if you want to be 100% safe, stay away from mock fighting, since you will get hurt eventually.

 

3/4 inch wooden sticks sure does the trick for me. they're cheap, and don't break SO easily. all depends on what you do, obviously. recently I've been using 1inch plastic tubes, and they function very well aswell, except that they bend very easily., and that you can't fit them in hilts.

 

I use a ski-pole that i sawed to the right length. I'm not sure what material its made from, but its hollow.
I haven't tried it in combat yet but it looks and feels pretty durable and its also very light. Also the tip goes slightly thinner than the rest of the blade...but its good for twirling really fast, because i have tried that and am now trying to re-rotoscope it

 

I've stuck with wood broomsticks for everything I've filmed, pretty much cause I can't get any decent aluminum around here for some reason.

It works well, and while they still break they will last for a while at least. You have to have been practicing and/or working out for a while though, or filming a lot of takes will wear you out quickly.


Naturally, that wasn't a problem for me.
=P

 

http://www.randomsabers.com/blades.htm

Carbon Fiber Blades at $32 a pop...not super cheap; but certainly not expensive considering its ultra high strength to weight ratio. Lucas wouldn't use it if it wasn't the best.

gallion311

 

Ryan: I have Googled 'fibretube', and I can't seem to find the page on the Kilwell Website for the right sized tubes.

Last I knew, it was kind of a special request thing you have to get in contact with them about. They were even reluctant about it if you actually mentioned you were after what they made for LFL. But, like was just posted, you can get them from a reseller now, if you really want them.


I have thought about aluminium, and I'm just too lazy to replace them after every other shot, when they bend. Maybe I would be able to get more use out of them if I bend them back into shape, but...

Yep. That's what I do. Bend them back, you can get a lot of use out of them before you have to replace them. And when you do, it's like 6 bucks, so shouldn't be a big deal, as long as the actual process of replacing them in your saber isn't too difficult or time consuming.


You've held the real thing right? The sabers that were used in EIII?

Yes.

Are those blades light?

Yes.

That is what I'm trying to go for: Lightweight and easy to fling around. Is aluminum like that?

It's the next best thing to carbon fiber, as far as I've found, considering prices. We used 1/2" aluminum tubing on RvB.

I'm currently machining a lightsaber out of aluminum, at a guy's machine shop who I know, and It is going great. And one more question: What is the best blade width of the prop? 3/4", or 1/2"?

3/4" is the diameter sabers should "look like" when rotoscoped, but generally most people (including LFL) have found 1/2" to be more ideal for weight reasons. Then just roto it on fatter.


Actually, to balance a weapon, the weight should be near the "end" of the hilt, basically the pommel. In general, the weight of the length of the blade showing should be less than (but nearly equal to) the weight of the entire hilt. Balancing it near the ricasso is great, but some people prefer it a few inches higher or lower.

The ricasso is a good goal in terms of balance point. The Ep3 stunt sabers were mostly balanced about there. If you know how light the carbon fiber tubing is, it gives you an indication of the weight of the handle. Most of my sabershop sabers also end up having a balance point about there. I have made one stunt saber, though, which is kind of a prototype, where the handle weighs less than the blade, putting the balance point actually a few inches up the blade from the handle. Personally, I like it just fine (in fact I like it more) and it doesn't look strange on film or anything. I think that comes down to your performer more than anything.

 

Agreed.

I noticed with my actors, some prefer to hold their Luxeon sabers in a completely different place than do I... and that is fine as long as it works for them. There is something to be said for holding a "lever" more effectively or less effectively, but as long as the results get the goals accomplished I say they can hold it between their TOES if they so choose!

 

What length blade are you using as standard? I've heard a few different versions.

 

If you're representing a lightsaber, then the light itself would be weightless; only the handle would have mass. So personally I would go with the carbon fiber.