Saber Forum

Due to recent black lightsaber blade threads popping up repeatedly in the past. I've taken the liberty to create the ONE AND ONLY BLACK LIGHTSABER THREAD. All discussion about the creation of a black lightsaber blade should and only be discussed here. Any other new black lightsaber blade threads that pop up will be merged with this one and the original poster will receive this sad face in a pm. :'(  I repeat don't make any more black lightsaber blade threads, this shall be the ONLY ONE.

- Here's a link to all the past black lightsaber blade threads that I have found. The topic is locked and they are now merged. Look to them for inspiration... ;)
http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=745.0 (http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=745.0)

- Known examples of people who actually made or attempted some type of a black lightsaber blade from around the internet are shown below. Any new discoveries or attempts will be added as they come up.  
(http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x40/cryotek1/006-Copy.jpg)(http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x40/cryotek1/003.jpg)  (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x40/cryotek1/001-Copy.jpg) (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x40/cryotek1/001-1.jpg) (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x40/cryotek1/006-Copy2.jpg) (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x40/cryotek1/009.jpg) (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x40/cryotek1/005-Copy3.jpg)
 (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x40/cryotek1/black2.jpg) (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x40/cryotek1/black.jpg)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPqGZHLIeuI# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPqGZHLIeuI#)  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjFZ8-dJmdA# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjFZ8-dJmdA#)

So go on and discuss a way.

thank you so much for merging all the black light saber posts into one. honestly wish they just go away but......there seems to people who actually want to see this thig become reality "impossible" but this is a good enough mimic to the effect. 

wow, from the right angle those look perfect as we can get.

I can honestly say I really dislike Blacksabers in games but the purple one does look really good.

I think after I'm done with my first custom saber, I may buy a spare blade and do that just to see how it turns out. Would have to do silver or blue on the color.

Thinking the key to it would be inserting a tube into the center of the blade with a glossy black coating, this way a majority of the light would go up the white walls of the blade, and some would reflect off of the glossy coating. The video looks decent but only works at certain angles and that defeats the purpose.

I want UltraSabers to make a black blade sooooo badly

I for one do not want this. Ceasar says no....

This I would buy.
THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!!

I personally would love to have a black blade.  I know it is impossible but It would be awesome. 

I would buy this in a heart beat

Going to attempt this in the near future

I think the idea of a black blade is . . . okay, but I don't know if I would buy one. Ignoring the fact that it is, physically, impossible, I think having a black blade defeats the purpose of a LIGHTsaber. Just my two cents.

Lately I've wondered about a saber with a blacklight effect. Sort of a DVA or indigo that makes things glow. No idea how to do this though, short of rigging a blacklight fluorescent tube to a saber handle. No way in heck you could duel or spin it though...

They make LEDs in UV. You'd probably have to custom order the LED itself, and (as someone else pointed out) utilize a 4-LED base with regular color to get the full lighting effect. My guess is that you would need 1 or 2 UV LED dies on the same base as a royal blue die and a deep red die, in order to get the bright color AND have the blacklight capability.

I did not know they made UV LEDs, that is DEFINITELY getting earmarked for a future project.

This is not what i ment in my thred about blacklight blades..i ment a blacklight led for blade color
making it a deep purple with no visible light other than what is reflected off of fluorescents or the color white.
i dont want a black core blade.

That's what a UV LED is, an LED with the blacklight effect. Adding blue and red would enhance the purple color and make it brighter but are not necessary.

I would buy a black blade in a heartbeat. Wouldn't putting a smaller completly black tube inside the blade give it the same effect so that the light travels between the blade and the tube?

You could always use a tube of window tinting. Just make sure there's room for the light to show.

sry, but i must disagree...... a ultraviolet led would not be red and blue, i know what he means.. i suggested such an idea in a tread a week ago... to get a DEEPER hue then that the red and blue make... but still keeping its "intensity.... again he does not mean the violet amethyst.. but ultraviolet like a black-light in a fish tank, or in a night club....

 i just goggled this site looking for ultraviolet led... looks like a match to the ones in US sabers... but i could not find a good picture of any models like this.. so it might be a hit or miss, buy one led in the proper format.. check the US leds and their run stats, then order one from that site, then modify your saber with the new led inside and give it a go.. only way to know
http://th-led.en.alibaba.com/product/610539572-214075392/260nm_UVC_Deep_Ultraviolet_Led.html (http://th-led.en.alibaba.com/product/610539572-214075392/260nm_UVC_Deep_Ultraviolet_Led.html)

That's for an air/water purifier! Whatever color is produced, it's not safe for the eyes! Looks like it would fit perfectly though, and the max voltage is 7-8.5v... the buck puck would like that. Gah, no! This one isn't safe.

The leader of my local saber group is trying to put a UV LED in his saber, and is having to put a 10W LED in it just to get it bright enough to be visible in the blade. Not sure how it's turning out so far.

I'm sure it will be a nice radiant dark purple with an aura of purple around it, but I hope it's safe for the eyes! UVC is not safe to look at! He needs a UVA LED for that to work, but I'm sure they exist. The one in the link above was UVC though, so I'd have my reservations about using any of the LEDs on that site. My friend has one on his fish pond filter to kill algae, and it's shrouded to keep people from seeing it.

I have a fluorescent tube black light, and it's not horribly bright to look at, but if your leader pulls it off, everything around him might start glowing. That would definitely be a cool effect!

But again, please be careful with the type of UV you use... it has to be UVA to be safe. UVB causes cancer and so I'm not sure if those are available commercially, and UVC will damage eyesight.

i didnt exactly look for long when i googled UV led... this will be figured out soon enough im sure..

That first youtube video actually does emulate what a real black lightsaber would look like as it is an arc of plasma and not a beam of plasma. 

it only emulates the black blade.. from one point of view.. if imma have a "black blade with another color on the outside.... i would want to use it and be able t see the black and color from any direction i look at it...

 this method is good.. but only for a display

a good idea yes.. in the right direction... but not perfection..

as for the link i found for a UV LED... again i didnt know what the voltage/power settings for the US LEDs ... thus, i was at least in the right direction.. lol

What I mean is that a real life, fully functional, black lightsaber would do exactly what that one does because of the nature of arcing plasma throu a magnetic field vs projecting a beam of plasma.  As far as the actual physics are concerned, this is what you'd get becase plasma arcs from positive to negative.  I was just pointing that out is all.

@Nahal... no offense meant at all.. just stating my opinion on the ideal look as in the games..  sry if i came off as rude or "forcefull" in my statement of the blade and such.. ^.^ no harm ... carry on

OK - I was catching up on my 'STAR WARS Clone Wars" episodes and I saw a black blade (with white outline) saber used.  It took the form of a traditional blade.

While an interesting technical idea and a fun 'thought experiment', it just doesn't appeal to me as much of light sabers with, umm, well, light.

None the less - carry on the 'thought experiment' - you never know what might come of it.

Idea!

Ok I have an idea and may test this soon, but. How about a Heavy Grade Blade (To give more light along the length)
 and spray paining the whole inside black?

Has anyone tried this method and combination?

how would the light get through the black paint?  It won't travel up through the walls of the blade.  Not to criticize, just to develop the idea.

Why cant it go through the blade walls?

It's the same reason that some colors don't light up the whole length of the blade: Light is dimmed and travels much slower through the blade walls.  If the inside were entirely covered in black paint, it wouldn't go through that; even if light from the LED got into the blade walls themselves, it would only illuminate the first few inches before it faded.  If there were some material that could carry the light through to the end, I think it might work though... it's a good idea.

Would ultra edge do that?

Nah, Ultraedge would actually be worse because it's a more opaque polycarbonate.  The blade itself looks brighter because of the whiteness, but less light actually comes out.

Hmm. Need to think more on that then.

Also notice Ulra Edge is now default on every saber order.
No longer costing more on a new saber.
Maybe they have too much Ultra Edge!

This might sound like a very stupid idea, but couldn't you pour black paint into a blade without a tip, let it soak on the film for a while, so it can dry, and the pour some form of clear epoxy to seal it, put the tip on, and glue on a piece of clear plastic on the end where the blade goes into the light saber?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSYw5UywHPU#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSYw5UywHPU#ws)
Hahahahahahahahaaaaaa! ha

Please excuse my complete stupidity for not reading before I post. I did not realize someone had the same idea as me, earlier.. again, I apologize.

LOL Cooper, that was awesome.

I was worried you guys might ban me for those antics  ;)

Naahh, we wouldn't do that. Besides the video was just a clever joke, no real advertisement was done.  :D

What I'm really interested in seeing is a Sentinel Yellow color made by Ultrasabers... No rush though.

I have a question, though: How do I edit my signature?

They have one already. http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=4475.0 (http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=4475.0)

i have a theory i have been running through my mind for weeks now, months even since i first saw this thread..., peps wanna see the effect from the game on pc "ToR"  and i might possibly be close to something... , no paint involved, no gimmicks... ... i wont go into details till i can make a video...and test my theory, but i do think it can be achieved... well back to work on it lol

a side note.. my theory is to allow glowing color on the outside, but still see a center darker from any direction you look at the saber..

again, this is purely for those that want a non star wars themed saber ...... nothing more nothing less... i like a challenge is all..

Darth Cooper, you are awesome.

what if you lined the inside of the blade with something like black construction paper? then the center would be black and the tubing around it would be illuminated.  It would probably work best with a mid-grade blade from ultrasabers. it wouldn't be the best quality but it might work...

I thought it would be interesting to take a black pipe cleaner and guide it down the blade and basically twist them together to be narrow enough to fit and then put that on a VA or BR setup so that it is black in the middle and brightly lit on the outside

I think US should make a black blade .It would be AWESOME!I would get one. 8)

The 3 pics on the top look pretty good, I would try those.

and yet noone has done what i have done haha, get car tint, (i used 5%) cut to size, roll it up so it overlaps just a bit, and slide it in the blade, inside looks black, outside is lit up, i dont have any pics right now as i made the blade for my workmates son cause he likes swtor and wanted a black core, but will post a pic when i do it again sometime

How long of a piece of tint did you use? This sounds awesome and I can't wait to see some pics of this. If it looks as good as it sounds I may have a couple of blades to sacrifice and try this.

Maybe someone had this idea already, and trust me I know that black means the absence of light being emitted or reflected, but we are looking for the effect of a blackish blade with white highlights.  I was at a restaurant the other day and was looking at their daily specials on a board that only illuminated markers on it surface. I have a small, bright white LED flashlight and I put a US blade plug over the "emitter" with the metal disk closer to the light source. It actually worked. The blade isn't black but there was no light from the center. The only light was from the end edge of the blade plug and from scratches on the sides of the plug. This effect will only work in a dark room but it looks pretty cool.  I wonder if a full sized blade, with all of the film taken out of the center, and with some lightning style designs scratched in the sides of the blade will show up along the entire length of the blade? I also think the metal disk blocking the center light also contributed to the effect as did the fact that there are 7 or so LEDs on the flashlight giving more light on the outer edges of the blade.

Hahahahaha! Here is a test run that a friend has been working on Yes this is real done with different wraps, it is a protoype and not perfect as yet ;)


(http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag29/RSMaxwell1971/th_20130829_225011_zpsea9360f8.jpg) (http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag29/RSMaxwell1971/20130829_225011_zpsea9360f8.mp4)

And then man made progress, and the world became civilized.....

This is now becoming know as the "Turgon Effect" he is working on different types and at some point a production model

Cool to see! Thanks for sharing, DC! I saw part of this over on the IRA but I really only looked at the short blade lit test photos. Definitely a cool looking effect, and I hate to admit it but it would be cool to have one just for the novelty. Which is bad, because if I ever DID have one of those blades, it's almost a given I'd have to add a Pre Vizla to my collection... and I don't even really like that hilt much. rofl

this may be extremely stupid, and not possible, but what about putting a black pole inside the poly c, and have the light shining around the pole, not through it, so its lighting the poly c, but not the black pole?

This is exactly what i was going to try.

:D awesome, please tell us how it goes

So, I think I'm on to something… I have a Solid 1" dia. Acrylic rod that is 36" long. Basically a solid clear blade. It carries the light all the way to the end and actually disperses the light very well. On camera the blade looks identical to the Ultraedge but the surroundings (walls and such) are lit up even more. I'll keep you updated on the progress of converting it to a "black" blade.

I was actually looking at attempting a black core blade for my Sith Acolyte costume.  My idea was to use a thick red polyc blade as a base.  Scuff the inside and outside of the tube a little (so it doesn't need the insert), and fix a 1/4" dowel to slide down inside the blade and fit perfectly in the center.  The back of the dowel will have a reflective cone to distribute the light around better without absorbing it into the black.

This will give a black core inside of the red polyc blade.  When you activate it, the red will glow and the black will still be visible in the center of the blade.

Oh, and scuff the bullet tip, paint it with a transparent red, and remove the edges of the round mirror disk in the shape of a hexagon.

If you take the plastic out of a ultraedge blade and put it back in(try to be as neat as possible) it makes the saber look a little shadowy on the inside almost grey/black, i think this is caused by the light going around both sides of the plastic, might be worth a try if you have a ultraedge blade to mess around with. I like the way it looks but it doesnt show up well on camera.

dont give up on this, I'm will do some experimenting as well. Keep posting pics and vids of your results, sooner or later somone will stumble upon the illustrious black blade.

instructional video? i want to know what to paint and how to do this i think it has a cool look although i would prefer the traditional blade having a black novelty blade would be nice to show

Oh wow - A black saber would be amazing.  WANT.

Set your color to R:0, G:0, B:0 and your to W:0. Do not overcharge a lightsaber.

Has anyone thaught about taking the film and tip out of a standard blade and just poring some black paint down the tube then replacing the tip. That way you will have a black core with an illumated edge? I've seen a youtube vid where some one did this with moderate results.

Set your W: to 0.

Why not try using a UV filter film instead of the regular reflector film? Then, using a white LED, it should work like a blacklight wand.

Not sure why anyone would want a black saber.

The exact definition for insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results...just saying.

I have an old 24" Ultrasabers blade, Tomorrow I will spray paint the white thing inside in black, and leave the translucid thing . Pics tomorrow !

.

Sorry I was supposed to post pics, Unfortunately there were some troubles with my packages, So I might have to send it back to US, I painted my old blade but I can't use it , because I directly put my sabers in a box ready to ship it back, waiting for US answer to my mail tomorrow ! :) Pics as soon as I get new sabers ! :)

Ok; I have to admit that when I first heard of the Black Lightsaber; I thought Black Light Lightsaber. Not a Black core Lightsaber. Although I think the Black core Lightsaber looks kind of cool, I don't like it.

Now, a Black Light Lightsaber on the other hand; I think would be the coolest nonstandard Saber color. I would so buy that if it were available.

Or, if an LED set that included UV LED's would work for me as well. I am intrigued by the possibilities of maybe a Consular green blade that makes some of the materials around it glow brightly or a sentinel orange blade that does the same thing. In theory it should work, but reality and theory are two completely different animals.

Personally I think that the LED route for a Black Light Lightsaber is the more realistic way to go.

Just imagine taking your initiate Black Light Lightsaber to your local rave and have some fun performing.

I am with you on that not a big fan of the black core even though it looks kinda cool just doesnt suit me.  However an all black lightsaber blade to me would be alot cooler it would be in essence a shadowsaber and not lightsaber, since it would be the abscence of light.

I personally am a big fan of the black core, but I also think an all black blade would be really cool.

What if you could make a carbonfiber blade, the light would seep out of the seams, almost like the darksaber Pre Vizsla uses

Not sure if anyone mentioned this before but they make a spray "paint" which is a translucent black color, almost like tinting your windows on your car.  It's available at automotive shops and the big home improvement places.  This could be applied to the outside of a standard mid grade blade, using as many coats as you wanted to (would get darker and more dim with each coat, I would think) to get the desired look.  Use a high-powered white LED and you would at least achieve a grey color, I would think.  Probably wouldn't look so much like the darksaber from Clone Wars, but might be a fun experiment to try out, especially if you do cosplay and have a grey Jedi type character.

this sounds like a good idea... I was thinking along the same lines... and maybe sanding or eching the blade with effects and then clear coating it...

The only problem with using translucent paint on a blade is that the natural color under the blade will still come through.  Think of it like tinting car headlights and taillights.  They look cool but it ruins the visibly of the light.  Also another problem persist,  spraying the blade and keeping the color even would be hard being it's a round small diameter surface,  the paint would have a problem being even the whole way down the blade.  And the last problem is if you paint a bade inside or outside you cannot ever duel with it first few hits and then the paint is flaking off so it's not a good idea to use paint.  I know this because I paint cars from time to time and I tend to customize them also.  I just figured I would give some advise on this

\

IS there a way to take away points?   Hahah, just kidding. You are, of course, entitled to that opinion. I, for one would love to see this,  but meh.

As far as i was aware.. the Darksaber wasn't a lightsaber at all.. it was a vibroblade right?

#just sayin'..

Adz

Ok so let's assume you want to make a Pre Visla style "flat" blade gas opposed toa regular lightsaber blade with a black core)

Here's how I think you could do it

1.) Take a sheet of acrylic or clear polyurethane, and cut out a basic shape with a belt saw or table saw. Be sure to include a shank for fitting it into the hilt

2.) sand the ever loving bejeezus out of the edges, so that light coming out is nice and diffuse but not irregular

3.) lay down some aluminum tape on each of the flat sides, both to block light coming out that way, and reflect it back into the blade. Make sure there's no air bubbles or creases

4.) paint the sides with a flat black paint

5.) sand off the paint again along the edges, and maybe use an exacto knife to cut thru the aluminum tape to remove the black and get some nice sharp white crackles

6.) flat clear coat to seal

The end result should look pretty close to this

(http://i.stack.imgur.com/RZluU.jpg)

Awesome, I need one of those!

Haha, put me down for one too! It is a cool idea honestly, but don't think it'd be possible to get it good enough to satisfy perfectionists.

errr... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-pcs-Black-Acrylic-Rod-Solid-Perspex-Round-Bar-Diameter-6-8-10-20-to-50mm-B5KB-/171653445612?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=470628627691&hash=item27f757b7ec (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-pcs-Black-Acrylic-Rod-Solid-Perspex-Round-Bar-Diameter-6-8-10-20-to-50mm-B5KB-/171653445612?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=470628627691&hash=item27f757b7ec)

would be pretty heavy though is all..

That would not do what you think it would do. It would just block the light, not made a black blade saber.

Those black lightsabers look amazing; but until I can get my hands on one, I'll have to stick with my current model!

(http://media1000.dropshots.com/photos/1254638/20150315/r90_b_163618.jpg)

Couple of thoughts come to mind; get some uv activated translucent material to wrap around the outside of the blade (I have no idea where you'd get this) and use a UV LED
In terms of the various painting tricks:
Get a heavy grade non-ultraedge blade. Pop the tip off. Mask the edge and about 1/4-1/2 inch at the top. Place it in the hilt you want to use and mark how deep it sits, mask the edge and inside to a little below that spot.
Now here's where experimenting comes in. My first idea: paint the inside with glossy black, wait for it to dry, then paint it over in metallic silver on the inside.
Second idea: just use the metallic silver inside.

The heavy grade blade should carry more light in the blade itself. The reason for masking off the ends is to give more light gathering surface on the inside. Once the tip is replaced it will help put more light back into the blade. The silver interior is simple: Black absorbs light and re-radiates it as infra-red, which is why it's black. Silver or a very glossy white will function as a reflector, meaning some light will get back down into the areas where the transparent parts of the blade are exposed. It wouldn't look like one of those black-outlined in color sabers, but it would tend to be darker towards the core of what you were looking at I think.
Otoh it might just look like garbage.

True "Black" is void of light.  The best you can get is a black core with a chosen "glow" srrounding it.  What you see in movies is make-believe.  The reality is, if black were to "illuminate" it would not be "black". Dark blues, purples would be the closest to "black" but, the glow would be minimized as the darker the hue, the less illuminance it will create.  "Black Lights" are not truly "black".  That's why when it's dark and there is no ambiant light, it's dark. Further "black" is not a reflector of light, it is an absorber.   A "glowing black" blade is, in itself, an oxymoron.

Nope, it's a lightsaber stolen by an ancestor of Pre Vizsla (the bounty hunter in the SWTOR Mini-film about the Sacking of Coruscant).
By the way, have I mentioned how much I hate the design and name?  It's stupidly cool looking and should have been a vibroblade, not a lightsaber.

for a dueling blade you have a whit LED and remove the film inside the blade lightly paint it black for a show blade make the blade and paint one side black with a white LED
(http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/ii635/forceflaw/IMG_4190_zpsdf336ce2.jpg) (http://s1263.photobucket.com/user/forceflaw/media/IMG_4190_zpsdf336ce2.jpg.html)

That actually looks pretty cool, but dangerous to duel with!   :o

but looks pretty much spot on

if you made it with a more rounded point and avoided thrusts then it could be used for dualing

You absolutely could not use that for dueling, it's made of solid acrylic.

ah, never mind then

     I am trying to recreate a more faithful darksaber (aka vibroblade) than the other pics on the net... It had a flat blade (difference #1) that was solid black (#2) that drew in light around it, creating an electric glow around it (#3).
     I'm thinking if i take a regular white blade and gently heat it til i can shape it, and form it into a more blade like shape, rather than the standard tube, but being careful to keep it hollow and the base round to fit a reg emitter, then cover it with an ultra reflective black paint, or maybe a base layer mirror reflective window tint then an ultra-dark black tint, scratch places on the exterior for the color to shine through like electricity, and leave the blade edge and corners of the back clean of paint for the same reason... it should look pretty close... thoughts? or suggestions?

I am not going for a faithful reproduction of the hilt, that i am making my own. And it will combine some of the parts in an unusual way, but still look like a saber. I am still debating on solid black or let it have some metallic elements...

Blame Lucas for that.

I'm not 100% positive that this is the appropriate place to post this topic, but this is the best place I can find. If I'm wrong, please let me know and I'll either post in another thread or start my own.

I've been hoping to make an blacklight or an ultraviolet blade. It would have a very neat effect on people wearing white clothing. I was thinking of ordering a simple saber with the Tri Cree LEDs, taking them LEDs out and replacing them with ultraviolet LEDs. It would probably be too dim though, so I would replace the other two LEDs with violet LEDs. Do you guys think this is possible/practical?

You might be better off just opting for a Cree Royal Blue LED, seeing as it's already got some UV in its output. I've an MR Anakin I converted with a Royal Blue Cree, and it's fun seeing orange nerf darts kinda glow in the dark when exposed to the blade.

I have seen one the "other guys" offer a dark saber blade, it also states non combat and would pretty much shatter on impact.

based off the cartoon it is an ineresting concept.

Not exactly a black blade, I call it the Dark Matter blade, named after the weapons of the Dark Eldar from WH40K,  but the method I used here may in fact yeild a black blade if I modified my technique here.


Lights on:
 (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/11/7a7ac91670c7f24c28a8ed8b2048cce8.jpg)

Lights off:
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/11/7a0a462793c35982b28895ad1b46696e.jpg)

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

That style certainly has a lot of potential to come out decently well. Having "cracks" in the black to allow the light to seep through that are fairly random and cover the entire blade as you have done seem to be the best way to get a darksaber effect.

Have a point for your efforts!

i was just thinking. what if you put a smaller black tube in the center of the poly-carbonate blade. in theory the light should travel up the blade through the normal diffusing material but be blocked in the center by the dark core.  What do you think? 

Best case scenario, you get a blade that fully lights up for the first two inches and then dims significantly. Worst case the blade doesn't light up at all. Either way, no black core since it's the diffuser that's lighting up.

Anyone posted anything about "Ripper Blades"?  Check them out on Facebook. They're acrylic though but they get a cool effect.
(No I don't own one sadly)

Edit: By no means am I trying to advertise a product here. It just seemed to fit in with the topic and other posts seemed similar. Just something cool to look at.
(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160130/a0f4d5f79d09a71c4a13862b913309eb.jpg)
(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160130/80ab2ceedbf824dfce5180f0b3e89aec.jpg)

Hmmm, that looks.........dangerous! :P

but awsome

How would someone go about doing this to a standard US blade?

The polarized film approach seems to give the correct effect, but I suppose it is expensive and maybe time consuming to apply to a full length US blade

I was honestly going to go the "poor man's" route and taping off sections of the blade for the lightening effect and paint the blade black with a rattle can. I might test this on a grab bag blade and see how it works.

Could you post a link so I can see what you're talking about? I'm really interested in doing this so I would really like to see a working model of the darksaber.

This effect: http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=27755.msg416870#msg416870

thanks! that really helped. that info on the quote is not very accurate. with a little searching I found a site that sells nothing but polarizing film. its a little pricey (45 dollar minimum for enough to cover a blade) but doable.

Remember that you need two layers to cover a blade, and so far, the only film confirmed to work has 0.05% crossed polarization transferal. If the film you found has a higher percentage, it may not work.

the crosshatched percentage is around 0.005% and I had an idea. what If instead of putting the film on the outside of the blade, you remove the reflective film from the inside of the blade, put the polarized film inside the blade, and replace the film. seems like this would increase the size of the black core, and also protect the film while sparring, if you wanted to spar with a dark blade. Idk if this would work, but...

must have!!!

the blacksaber was good enough for the Mandalorians, its good enough for me.

Supposedly an old flatscreen monitor or tv screen has polarised film in it, cannibalising one of those might work

Has anyone tried the clear outer tube with a black inner tube with any result? It's an idea I keep hearing, but never seeing.

Blacklight lightsaber, if you're interested. Yes, it's a clear polycarbonate blade and film with a 395 nanometer lightsource in the base. (http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g355/Obese1Kenobese/Star%20Wars/ffbb%20018_zpsenypgfkz.jpg) (http://s1097.photobucket.com/user/Obese1Kenobese/media/Star%20Wars/ffbb%20018_zpsenypgfkz.jpg.html)

That's a nice color.

Don't know what side effects you'd get from that.

This is a 5/8" diameter clear polycarbonate tube painted silver, then black, then scratched with lightning patterns, wrapped in a thin layer of film and placed inside a 1" diameter polycarbonate tube.

Maybe it's more of an electroblade than a black lightsaber, but it's an experiment.

http://youtu.be/BwhpfzuwOwE

I painted the 5/8" tube silver first, so the black paint won't absorb the light before it reaches the length of the inside tube. I placed film inside the 5/8" tube as well. The thin layer of film between the tubes is just to prevent the paint scratching and making a mess.

The camera is making the base light look brighter than to the naked eye. It gives only a little light appearance on the edge. The light on the outside tube goes up about 8 inches, so I plan to eventually etch a lightning pattern on the outside of the 1" tube with a soldering tool to add dimension to the lightning.

And the 395nm black light shouldn't have harmful side effects. The energy is just enough to get neon things to react like a blacklight, but it's not going to be harmful like the UV-B and UV-C sources I've heard of people using. Polycarbonate is supposed to filter UV-B and C of 380 nanometers and shorter. So, it would take long term concentrated exposure for this to do harm. It is still technically UV-A. It's just barely higher energy than visible violet.

I have a Han Solo Nerf blaster that is blue and orange which reacts to the blacklight. My cameras are not picking it up though. The range from the saber is not far. So, it's really just an alternative purple saber.

Another attempt to link the same black core video.

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

I made a black light... Light saber about 6 months ago... I don't have access to photos right now. It looked good, but wasn't as bright as yours... How did you get it so bright?

I cheated. I bought a blacklight flashlight that is narrow enough to fit inside a saber. Runs on one 3.7 volt battery. eBay. Mastiff brand. I had planned to wire the parts in only if it looked right. I looked for the 495nm. 465nm will do better as a blacklight source, but I'd guess much of the frequencies will be filtered by the polycarbonate, so the energy is wasted on frequencies we can't see until they react on other objects. Also, the camera may have adjusted to the bright level. In person, it's a bit of a deeper purple. And not as bright as my VA saber. I wish I had a DVA to compare. It also gets pretty hot quick. Reworking it will likely be beyond me. But this helped me know what it would do.

When I get my saber atthe end of the year would you mind making one fore me? I can shoot you a pm disscussing the details.

Oops. 395nm, not 495 as I mentioned above.

Forgive my ignorance (and forgive me if I'm reopening a topic some would rather not discuss ::)), but how do you create a blade like in the pics posted at the very beginning of this discussion?



Thanks,
Iram

IIRC one way was to glue several strips of black tape inside the blade leaving only two gaps on opposite sides
-> that way you can mirror the Force Unleashed effect on photos, at least if you always rotate the blade till it is 'aligned correctly' with the photographer...

Thanks Grey! +1

I think if we want to get into a technical discussion of a black lightsaber, we'd have to accept the fact that it would not glow. As a matter of fact, it should do the opposite - it should be taking light away from the person holding it/the sabers surroundings.

It would be an awesome way to visualize it. Picture a room that is moderately lit so that you can still see everything, and two Jedi dueling - one with a regular blue saber and one with a black saber. The black saber should be absorbing all the light while the blue saber should be projecting lots of light. When they clash together, you should see the black saber almost vacuuming the blue light from the blue saber.

With that being said, black sabers should in theory be completely un-seeable in the dark - making it more menacing if it were a real color saber.

Thoughts, guys?

This is about replicating the look seen in games and series before. I don't know of black matter sabers or black hole sabers to vacuum light. How the black appearance is made, I don't know of specific reference. We're trying to make the appearance similar to past examples.

Ahh yesss. My apologies for not fully reading through the whole thread. The coffee hit me hard lol...

Well since the darksaber gives of a white light at the edges while seemingly being like a nothingness at the center(or however Filoni described it) , maybe that vantablack stuff could get the closest effect since it apparently leaves the thing coated in it looking like it's a hole in reality. Too bad it's not available for the public.

This probably won't work, but just throwing the idea out there. Why not take a regular polycarbonate blade and put a black polycarbonate tube inside of it that is the right thickness to leave a little space in between the inner diameter of the regular blade and the outer diameter of the black insert. Wouldn't the light go around it/ be blocked in the center just like when you stick your hand in front of a projector or light and make a shadow puppet?

The LEDs make light from the center traveling in a slim cone form toward the walls of the blade, so a black tube blocks too much of the light. I already did it. I etched lightning patterns in, so at least the light goes to the end, and with a tri cree the light is as full as I could get. It still only went so far into the outer blade noticeably. It kinda makes the outer halo, but not full length.

Linked it earlier.

Just on a lark I tried coloring my blade with a black magic marker, and it actually looked kinda cool. I'm thinking paints might not be the way to go, but has anyone tried dyes/stains on the outside of the blade? I think that might actually produce some results. Maybe adding black dye to the sort of clear resin coating some people use to create unstable blade looks?

Here's a tutorial I made on a cheap way to achieve this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9N40vzwlso&t=71s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9N40vzwlso&t=71s)

only flaw I see is mentioning "the other guys"

Sorry about that. I was refering to lightsabers in general needed for the project. I choose Ultrasabers for durability over artistic quality.

*looks suspicious*
Hmmmm.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViHsk-qKY6I&feature=youtu.be

I kinda did a black saber blade. Paint and lots of scratching.

I know how I am going to do it, first step save up $110 bucks, second step google the word that is synonymous with the gem created by an oyster along with the word synonymous with a tool that is used to break or tear something.  Voila!

Thinking about this for a while since he first posted.
Is there a black transparent film that reacts to uv lights that would glow giving that effect?
In high school when I was in drama we had films to go over projector lights to go with the scene we had on stage.
Since the LED is bright enough to illuminate uv active objects this could be something to try?

I have no idea where to get the film though

not a bad idea to try. might want to try a local drama teacher. they could have a list of resources.
speaking of...I need to check one of my sources for "more stuff"  ;D

I really liked the look of the cross-polarized blade, but the problems there seem to be materials (finding variable length film with the polarization axis parallel to the length (as I can find it parallel to the width)).

Though I had a thought, and perhaps someone out there might know something. Is there a process by which polycarbonate can be directly treated so as to create a linear polarizer? Treating the outside of the blade with this process (with the axis of polarization parallel to the length of the blade) while having the polarizing film inside (with it's axis parallel to the width) would make for a fairly combat capable (depending on the durability of the polarizing coating, of course) black-core saber.

film on the inside would be best going with TCSS blade w/o the film option. would make easier for modification.

While this is a broader topic, and requires a looser leash, tx_tuff is correct. 

Posts have been removed.

Mine is on order, will post pics of it on my azure menace when it arrives.

Excuse the double post but had to put up or shut up after 5 months of talk, here is my Azure Menace with black blade:

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/803/26076448347_fb93eb0041_z.jpg)

"I claim this sword and my rightful place as leader of Death Watch."

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/806/40948942681_cc0d9e74f3_z.jpg)

Interesting indeed. I think id prefer the regular look my self. But i still think its cool. Im sure theres a market for these.

there is. that particular company just makes blades. then there's that one saber company that copied the design and said it was their "creation"

Where did you get this blade from?

We can't mention other competitors name on the forum. Do some Google searching.

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Cool, thanks


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The thing you want is called a gel. Search for "Lighting Gels" and you'll find them. Often, they come in sheets that you can cut down to size, but I'm not sure if you can find any long enough to cover the entire blade in one piece. The bad thing is that they absorb light, and as a result of that, can get warm and eventually fade unevenly.