Sarich Belmont
Knight Commander
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Posts: 599
I am legend.
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« on: August 14, 2011, 12:04:51 AM » |
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Odd question I know, but it's one I was curious about. Now don't get me wrong, I love my lightsaber but the tip looks a bit strange on camera and (to me anyway) kinda ruins the effect. I'm asking this now while I save up my money to purchase my new sabers so when I do order them, I'll know if I can get them without the mirror tip. Thank you kindly.
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"I don't aim to be like you, Master, not at all. I aim to be better." Jacen Sarich, then-Padawan. (From my old Star Wars D20 days.)
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Danakar Endeel
Knight Officer
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It's all fun and games until someone loses an arm
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« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2011, 12:09:56 AM » |
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Mirror tip? I always thought they were simple semi-transparant pvc 'plugs'. There's actually a reflective surface inside of them?  Just theorycrafting here, but if the tip actually does function like a mirror, I guess it's to reflect the light back to its origin, which assists in giving the blade its bright color. So without it, the color would just go along the blade once and would start to function like a flashlight instead of keeping the light contained within the blade. |
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Master Artorius Vidnyl
Resident Master
Forum Elder
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Suns of the Force
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« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2011, 12:15:44 AM » |
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Danakar Endeel is correct. The purpose of the mirror is two fold. First to keep you from blinding anyone you point the blade at and also to use as much of the light from the LED as possible to keep the blades extra bright.
MAV
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ThreadJack
Lady of the Order Aeon
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« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2011, 12:18:55 AM » |
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Darn you safety precautions! XD
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DirtyJersey
Knight Lt. Commander
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« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2011, 03:10:10 AM » |
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The mirrored tip makes it so the color is more full at the end of the saber blade. Without it, the light just kind of fades, especially on longer blades.
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Sarich Belmont
Knight Commander
Force Alignment: 54
Posts: 599
I am legend.
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« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2011, 03:39:01 AM » |
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Good points. The main reason I had asked was because I watched a few (well, a lot) of Novastar's videos and noticed his didn't have the mirror tips and they were deliciously bright. Regardless, I'm still going to order my lightsabers once the money is raised  . |
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"I don't aim to be like you, Master, not at all. I aim to be better." Jacen Sarich, then-Padawan. (From my old Star Wars D20 days.)
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GreyGuardian
Knight Lance Corporal
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« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2011, 06:01:11 PM » |
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I plan on doing some experiments with tips. Basically I want to poke pinholes in the mirror and see what the effects are. I'll post the results with some pics.
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Onli-Won Kanomi
Knight Officer
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Posts: 123
Jedi Knight Of Faith
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« Reply #7 on: August 14, 2011, 09:35:12 PM » |
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When building blades some people have tried pinholes in the reflector for some of the light to pass through the hole to make the tips brighter and that can work for that purpose...others have tried trimming away some of the outside of the reflective material disc, or just using a smaller disc of reflective material to begin with, so that more light passes around the disc to light the tip and that can also work...personally I prefer the latter approach but YMMV and experimenting to find out what works best for you is part of the fun of this hobby so good luck and MTFBWY
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Caine
Disgraced
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« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2011, 10:02:56 PM » |
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Light travels UP from hilt, and it will fade toward the top unless the tip has a mirror, that in turn reflects it back down, making the blade as bright as it can be. That combined with the right diffusion of course.
And I don't have ant idea what you mean by it looking bad in pics. I have seen thousands of LED saber pics and videos and it has never looked bad to me.
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Sarich Belmont
Knight Commander
Force Alignment: 54
Posts: 599
I am legend.
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« Reply #9 on: August 16, 2011, 02:02:12 AM » |
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Light travels UP from hilt, and it will fade toward the top unless the tip has a mirror, that in turn reflects it back down, making the blade as bright as it can be. That combined with the right diffusion of course.
And I don't have ant idea what you mean by it looking bad in pics. I have seen thousands of LED saber pics and videos and it has never looked bad to me.
I never said it looked bad, but to me it kinda ruins the effect of the lightsaber blade since the light doesn't go through it. Again, that's just how I feel about it and I had noticed that Novastar had some lightsabers that had no mirror tip on them and they seemed to be plenty bright, so I thought I would ask. Then again I am thoroughly convinced that he is some sort of wizard and is capable of such things. |
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"I don't aim to be like you, Master, not at all. I aim to be better." Jacen Sarich, then-Padawan. (From my old Star Wars D20 days.)
Under Construction...
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« Reply #10 on: August 23, 2011, 07:21:01 PM » |
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What are the other methods of light diffusion? Do you need to do anything to the Polycarbonate tube? I"m working on my rig right now and testing the PC tube with a mirrored tip using an LED flashlight and it doesn't seem to contain the light very well, not sure how that will change with the Endorstar LED as the lightsource instead but it's my first build and I'm pretty nervous. Thoughts?
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Master Artorius Vidnyl
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« Reply #11 on: August 24, 2011, 02:02:52 AM » |
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Are you using any kind of plastic film rolled up inside of the PC tube? Most blades have a roll of thin clear plastic that helps to trap and funnel the light.
M.A.V.
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« Reply #12 on: August 29, 2011, 02:16:20 AM » |
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Are you using any kind of plastic film rolled up inside of the PC tube? Most blades have a roll of thin clear plastic that helps to trap and funnel the light.
M.A.V.
Negative, ordered it from TCSS and it didnt' come with any kind of clear plastic. Where could I get my hands on that? and is the application hard? |
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« Reply #13 on: August 29, 2011, 02:41:02 AM » |
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The dull tip problem has probably been solved, Ultra very recently came up with a different type of tip that he is putting on the blades now.
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Onli-Won Kanomi
Knight Officer
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Posts: 123
Jedi Knight Of Faith
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« Reply #14 on: August 29, 2011, 06:59:04 AM » |
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What are the other methods of light diffusion? Do you need to do anything to the Polycarbonate tube? There two most common methods of blade diffusion are to use layers of flexible plastic diffuser film [Ultra or Corbin style or both] rolled up inside a transparent polycarbonate blade or to use a translucent blade material [usually white polcarbonate or white nylon] which itself diffuses light [though film can also be added to those for evenness]. Mid grade and Heavy grade Ultrablades are the first type, Ultraedge are the second type. Some other blades are also made with a thin rigid plastic tube diffuser [TCSS type] and some DIYers and sabersmiths have also been known to sand the outside of their blades though this is not ideal for dueling blades since hits can visibly scuff a sanded blade. Personally I prefer the standard mid grade and heavy grade Ultrablades with film...some may prefer Ultraedge type, and YMMV of course. |
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plain Stunt [Guardian Blue]
gold Minilord [Adegan Silver]
purple Minilord [Fire Orange]
Initiate v1 DIY [Fire Orange]
Wraith v1 [Fire Orange]
Wraith LE [Sunrider's Destiny]
Dark Apprentice [Blazing Red]
The Overlord [SRD]
Liberator v2 [Violet Amethyst]
Shock LE DIY [under construction]
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