Color change and photon blades

[Darth Cephalus]

I recently decided to experiment with some of the colored/day blade options I have been seeing offered by some of the other guys. Not wanting to pay the premium most of these go for pre-assembled, I got the parts and made my own. One is what people call a photon blade. It if florescent green polycarbonate the reacts to blue and UV light. The other is trans-red. Both have diffusion film and matching bullet tips. To see what happens to the colors, I tried them with VA, CG, AS, GB, FO, and BR sabers with interesting results. In each pic, the top blade is red, the middle is a standard clear midgrade, and the bottom is the photon blade.

VA: Purple

A couple interesting things here. The red blade makes a deep blood red with the VA LED. The photon makes what I can only describe as a watermelon color; as you will see with the red, red light just passes through the blade and as you will see with the blue, blue light feeds the greed florescent. The result looks yellow but is actually pink or green from different angles.

CG: Green

Not much to tell with green. It shines through the photon blade without much trouble. The ral story is how it almost gets canceled out entirely by the red blade. What you see is a brownish color in the top image and it is very dim.

AS: white

While the red is not very impressive (kind of a faux red LED like you would get with a color disc) the photon blade shines with a bright florescent yellow. The brightness is about the same as through the clear blade, but it picked up the color without diminishing. A yellow color disc will cut the brightness, this blade did not.

GB: Blue

Blue is by far my favorite. The red blade makes a deep purple. It is abit dim but it is something I don;t think I could replicate with a color change driver. The photon blade just eats up this color. I have heard other makers refer to this color as rackghoul green and I can see why. Imagine the color you get with black light reactive yellow green material. Then imagine that color without the black light. That is the core, the outside florescent yellow.

FO: Orange

Orange is not very spectacular. It picks up a bit of the color, yellowing out with the photon and going to slightly deeper hue with the red.

BR: Red
http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/q725/rdobbshead/red_zpsnhceoqgr.jpg
Red is the honey badger of the group: it just don't care. The red blade makes it a slightly deeper red but it shines through the photon like it is clear.

Other notes:
Worth also mentioning is tip illumination. The red blade has practically none. The photon on the other hand is excellent. Anything with blue or white light in it fully illuminates the tip. The material itself glows so it does not need to transmit the light. Red spectrum is about the same as the clear.

[Zren Tobas]

Cool

[Kencyrath]

I recently decided to experiment with some of the colored/day blade options I have been seeing offered by some of the other guys. Not wanting to pay the premium most of these go for pre-assembled, I got the parts and made my own. One is what people call a photon blade. It if florescent green polycarbonate the reacts to blue and UV light. The other is trans-red. Both have diffusion film and matching bullet tips. To see what happens to the colors, I tried them with VA, CG, AS, GB, FO, and BR sabers with interesting results. In each pic, the top blade is red, the middle is a standard clear midgrade, and the bottom is the photon blade.

VA: Purple

A couple interesting things here. The red blade makes a deep blood red with the VA LED. The photon makes what I can only describe as a watermelon color; as you will see with the red, red light just passes through the blade and as you will see with the blue, blue light feeds the greed florescent. The result looks yellow but is actually pink or green from different angles.

CG: Green

Not much to tell with green. It shines through the photon blade without much trouble. The ral story is how it almost gets canceled out entirely by the red blade. What you see is a brownish color in the top image and it is very dim.

AS: white

While the red is not very impressive (kind of a faux red LED like you would get with a color disc) the photon blade shines with a bright florescent yellow. The brightness is about the same as through the clear blade, but it picked up the color without diminishing. A yellow color disc will cut the brightness, this blade did not.

GB: Blue

Blue is by far my favorite. The red blade makes a deep purple. It is abit dim but it is something I don;t think I could replicate with a color change driver. The photon blade just eats up this color. I have heard other makers refer to this color as rackghoul green and I can see why. Imagine the color you get with black light reactive yellow green material. Then imagine that color without the black light. That is the core, the outside florescent yellow.

FO: Orange

Orange is not very spectacular. It picks up a bit of the color, yellowing out with the photon and going to slightly deeper hue with the red.

BR: Red
http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/q725/rdobbshead/red_zpsnhceoqgr.jpg
Red is the honey badger of the group: it just don't care. The red blade makes it a slightly deeper red but it shines through the photon like it is clear.

Other notes:
Worth also mentioning is tip illumination. The red blade has practically none. The photon on the other hand is excellent. Anything with blue or white light in it fully illuminates the tip. The material itself glows so it does not need to transmit the light. Red spectrum is about the same as the clear.

Awesome post!  I was curious about these blades.  I bit the bullet last night on 2x 28" photon blades for my GB sentinel staff.  After seeing your post, I'm even more excited to get them.  I'll post a pics when I get them.

[Samhain138]

I picked up these for my cosplay stuff.  One for my guardian and a set for my flamberge.  I've not taken them out since. I considered getting the photon blade for a grab bag blue saber I wish was green.

[Karmack]

Thanks!  I might have to see about one of those Photon blades.  As a yellow-wielder it fits well and I love the way it works with green and blue.  :-)

[Greywolf]

Really good information, thanks

[Monobus]

Has anyone ever used a purple blade? I was thinking about procuring one for cons, but I'm afraid of how much it my dim it.

[Samhain138]

Has anyone ever used a purple blade? I was thinking about procuring one for cons, but I'm afraid of how much it my dim it.

These are both color appropriate day blades inside of a lit room.  The guardians a tri Cree so that's why it's so much brighter.  I'd imagine the purple would light up similarly to the red.  The red is a much more dark red color than the standard US blade in person.  I personally prefer these blades for my sabers now.

[Darth Cephalus]

My only beef with these red blades is the tip illumination. Looks like you are having the same issue. They do look great in full daylight though.

[Dagr]

Just want to add that the RGBA color variants with the amber LED are also very interesting with the photon blade (which I REALLY love). The green glow you get with this blade is really cool, and the bright color is also very even throughout.

An ice blue mix of G+B+A at 100% makes for a really interesting lime yellow. I personally like G + B 100% as the best green (that's arctic blue in the US color mix).

Anyway, these blades are real eye catchers and really help your saber to stand out. I also love that it brightens up an emerald blade to really match a regular tri cree in some ways. (And of course, a tri-cree blue is an even brighter green).

[Samhain138]

I only got the red with the pointed tips.  The blue tips rounded and lights up great.

[Monobus]

Well, I just pulled the trigger on some purple blades for my Flamberge. I'm excited.

[Kencyrath]

Finally received my photon blades.
For those that haven't seen my Sentinel double saber:

And now with the photon blades:

I ended up getting 28" photon blades, a bit longer than I'm use to.  We'll see if I get use to it.

[Grindspine]

Old topic, but has anyone else tried the "enhanced day blades" from the other guys?

I have some violet amethyst and dark violet amethyst sabers that I have adjusted with color discs, but still want a more saturated purple color.  I am tempted to pick up an enhanced blue blade, but would like to gather more opinions before pulling the trigger.