Best Stunt Working Sabers

[Zren Tobas]

Hey guys. What do you think is the best sabers/blades for stunt work? Say I wanted to do a full dueling video like Ryan Vs Dorkman style fighting. Or would it be easier to buy an empty hilt and carbon fiber rods? The closest fitting sizes I can find is 1/2" rods. Would that fit the emitters or is that too thick? I'm having something cool in mind but I want to use US hilts for this purpose. Thanks for any help. I think the 1/2" carbon fiber rods would fit fine but I could be wrong.

[Master Nero Attoru]

I've never worked with the fiber rods, so I can't comment on those.  However, I think the Liberators you guys have would probably work pretty well for a video - they're light and simple enough for some good spinning and general handling.

[Zren Tobas]

Eh. I want something more somewhat dark and energetic. I'm thinking Dominix for myself and Aeon for my brother. Trying to find good carbon fiber rods. Only place I can think of for stunt work is RS since they use the exact ones used on Episode III.

[Zren Tobas]

And trust me when we get to that point we will be putting our hilts through brootal effing hell. We want to get as good as Ewan and Hayden. Maybe better than Ryan and Dorkman.

[Vex]

The Dominix and Aeons I would say are by far the best for all dueling and spinning needs. The grip and balance of the V3 versions are great. It's also a well balance saber with a 32" or 36" blade installed. I would suggest the LE versions as they look great! And I would venture to say that the Dominix V3 hilt weighs twice as much as my Overlord. All Ultra Sabers are made with combat in mind , so any saber you choose will do well. I own many (17)and I would feel comfortable dueling hard with any of them. Keep in mind the Dominix and Aeon V3s have a MHS pommel, but not a MHS emmitter so MLS units are not compatible with them.

[Darth Nonymous]

Hey guys. What do you think is the best sabers/blades for stunt work? Say I wanted to do a full dueling video like Ryan Vs Dorkman style fighting. Or would it be easier to buy an empty hilt and carbon fiber rods? The closest fitting sizes I can find is 1/2" rods. Would that fit the emitters or is that too thick? I'm having something cool in mind but I want to use US hilts for this purpose. Thanks for any help. I think the 1/2" carbon fiber rods would fit fine but I could be wrong.

Skip the carbon fiber rods. These blades provide more than enough toughness for stunt work. And they are relatively inexpensive so even with the rare breakage, they are easy and cheap to replace or repair.

As far as hilts, silver finnish or lighter colors will show up better during a duel.

[Zren Tobas]

Eh. I'm just trying to find 1 inch carbon fiber rods for dueling. (Think Episode III). Got any ideas?

[Zren Tobas]

@Nonymous. But I hear the tips can fly off sometimes. But if its for stunt work anyway then tips don't really matter right?

[Manroon]

Tips can easily be glued without the glue showing up on the blade and these blades WILL hold up through brootal effing hell, TRUST ME. XD I'm not an expert duelist in any sense, but I've trained with guys that have busted bokken and shinai apart while we fought. Guys that can move so fast their weapon is literally a blur and you don't know how you knew where to block. And as I recall, those carbon fiber rods are EXPENSIVE. Still, if you are dead set on Carbon Fiber..... you'll probably need an adaptor. Those blades aren't as popular as they used to be, since LED tech has improved over the years, but I do know that there used to be a couple people who manufactured 1/2" and 3/4" to 1" blade adaptors. I was at one point planning a 3/4" custom build, but I dropped the idea long ago in favor of the 1" blades. An adaptor would almost certainly require modification to hold the blade as securely as you want, but then so would a US hilt from what I understand. However, if you can find a friend with a drill press you shouldn't have any trouble with that. (The Carbon Fiber blades are generally held in with a pin all the way through instead of the retention method common to LED sabers, from what I understand) Also, I might recommend a Prophecy or something similar for one of your sabers if you're doing a video like that. It's a nice touch to have different hilts for the close up scenes or in case of overly observant viewers. A Shock might be an even better choice, actually. Better two handed handling but it still has the detail.

[Zren Tobas]

We actually have a drill press of our own. Having a step-dad that works at Honda is awesome. So even if I do decide to go full led still, the blades should last awhile? I'm actually thinking of going Aeon and Initiate V2 LEs. Since the V3's now only has li-ion batteries. But if I decide to go full carbon fiber, would I need to mod the retention screw hole to the said sizes or the entire hilt? If I want it to hold 1/2" blades.

[Manroon]

Okay, from my understanding.... if you want to take any US hilt and mod it for carbon fiber, this is what you'll need to do:

1) Find the largest carbon fiber blade you can get at or under a 1" diameter.

2) Find or machine an appropriately sized adapter for the blade.

3) Drill a retention hole all the way through the adapter to match the size of the retention hole in the carbon fiber blade. This hole should go through BOTH SIDES of the adapter and line up perfectly, so you can stick a bolt straight through the blade pinning it into the adapter.

4) Drill out the retention screw hole on the US saber to the same size as the hole in the carbon blade and the adapter.

5) Thread Tap said hole in the hilt.

Then you should be able to put the blade in the adapter, then put the two of them into the hilt, and then put your retention pin into place and screw it in until it's secure. Theoretically.... (it's been a LONG time since I checked up on carbon fiber blades) one or more carbon fiber blade retailers should also sell the appropriately sized retention bolt for them, and also the adapter as well. You could just google '1/2" to 1" lightsaber blade adapter' and that should help you find one of those, or otherwise you might be able to make one yourself somehow, if you're creative.

[Zren Tobas]

Or I can always use 1" PVC as an adapter. That's actually kinda smart right there. Like cut a piece off as long as the blade emitter is. Why is the main blade emitter for stunt sabers 1/2"?

[Eiyame]

Skip the carbon fiber rods. These blades provide more than enough toughness for stunt work. And they are relatively inexpensive so even with the rare breakage, they are easy and cheap to replace or repair.

As far as hilts, silver finnish or lighter colors will show up better during a duel.

I have to argee with Nonymous on this. You will spend more on carbon fiber robs than replacing a blade IF you can some how manage to break it.

Go here http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=9315.0 and watch the 2nd video down, they use Heavy Grade Blades for that video.

So just get yourself some HG blades, and call it good on that.

Also if you use the rods you will have to edit in the color of the lightsaber which is a ROYAL pain.

And yes like Nonymous said silver finished sabers tend to show up better in videos the lighting will make them shine so thus drawing your eye to them.

If you saber isn't shiny enough you can try this on your sabers: http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=8675.0

[reiperx]

Eh. I'm just trying to find 1 inch carbon fiber rods for dueling. (Think Episode III). Got any ideas?

I actually just ordered my carbon fiber tubing for my first custom today. I would suggest going for 1.25" ID tube instead of 1" just so you have some room to work with it.

One issue with Carbonfiber is you cannot really thread it as far as I know, so you're going to have to use either a few metal plates to thread screws into, or some bolts/washers on some parts. It will add some weight, but not much. Your other issue is the blade holder. If I remember correctly, the blade is 1" in diameter at the base, so you will have to have an insert just for that (also will hold your LED too).

Tube should be here early next week, initial work on it will finish up next weekend and I can post a couple of pics if you want to see how my design goes.

One other thing I've found with carbon fiber so far, the smallest order I've been able to find is 30" and it isn't cheap. My custom build without sound is already pushing the $200 mark on the price range.

[JediShadow]

Didn't Deep post a video where he put some regular old tape on the tips of the blade to keep them from flying off? I know i've read that working extremely well for people.