Build a Lightsaber

Step 4 The Blade

The blade is made out of four (4) parts;
the polycarbonate(pc) tube
an end cap (blade tip)
a small reflective disk
a light diffusion film.

You can build the blade yourself

Or you can order the blade pre-made from TCSS:
 http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/LED-Corbin-style-Battle-blade-1-OD--P198.aspx
 
Or you can order a premade blade from Ultrasabers:
http://www.ultrasabers.com/UHB_Blade_p/blades-hvy.htm

Details on each part:
The PC tube should be 1" OD with a wall thickness of 1/8" and CLEAR. It should be 30-36 inches long. Longer than that and the blade is harder to use and does not light up evenly.

The end cap and the reflective disk go on the end of the PC tube. I use an adhesive backed foil for the reflective disk with a small hole cut out the center. I then stick that to the bottom of the end cap and glue the end cap to the PC tube. You can also buy a small bag of assorted round mirrors at your local hobby shop. The only issue with using a glass mirror is that you are using a GLASS mirror inside your dueling blade. The end cap with reflective material does two things; give you a rounded end for your blade and reflect some of the light back down the blade to make it brighter.

The diffusing film I use is "Corbin" film. This is named after Corbin Das, the username of the person who perfected the use of diffusion film. Without this film the clear pc tube will just let the light inside pass through and will not look bright. The film reflects and spreads the light for a bright even blade. Role the film into a tube that is the same length as the PC tube and slide the film inside the PC tube. The film will then unfurl a little and press against the inside wall of the PC tube. Static cling will hold the film in place inside the PC tube.
Corbin Film is purchased from TCSS.  Item description:

"The special refractive qualities of this blade film are such that they produce the optical illusion of a central beam of light within the blade when illuminated. This "core" is surrounded by a more colorful "aura" that appears to taper towards the tip." -TCSS

On purchasing corbin film, you specify your blade diameter and wall thinkness. Then you specify if you want one layer, two layers, or four layers of Corbin film. I used 2 layers on the green lightsaber in the video. TCSS sent me enough film to cover a blade 40 inches long. I trimmed the length to fit my 34" blade.


NOTE: when rolling the film, make the area as lint and dust FREE as possible.

Ultrasaber also sells a white polycarbonate blade. No blade film needed!
http://www.ultrasabers.com/MG_Blade_p/blades-edge-fx.htm

Comments

[memoriable]

IMHO, The Corbin Blades Dont Light As Even As iWould Like. The Only Blades That Have Ever Done It For Me Are The Ultrasaber's UltraEdge Blades. I Just Like The White Core Effect With These Blades. And If You Look At The Movies, Youll Find That The White Core Is Actually There With Every Lightsaber So iFind Its More Realistic Also.

  Hope I've Been Some Help,
              -Custom Lightsabers

[Rikudara]

im sorry for the trouble but could you please explain what you did with the end cap and the reflective disk ? did you use the round cut out of the adhesive foil , fix it to the end cap and then stick that part to the pc tube ??

[lord vader]

how do i get lightsaber sounds onto a sound board because i found one in my toy car {3

[MrTinkerer]

dont know

[fight4gipper1]

The end cap you used looked very alien compared to the blade tubing. Have you found an alternative since???

[MrTinkerer]

nope

[aguerette]

as nice as these are, i would like to be able to completley fold the blade into the hilt, and was wondering, is there a way i could make a blade out of polycarbonate that would collapse like the spring action models made by hasbro?

[MrTinkerer]

Anything is possible. But becuase of the nature of this saber build your blade will have really bright rings where the segments meet and the overall brightness will be very much diminished.

There is a saying - "There aint no such thing as a free lunch."

You want bright = the blade will NOT retract/fold/collapse/stow into the hilt.
You want folding/retracting/etc = it will NOT be bright and will look like a toy.
You want lights that scroll up and down = you can NOT duel with it.
You want it to cut through anything = you have to move to a galaxy far, far away.


You can't have it all. You just have to pick what you want and know you WILL be sacrificing something else.

[ranmawolf]

As far as the polycarbonate goes, how's the strength? I mean, can ya whack the crap out of it without it breaking, or is there a low threshold for that? Any way to illustrate this point? Like, yeah, I imagine it'd shatter if a car ran over it, but what about two blades smacking together in a hellaciously high-spirited sparring session? And past its stress threshold, is it more apt to bend, snap-break or shatter into a b'jillion pieces? 

[MrTinkerer]

Heavy duty dueling??? Check out dueling vids by Greytale Novastar in youtube. http://www.youtube.com/user/greytale

Polycarbonate tends to bend to extremes before shattering.  Safety glasses are made of polycarbonate, as is bullet proof glass.  Safety glasses tend to be 1/16th of an inch thick or less. The blade wall thickness is 1/8th of an inch. The small diameter curve also adds strength. 

The blades are practically indestructable.

[ranmawolf]

Great - thanx! ^_^ 

I had wondered much about the strength... even pondered putting two of different diameters inside each-other, with the light diffusion film in between... but I guess it wouldn't be necessary - thanx again! ^_^ 

[nate71173]

whered you get the polycarbonate tube??

[MrTinkerer]

I provided three(3) online sources in the instructable. If possible, buy it locally to avoid shipping cost. I was lucky enough to have a Tap Plastics in my city. Google your city for polycarbonate or plastic. If you live in a big city you are bound to get a result of a local company. If not then you may need to buy it online. 

[waterboy44221]

I know you want the length of the Corbin sheet to equal the length of the blade, but how wide of a sheet do you need? Are there many layers rolled up inside the blade?

[MrTinkerer]

Good question. I will edit my instructable.
Answer: Corbin film is pre-cut when purchased from TCSS. You simply specify blade diameter and wall thickness. Then you select Single wrap(1 layer), Double wrap (2 layers), or Quad wrap (4 layers).
I find double wrap to be just fine.
Thanks for asking, this will help me improve the instructable.