TOPIC: My first attempt at building a saber!

My first attempt at building a lightsaber, which I made for my friend's birthday, due in a month... I can't wait to see his reaction!

It's nothing too fancy - hilt parts are from the Custom Saber Shop, I'm not ready to machine aluminum parts just yet. I wanted a look a bit reminiscent of the Graflex - I think it works. Inside the hilt, is a Pico Crumble and a single red CREE Star Led powered by a 18650 li-ion battery, and in-hilt recharge port. I haven't soldered in about 20 years, so my solders are plain atrocious, but the thing works!

I'm just a bit puzzled about something though: the blade is slightly brighter on it than it is on my 12W+ Cyan Gladiator. I don't know if that's normal.






Ps: the grip is weird there, it was just a test. I made a new, clean one with a black fabric look. I'll post an updated pic when I have the chance!

UPDATE:
Changed the grip, added some kind of... herm... clamp? thingie separating the grip from the switch/emitter section, and added a metal bit on the emitter, reminiscent of the Graflex's bunny ears.

I have to admit I did a very shoddy job on the emitter to attach that tiny metal bit... but at least it's suitably fastened >.>

Hi Callyste,

I think it is about time somebody responded to your post! (Sorry I didn't earlier, I've been having technical issues recently). I really like this saber, and I'm sure your friend will love it. It has a bit of a Cade Skywalker look to it from the Legends series Dark Horse Comics. (If it had a ribbed grip section it would be nearly identical)

Congrats on your first (of many) builds.

For Tyeth

p.s. I am sure Kouri, Jas-Ot or one of the other electronics experts here could diagnose the difference in brightness for you.

Awesome looking saber! The color is great and who doesn't love the Graflex and all the inspiration that it brings. I'm not sure of the specific reasons for it but I have certainly heard before that the single Cree and tri Cree LEDs are brighter than the quad Cree LEDs.

Thanks to you both! Indeed, it's very similar to Cade's, now you mention it!

About the brightness, it's just an impression, and if there is a difference, it's slight (I only have one blade, it's hard to compare ^^). As I am very, very new to the saber scene, I have no point of reference, so I was wondering if it was normal that a single LED would produce slightly higher brightness than a quad LED module.
Both are bright, so I guess I'm ok with it ^^

I notice I forgot to take a picture of the new grip. I'll try and do that tonight!

I haven't seen it in person, but from what I've heard a properly driven 1-up LED module can be potentially brighter than a 12W module. I think it has something to do with the optimized optics for the 1-up and the difficulty of driving multiple LEDs efficiently. How did you end up driving yours (resistor/buckpuck/other)?

Congratulations on your first build. IMO there is nothing cooler than igniting a build for the first time and going, "I built that!"

Brightness is a combo of things. LED, lens, blade all play a part.

The SF X4 star has some cool color mixing capabilities, but in general tends to be less bright than two dice on a tri-cree, and even a single dice in some cases.

Part of the problem is that the X4 star uses 4 dice under an 8.7 degree lens, the same lens designed for a single dice. The 4 LEDs do not sit centered under the lens and as a result there is extra light loss and less effective focusing. The lenses used are what are called TIR lenses. They use boundary layer reflection properties to channel the light into the lens bubble. They are roughly 83% efficient at doing so assuming a perfectly centered LED. I don't have exact numbers but the X4 star is less efficient under the same lens.

You can increase the brightness of the X4 by either coating the lens in reflective material, or mounting inside a silvered LED housing (this reflects light back into the lens).

I just got done building a pico crumble RGB for Kelborn. And I can tell you that the single dice on there are very bright. I use thin walled blades for most things, which helps make for a brighter blade. Even with a V4 blade, the single dice off the tri cree is very close in brightness to the X4.

The XP-E2 led also is more thermally efficient than the XQ-E in the X4. As a result it overclocks nicely and you can put more amperage through for a brighter LED.

Jas-Ot wrote:
That reminds me, I still owe you a report on how that silver polycarbonate paint works as a reflective material. I've been waiting for an opportunity to order two of the same LEDs simultaneously so I can have an experimental and a control group for comparison. Just placed the order now (two lime green LED modules from SF) so I should be able to test sometime in April.

Many thanks to you both, Jas-Ot and Snakeeyz, for the explainations! I am not really disappointed with the brightness of the quad cree, I was simply curious if that was normal - seems like it is, from what you told me! So I'm not worried anymore

If I had the know-how though, I guess I would try your suggestions Jas to increase the brightness, but... since I'm not even feeling comfortable trying to just unscrew the glued threads of my Gladiator's emitter, fearing to break something, I guess I'll pass ^^. I suppose I still have the option to send it to someone who knows his stuff, but I'd then need to find someone in the EU ideally (I live in France).

As for the single red Cree XP-E2 I used for my (friend's) build, I used a simple 1ohm resistor (5% tolerance) to drive it.

Oh, and you're right. My heart was pounding after I finished building the saber, as I removed the kill key and reached for the switch. I felt both relieved and proud when the ignition sound played and the LED lit up!

Little update:

Changed the grip, added some kind of... herm... clamp? thingie separating the grip from the switch/emitter section, and added a metal bit on the emitter, reminiscent of the Graflex's bunny ears.

I have to admit I did a very shoddy job on the emitter to attach that tiny metal bit... but at least it's suitably fastened >.>

That's a great looking saber!

Thank you Muns!

That is one cool saber, if SF would make one that looks like that I would get it in a heartbeat, fantastic job mate.