Post by Ti-el_terall on Aug 23, 2007 0:34:56 GMT -5
Welcome to Jedi Archives forums! If your new here or would like to learn more about the different types of lightsabers on the market today, you’ve come to the right place! In the following posts, you will learn the basics, and more advance facts about the FX saber line, Ultrasabers, The Custom Saber shop and more
[glow=red,2,300]PLEASE READ[/glow]
This is all my own work which I have done for Kit and for all the members of the forum. ONLY POST IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO CONTRIBUTE PLEASE
.
I will leave this thread open so I can change it once you have something to add. If the posts stop contributing I will remove them. If it continues, I will lock the thread. Not trying to be mean, just trying to keep this thread clean. Thanks for understanding
Introduction
Here are some important “words” you should know
Lightsaber: An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age
FX: Effects: or commonly referred to as the Master replicas Force FX line
Master Replicas Force FX: Lightsabers: Lightsabers using in blade LEDs in a string
Aka: MR: FX: FFX:
LED: Light emitting diode. Mostly referred to in conversions which switch out the
Breakable strings of LEDs and replaces it with a high powered Luxeon LED
Sound board: The part of the saber that has the sound and motion sensors on it. Aka
Sound card
EL: Electroluminescence: Wire in the blade
Movie Titles
SW: Star Wars
TPM: The Phantom Menace aka: EpI
AotC: Attack of the Clones aka: EpII
RotS: Revenge of the Sith aka: EPIII
ANH: A New Hope aka: Star Wars; EpIV
PT: Prequel Trilogy (Episodes 1-3)
OT: Original Trilogy (Episodes 4-6)
EU: Expanded Universe
Choosing your saber
When choosing your first saber, you should always be aware of pros and cons of each product. I will list each of the saber types most available and describe them in as much detail as possible.
Master Replicas Force FX Lightsabers
This is the most common saber. They are mass produced by a company called Master Replicas. These sabers are very user friendly, usually have easily accessible battery packs and the blade has a string of 64 LEDs. This creates a scrolling or “up and down” effect.
Pros: Some of the best things about these sabers are that, they are cheap, there is a variety, it has the scrolling effect, and that you can get a hilt that looks like the ones used in the movies.
Cons: Some thing's you should think about before purchasing one of these sabers is this. You can hardly duel with them; if you do they will make black spots on your blade. The saber line only has 2 sound boards, Jedi and Sith, and the boards have limited clash and swing sounds.
If this sounds like the saber you want please go back and go to the section “Master Replicas Force FX saber line”. If not, read on.
Ultrasabers
UltraFX
The UltraFX is either an entire saber or a process used to convert your saber to a 3 watt Luxeon LED. It still uses most of the stock FX parts.
Pros: With this you know you are getting the best conversion possible, done by a professional. You get a saber with a removable blade and you can even chose to have a thicker more duel worthy blade. Another great thing is that you get the same user friendly abilities out of the saber, as in the easy changing of batteries. Also, you get a better, brighter blade.
Cons: You lose the scrolling effect, and depending on what blade you use, you might get a “light bulb” effect. This means that it is bright at the bottom and at the tip but dims in the middle. If you use Ultrasabers Ultra blades, you will not have this effect.
If this sounds like the saber for you, please go to the section UltraFX.
Other Ultra Sabers
Some of the other sabers that are available from Ultrasabers are the stunts and sometimes a few others.
Pros: Bright LED blade, duel worthy, awesome quality.
Cons: No sound (but can be installed).
If this sound likes your type of saber please go thru the rest of the Ultrasabers section.
DIY Conversion
the DIY conversion kit available from Ultrasabers is a premade kit that comes with instructions to convert your Master Replicas FX saber.
Pros: You get to do it yourself and have some fun. You get a duel worthy saber and a brighter blade.
Cons: Soldering is required, and you can get the “light bulb effect” but that can be removed by purchasing a better blade
If this sound good to you go to the Ultrasabers section.
None of these sounds like what you want? Continue on to Building your own saber
Building your own saber
So, after reading carefully over the section above, have you decided that none of that’s for you? That you want to create a whole new custom saber? Well, then your in the right place!
Step 1: What type of saber?
One thing that is very important when making your saber is the technology that you will be using when making your saber. There a two popular ways to make a saber EL and LED.
EL is a type of wire that glows, when you use it in a saber you usually use about 15 feet of it.
Pros: You get a fully evenly light blade. You can change the color easily by switching out blade
Cons: All the technology is in the blade, the connection can break after duelling, usually more expensive, not at bright as LED. Blades are fairly expensive and hard to install sound
If this sounds good to you then I suggest that you go to the EL Topic.
LED is a light emitting diode. It’s basically like a small light bulb that wont burn out for a long time if used properly.
Pros: Nothing in the blade, easier to install sound, brighter blade. Less hassle to make and is usually cheaper.
Cons: Sometimes you get a light bulb effect, but a better blade will improve that.
If this sounds like the type of saber you want to make, go over to the thread called The Custom Saber Shop and go to LED.
Master Replicas Force FX saber line
In 2002 a company called Master Replicas acquired the license to produce replicas of the Star Wars movies. One of the most popular products was the Force FX Lightsaber line.
The first of this new line was the Anakin Skywalker Attack of the Clones Force FX Lightsaber. It was part of the first generation.
The first few of the Anakin AotC FXs were often faulty and lost sound and blade quickly. This saber uses EL wire which means it doesn’t have a scrolling effect.
After some trial and error they produced another version which wasn’t as faulty. After the Anakin AotC FX, they made the Luke RotJ V.1. This saber also used EL technology.
Soon after that the first LED sabers were made, these sabers have a strip of 64 LEDs in the blade. These are the sabers you will usually see around today.
The Master Replicas sabers are not made for duelling. When you do, the LEDs in the blade will “Pop” or break which causes dim spots in the blade. Even with time these spots can appear for no reason what so ever. The main option you have is to convert it. The conversion process takes out the string of LED’s and replaces them with a high powered 3 watt Luxeon LED.
Master replicas FX sabers
Ultrasabers
Ultra FX
The Ultra FX is a Master replica's FX Lightsaber that is professionally converted to a 3 watt luxeon LED. The conversion process removes the strip of 64 small LED's and puts the one LED in the hilt with about 2 inch space for the blade to go in. The blade is held in place by a retaining screw that holds the blade in place. By simple unscrewing this screw you can remove the blade and have a sweet looking hilt.
The Ultra FX either uses stock plastic housing or metal machined blade holders. The metal blade holders use 1 inch blades were as the stock MR holder ruses ¾ inch blades. The blades available from Ultrasabers.com use a special film that gives the best most even appearance you can get with a luxeon saber.
For more information about the Ultra FX sabers please visit www.ultrasabers.com
Ultrasabers DIY kits
The Ultrasabers DIY (or do it yourself) kits are the same one used for the Ultra FX's, but they send the kit to you instead of you sending the saber to them. They include the LED, the optics and optics holder enclosed in the LED assembly. All you have to do is disassemble the MR FX saber using the included instructions, and then solder the positive and negative leads from the MR saber to the LED.
This kit does involve soldering and carefully disassemble of your saber. Some of the kits are more advance and should be done carefully. Included in the kit is a CD rom that has very detailed instructions of the disassembly of your saber and the installation of the kit. For the most part though, these kits are a fun and fairly simple thing. The results are also amazing compared to the stock MR.
For more info please visit www.ultrasabers.com
Other Ultrasabers
Ultrasabers also has other sabers like stunts or runs of custom sabers. These sabers usually only have a 3 or 5 watt LED and the battery pack, along with resistor, or whatever controls the current. Sometimes, sound can be added in, if you have your own Sound board or the Ultrasound.
For more info visit www.ultrasabers.com
Ultra sabers kids saber next to a Vader ESB
The Custom Saber shop
Thread Title “Conversion kits”
The Custom saber shop also sells conversion kits for a Master Replicas FX lightsaber. The difference between this one and Ultrasabers DIY is that TCSS you have to build completely on your own. With Ultras, you have you LED and optics enclosed and the + and – leads already soldered to your LED. With TCSS you have to buy all the parts and assemble everything. This is more BIY (build it yourself) as opposed to the DIY. With TCSS kits, your holder uses a 1inch blade as opposed to Ultras using a ¾ inch blade. This makes for better duel ability.
If you want more info about the kits please visit www.thecustomsabershop.com
A converted fx from TCSS
EL sabers
Electroluminescent sabers use the EL wire inside the blade. The saber blades connect to the hilt thru a jack and pug installed in the blade. Inside the hilt you have the inverter and batteries. Although EL used to be the main thing used in sabers, LED has now taken the lead. Many people still use EL, some reasons may be, you can switch the color as easy as changing the blade and you get an even blade. Some of the disadvantages are that the blade is usually dim and the colors are usually odd, instead of red there is pink. EL uses a ¾ inch blade which means it is easier to install into sabers.
If you want more info about EL sabers please visit www.thecustomsabershop.com
LED sabers
Lightsaber's that utilize the luxeon light emitting diodes are the most popular sabers. The saber would have the LED attached to a heat sink and use optics to focus the light. LED sabers are usually easy to make, simple soldering to the LED pad and basic resistor, switch and battery pack. There are a few types of Luxeon LED's used in sabers, 3 watts (used in MR conversions), K2s, and 5 watts. LED sabers shine the light up the blade and a mirror at the tip shines it back down to get maximum brightness.
If you want more info about LED sabers please visit www.thecustomsabershop.com
A LED saber
[glow=red,2,300]PLEASE READ[/glow]
This is all my own work which I have done for Kit and for all the members of the forum. ONLY POST IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO CONTRIBUTE PLEASE
.I will leave this thread open so I can change it once you have something to add. If the posts stop contributing I will remove them. If it continues, I will lock the thread. Not trying to be mean, just trying to keep this thread clean. Thanks for understanding
Introduction
Here are some important “words” you should know
Lightsaber: An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age
FX: Effects: or commonly referred to as the Master replicas Force FX line
Master Replicas Force FX: Lightsabers: Lightsabers using in blade LEDs in a string
Aka: MR: FX: FFX:
LED: Light emitting diode. Mostly referred to in conversions which switch out the
Breakable strings of LEDs and replaces it with a high powered Luxeon LED
Sound board: The part of the saber that has the sound and motion sensors on it. Aka
Sound card
EL: Electroluminescence: Wire in the blade
Movie Titles
SW: Star Wars
TPM: The Phantom Menace aka: EpI
AotC: Attack of the Clones aka: EpII
RotS: Revenge of the Sith aka: EPIII
ANH: A New Hope aka: Star Wars; EpIV
PT: Prequel Trilogy (Episodes 1-3)
OT: Original Trilogy (Episodes 4-6)
EU: Expanded Universe
Choosing your saber
When choosing your first saber, you should always be aware of pros and cons of each product. I will list each of the saber types most available and describe them in as much detail as possible.
Master Replicas Force FX Lightsabers
This is the most common saber. They are mass produced by a company called Master Replicas. These sabers are very user friendly, usually have easily accessible battery packs and the blade has a string of 64 LEDs. This creates a scrolling or “up and down” effect.
Pros: Some of the best things about these sabers are that, they are cheap, there is a variety, it has the scrolling effect, and that you can get a hilt that looks like the ones used in the movies.
Cons: Some thing's you should think about before purchasing one of these sabers is this. You can hardly duel with them; if you do they will make black spots on your blade. The saber line only has 2 sound boards, Jedi and Sith, and the boards have limited clash and swing sounds.
If this sounds like the saber you want please go back and go to the section “Master Replicas Force FX saber line”. If not, read on.
Ultrasabers
UltraFX
The UltraFX is either an entire saber or a process used to convert your saber to a 3 watt Luxeon LED. It still uses most of the stock FX parts.
Pros: With this you know you are getting the best conversion possible, done by a professional. You get a saber with a removable blade and you can even chose to have a thicker more duel worthy blade. Another great thing is that you get the same user friendly abilities out of the saber, as in the easy changing of batteries. Also, you get a better, brighter blade.
Cons: You lose the scrolling effect, and depending on what blade you use, you might get a “light bulb” effect. This means that it is bright at the bottom and at the tip but dims in the middle. If you use Ultrasabers Ultra blades, you will not have this effect.
If this sounds like the saber for you, please go to the section UltraFX.
Other Ultra Sabers
Some of the other sabers that are available from Ultrasabers are the stunts and sometimes a few others.
Pros: Bright LED blade, duel worthy, awesome quality.
Cons: No sound (but can be installed).
If this sound likes your type of saber please go thru the rest of the Ultrasabers section.
DIY Conversion
the DIY conversion kit available from Ultrasabers is a premade kit that comes with instructions to convert your Master Replicas FX saber.
Pros: You get to do it yourself and have some fun. You get a duel worthy saber and a brighter blade.
Cons: Soldering is required, and you can get the “light bulb effect” but that can be removed by purchasing a better blade
If this sound good to you go to the Ultrasabers section.
None of these sounds like what you want? Continue on to Building your own saber
Building your own saber
So, after reading carefully over the section above, have you decided that none of that’s for you? That you want to create a whole new custom saber? Well, then your in the right place!
Step 1: What type of saber?
One thing that is very important when making your saber is the technology that you will be using when making your saber. There a two popular ways to make a saber EL and LED.
EL is a type of wire that glows, when you use it in a saber you usually use about 15 feet of it.
Pros: You get a fully evenly light blade. You can change the color easily by switching out blade
Cons: All the technology is in the blade, the connection can break after duelling, usually more expensive, not at bright as LED. Blades are fairly expensive and hard to install sound
If this sounds good to you then I suggest that you go to the EL Topic.
LED is a light emitting diode. It’s basically like a small light bulb that wont burn out for a long time if used properly.
Pros: Nothing in the blade, easier to install sound, brighter blade. Less hassle to make and is usually cheaper.
Cons: Sometimes you get a light bulb effect, but a better blade will improve that.
If this sounds like the type of saber you want to make, go over to the thread called The Custom Saber Shop and go to LED.
Master Replicas Force FX saber line
In 2002 a company called Master Replicas acquired the license to produce replicas of the Star Wars movies. One of the most popular products was the Force FX Lightsaber line.
The first of this new line was the Anakin Skywalker Attack of the Clones Force FX Lightsaber. It was part of the first generation.
The first few of the Anakin AotC FXs were often faulty and lost sound and blade quickly. This saber uses EL wire which means it doesn’t have a scrolling effect.
After some trial and error they produced another version which wasn’t as faulty. After the Anakin AotC FX, they made the Luke RotJ V.1. This saber also used EL technology.
Soon after that the first LED sabers were made, these sabers have a strip of 64 LEDs in the blade. These are the sabers you will usually see around today.
The Master Replicas sabers are not made for duelling. When you do, the LEDs in the blade will “Pop” or break which causes dim spots in the blade. Even with time these spots can appear for no reason what so ever. The main option you have is to convert it. The conversion process takes out the string of LED’s and replaces them with a high powered 3 watt Luxeon LED.
Master replicas FX sabers
Ultrasabers
Ultra FX
The Ultra FX is a Master replica's FX Lightsaber that is professionally converted to a 3 watt luxeon LED. The conversion process removes the strip of 64 small LED's and puts the one LED in the hilt with about 2 inch space for the blade to go in. The blade is held in place by a retaining screw that holds the blade in place. By simple unscrewing this screw you can remove the blade and have a sweet looking hilt.
The Ultra FX either uses stock plastic housing or metal machined blade holders. The metal blade holders use 1 inch blades were as the stock MR holder ruses ¾ inch blades. The blades available from Ultrasabers.com use a special film that gives the best most even appearance you can get with a luxeon saber.
For more information about the Ultra FX sabers please visit www.ultrasabers.com
Ultrasabers DIY kits
The Ultrasabers DIY (or do it yourself) kits are the same one used for the Ultra FX's, but they send the kit to you instead of you sending the saber to them. They include the LED, the optics and optics holder enclosed in the LED assembly. All you have to do is disassemble the MR FX saber using the included instructions, and then solder the positive and negative leads from the MR saber to the LED.
This kit does involve soldering and carefully disassemble of your saber. Some of the kits are more advance and should be done carefully. Included in the kit is a CD rom that has very detailed instructions of the disassembly of your saber and the installation of the kit. For the most part though, these kits are a fun and fairly simple thing. The results are also amazing compared to the stock MR.
For more info please visit www.ultrasabers.com
Other Ultrasabers
Ultrasabers also has other sabers like stunts or runs of custom sabers. These sabers usually only have a 3 or 5 watt LED and the battery pack, along with resistor, or whatever controls the current. Sometimes, sound can be added in, if you have your own Sound board or the Ultrasound.
For more info visit www.ultrasabers.com
Ultra sabers kids saber next to a Vader ESB
The Custom Saber shop
Thread Title “Conversion kits”
The Custom saber shop also sells conversion kits for a Master Replicas FX lightsaber. The difference between this one and Ultrasabers DIY is that TCSS you have to build completely on your own. With Ultras, you have you LED and optics enclosed and the + and – leads already soldered to your LED. With TCSS you have to buy all the parts and assemble everything. This is more BIY (build it yourself) as opposed to the DIY. With TCSS kits, your holder uses a 1inch blade as opposed to Ultras using a ¾ inch blade. This makes for better duel ability.
If you want more info about the kits please visit www.thecustomsabershop.com
A converted fx from TCSS
EL sabers
Electroluminescent sabers use the EL wire inside the blade. The saber blades connect to the hilt thru a jack and pug installed in the blade. Inside the hilt you have the inverter and batteries. Although EL used to be the main thing used in sabers, LED has now taken the lead. Many people still use EL, some reasons may be, you can switch the color as easy as changing the blade and you get an even blade. Some of the disadvantages are that the blade is usually dim and the colors are usually odd, instead of red there is pink. EL uses a ¾ inch blade which means it is easier to install into sabers.
If you want more info about EL sabers please visit www.thecustomsabershop.com
LED sabers
Lightsaber's that utilize the luxeon light emitting diodes are the most popular sabers. The saber would have the LED attached to a heat sink and use optics to focus the light. LED sabers are usually easy to make, simple soldering to the LED pad and basic resistor, switch and battery pack. There are a few types of Luxeon LED's used in sabers, 3 watts (used in MR conversions), K2s, and 5 watts. LED sabers shine the light up the blade and a mirror at the tip shines it back down to get maximum brightness.
If you want more info about LED sabers please visit www.thecustomsabershop.com
A LED saber
