"Acerbus"

more power

so i decided to test out capabilities of the sabers again... this was in a fully lit room.







then i tested in complete darkness...



and then the batteries came...









and in darkness...





here i tested out some improvised green filters... uh, i'll get better material for the real thing of course.










that's it... lesson of the day: change your batteries when needed.



now i understand. i didn't notice any heating issues before, but after this i noticed the temperature rising. so, i cut out my heatsink from a CPU heatsink. i also trimmed the plate the star/o rests on to fit into a 1.25" tailpiece.

test ignition

film and polyc


sliding film in


film inside... notice the texture of the film--that's almost artwork.


temporary set up...


white


blue


red


tip

well, they lit up! i suspect i'm losing some brightness to the length of the blade--it's about 3 inches longer than what it should be. another problem is the temporary wiring: the alligator clips are probably adding quite a bit of resistance that i could do away with when i solder connections. it was a great test that got me pumped. by the way, none of the images were altered in any way, and they were taken at around 5 pm when the sun begins to dip under the horizon--oh yeah, i also have the television on with episode I playing (about 3 feet from the test site).

shipment received

so on tuesday, earlier this week, i received my shipment of electric components. i now have almost all i need to create a luxeon saber.


luxeon package. these are luxeon star/o 1 watt emitters with a 10 degree optics built in.


luxeons with a quarter for reference


force resonator, a small vibrating motor.


blade film rolls--custom made plastic, textured sheets to absorb light and creat a glow.


acrylic half balls--one shown with reflective tape.


here are the images of testing the luxeons. note, i'm only testing them, so they are running well below peak voltage and current. these pictures do not represent the actual brightness of luxeon-powered led's. once i pick up some resistors and battery packs i'll be able to utilize the full power of these emitters (and i wouldn't be turning them on until i have them pointed into the blade tube either--i'm not risking my eyesight).

first post of blog-like saber updates

500 mA slide switches from ebay.






i finished shaping the activator box today. i stilll need to paint it and figure out how to attach it to the saber. while i was threading the sink tailpiece, i punched through the hole so i have to find a way to secure a nut to the tube since my threading is gone. this is a little delayed for a post, i actually did this work on thursday.


another test fit. the very bottom pvc grip is missing because i didn't want to go through the trouble of sliding it on and risk scratching the sink tailpiece. i have to find a way to secure the blade adjustment knob similar to the activator box.


something came in the mail on friday... here is forty feet of polycarbonate tubing. now i have to work on the blade holder that will secure the polycarbonate to my saber hilt. it has to be tight, but removable. also needs to minimize any blade flex.