EL lightsaber Explained

[Plo Strax-Avix]

Started this thread to answer a question from another thread so as not to veer the other thread off topic...

What's an EL saber?

EL stands for Electro Luminescent. Its a compound which emits very bright light when electricity is passed through it. MR FX sabers use LEDs in the blade, so when one blows you see a break in the light. EL blade do not have this problem because the EL come in a string or ribbon form. If it fails, the whole blade will not have any light, and you just change the EL wire/ribbon.

Here're a couple of tutorial on how to make an EL saber:

http://www.thejediassembly.com/tutorials.php?id=y45
http://boards.theforce.net/Costuming_an ... 5796050/p1

And here're some sites where you can find EL saber in kit form or assembled form:
http://www.high-techmagic.com/Lightsabers.html
http://www.parksabers.com/

You can turn almost any kind of tube into an EL saber hilt

[Tomcat]

They look cool! The blade & handle is thinner so u can do a more realistic Obi-Wan saber with that narrower handle. I really that purple twin blade, better looking than FX Windu. In fact, I think EL looks better than FX but not sure how really sturdy & stable it is. Anybody here got to make one?

[9]

i dun find the thinner and shorter blade appealing...

but one thing caught my eye...in the Park's saber site...
their specs...

one of it claims the blade is virtually unbreakable.

really? if so...jedi costumers will have a great time doing actual lightsaber stunts and fight sequences. Heh

[mandalorianBleahhh]

i dunnoe if EL is the most 'indestructable'

i remember seeing this private company of Sabers, which can be modded into any MR saber...
the EL technology is brighter, and the tube is much harder and sturdier..


they did a few tests on video, and all the MRs and EL tubes broke after a few hits against that brand....

[Faiz]

that's kinda creepy..

[assjedi]

if anybody remembers....

TASHIMONK has a few ELs!

whaha!

[Darsha Assant]

LEt's have an EL building workshop one day... I have no idea what some of those terms mean.

[Plo Strax-Avix]

i dunnoe if EL is the most 'indestructable'

i remember seeing this private company of Sabers, which can be modded into any MR saber...
the EL technology is brighter, and the tube is much harder and sturdier..

they did a few tests on video, and all the MRs and EL tubes broke after a few hits against that brand....

The term 'EL blade' is a generic term used to describe a lightsaber blade made from EL (Electro Luminescent) string or ribbon encased in a polycarbonate tube, with a diffuser film to dissipate the light evenly.

How 'durable' and 'unbreakable' the blade is, depends on what grade of Polycarbonate tubing you use.

I've seen my friend's polycarbonate tube with a PSI(Pound/Square Inch) tolerance of 40,000, which came out with just a few scratches after being left in the middle of the road to be run over by cars for an hour.

Unless the brand you mentioned uses tubes that they themselves developed and invented...

[Faiz]

but that's just car's running over. i think it'll need more than that to be tested. but then, with a PSI that high.. i doubt anything much can break it, haha

where does one get those kinda tubing anyway? sounds interesting, and we just might have need of something more durable than a MR FX. how heavy is it anyway?

and i would appreciate something slightly thinner than a FX, both the handle and blade. after much thinking, i could actually customize a saber to my own balance as well... HEHEHHE

[assjedi]

good idea. then we can clonk each other out!

cool shit!