So.. you want to make an "ignited" 1/6 scale lightsaber?

I have seen many people talking about making sabers out of LEDs or cold cathode tubes, but I was intrigued by the EL (electroluminescent) wire concept.

Having never made any type of lightsaber before, I figured that this would be a fun little experiment.
Heck, if I can make one, then anyone can make it.

Sure there are things that I will "tweak" later (such as sizing the connections better and figuring out a way to make the blade permanently straight), but I thought I would give you what I have so far. Maybe this will encourage others to tinker around and find their own "pointers".

MORE PICS TO COME

PART TWO - more pictures for you.

Part Three - the saga continues

And finally, part four.

This is where I currently get stuck.
It's my first night using this stuff, but I don't have a great idea as to the best way to "harden" it into a straight line.

I know that some people use tubes from Windex types of sprays, but I think we can do something better if we put our minds together.

Personally I am considering a clear-cost epoxy of some sort.

I hope that this helps someone.

(Oh, almost forgot... The EL-Wire piece was $1.10 and the AC converter was $7.75 - in case you were wondering)

One downside that I have noted is a small high pitched hum coming from the converter. It is very similar to that "mosquito" ringtone. Some people may hear it and some may not.

It isn't too bothersome, but may annoy some people if they sit right next to the saber when it is on.

looks pretty good so far. where does one get that stuff from?

There are many places to get the wire.

Here is the place that I used.

https://www.elwirepros.com/

I will likely try a couple of other locations as the above link only has limited colors.

EDIT: Here is another place that seems to have more stuff.
https://www.coolight.com/

very cool info. Thanks

Really cool tutorial!

Great idea and tutorial! Thanks for those!

NICE Work ! I have to agree this a great tutorial.. thanks for sharing

Nice Tutorial! I am anxious to see how it ends up when you refine the technique!
Thanks for sharing!!!

uc7 said:

There are many places to get the wire.

Here is the place that I used.

https://www.elwirepros.com/

I will likely try a couple of other locations as the above link only has limited colors.

EDIT: Here is another place that seems to have more stuff.
https://www.coolight.com/

Click to expand...

Hello,

Eric here from NeonString.com
All EL wire drivers make that high-pitched sound, some to a lesser degree than others, but it is always there. This driver:

https://www.neonstring.com/cart/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=117 is not too loud, and it can power 30 feet of el wire from just a 9 volt battery. It also strips down nicely. (By that I mean it is easy to remove the casing, and when you do, leaving just the circuit board, it is very very small. It's my favorite driver out of the drivers we carry at NeonString.com.

Also, as for a way to keep the wire rigid, have you considered some clear plastic tubing? I have some tubing like that because I was going to try to do an el wire project that would be a pyramid shape that would spin on three different axes, which I thought would be great for messing with my neighbor's minds. But I could never work out the logistics of exactly how to do it, so it ended up on the "stuff I'm not actually going to do" pile. Anyway, I have a bunch of that tubing, and your instructable has me thinking about using some to make a lightsaber. For anybody near Houston, Texas, I got the tubing at Regal Plastics on Wirt Road.

Nice job on the article!

Eric

Wow! Nice tutorial and a place to find some parts to boot. Cool thread!

Thanks for the comments.

As for translucent heat shrink, I tried it. It didn't work all that well. It was still too flexible. I do have another idea though, and if it works, I will let you know. I am going to try using a resin that is commonly used for bar tables. It's kind of like a "super thick" polyurethane. My goal will be to mix up enough, in a small enough cylinder, to dip the end of the EL-wire into, and then allow it to harden. It may require a couple of dips, just as a floor sometimes requires a couple of coats of urethane, but I think that it should work. The EL-wire doesn't really get hot when on.


As for another location to get parts. I am all for it. Thanks for the heads-up. I will have to look into the "quiet" version of the inverter.

Very cool. Thanks for posting this. :chew

I stuffed some 2.5mm aqua wire into the tubing to see how it would look.. it might be okay for this mini-saber project, but really wasn't as rigid enough to be perfect. I think a slightly thicker tubing with the same size bore would work nicely though. Here are some pictures:

Not to rain on the Neon String parade, but wouldn't using those little cathode lights solve the rigidity problem? Are they more expensive or power hungry?

looks good

wampachow said:

Not to rain on the Neon String parade, but wouldn't using those little cathode lights solve the rigidity problem? Are they more expensive or power hungry?

Click to expand...

The cathode lights are what I was trying to avoid.

I wanted to keep this an easy project for anyone to complete on their own.
(Also, the EL-wire color options outnumber the cathode options at the moment.)
If you must use a cathode solution, you can collect parts from a computer store that sells 6" cathode lights. You must then meet the 12V requirement for power, or alter that requirement with a mod.
Even those who make cathode sabers are known to do things like add plastic coverings (from spray bottle tubing).

No solution is perfect, but if we can keep it fun, that would be ideal.