OK, I took these pictures a few weeks ago, but because of some personal health issues, I am just getting around to posting them. I used the same exact camera setting for every picture (whatever teh auto setting is) and I only cropped the pictures (no editing in any way). These pictures do not represent the 'real world' look of the blades, they are only meant coney differences between lit room, dark room, and clear versus solid color acrylic blades. (remeber, this is a special acrylic I found that mimics sideglow fiber optic cable - it is not standard clear acrylic rod)
I used three different LEDs (all Luxeon 3 stars), a red, a white and a blue. and used my power supply to drive them.
Red = 1.4 amp @ 3.1V
White = 1.0 amp at 4.4V
Blue = 1.0 amp @ 3.6V
I took two pictures of each blade setup - one with my shop light on (a 4 bulb flourescent fixture is directly above the toolbox I took the pictures on) and the other in total darkness.
Red LED with clear acrylic blade - lit room:
Red LED with clear acrylic blade - dark room:
White LED with clear acrylic blade - lit room:
White LED with clear acylic blade - dark room:
Blue LED with clear acylic blade - lit room:
Blue LED with clear acrylic blade - dark room:
I also used the white LED to test the solid blue acrylic blade (same blade from the first saber I built).
White LED with blue acrylic blade - lit room:
White LED with blue acrylic blade - dark room:
And just for fun, I used the red led and the solid blue acrylic blade to see what would happen if you wanted to try that route.
lit room:
dark room:
I tried the same thing with a the blue LED and blue blade and it was pretty much the same result - almost zero light got into the blade.
So, my suggestion is, if you want the blade to light up and be visible during the daytime (say walking a convention floor), use the color LED you want for the same blade color and go with the clear acrylic blade. The clear blade lights up enough to be seen in a lit room and shines pretty good in a dark room. If you want the blade to be colored like the original mini figure blades, go with the solid colored acrylic blade but be aware that lighting it up will be less than with the clear blade. There is no reason why you couldn't use a red LED and a clear blade for a light up red saber, and keep a blue acrylic blade for show purposes. You could set up a font that keeps the blade off and just plays the sounds and use the solid colored blades and you'd have a 'static' replica of the small scale saber but with sound capability. It should give a bit longer run time that way.
For me personally, I am going to go with a colored LED and clear blade and get a solid blade in the matching color for display.
I will need everyone on teh list on page one to verify what blade color options you want. Remeber, one blade is included with the saber, but you can order extra blades if you want for an addition cost. I will send PMs to everyone on the list to point them to this posting so I can get the blade material ordered soon.
