simple led string blade

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DIY Teensy based lightsaber

What I used, you may make yours differently:

~150 30mA "ultrabright" 3mm LEDs.
tinned solid 20-guage wire for power rails
7/8" clear blade tube and end cap (mine has 5/8" internal diameter, but 3/4" works)
packing foam sheets - for diffusion
A 5k resistor - for blade identification
packing tape and double-stick tape
female aviation connector
Aviation connector holder - Or get it from Shapeways. Make sure you get the right one for your blade tube. (Depends on inner diameter.)

Putting it together The construction is very similar to the PL9823 string, but simpler since there is no data pins to worry about. The LEDs are simply wired directly to the power rails, like this:

When a section has been wired, just go through it and add a small amount of solder to each joint just to keep everything in place perfectly. The result should be very sturdy and hold up to fairly severe abuse. (Although I have not tried this myself.)

Then we need to attach the string to the connector, the following picture shows how the blade identification resistor fits snugly in the connector itself.

If you're using the same kind of connector I am, I recommend adding some hot-glue inside the connector housing to hold all the pins into place. They have tendency to come loose after a while and can cause shorts, leading to amusing but foul-smelling smoke to come out of your saber.

Once the string is all wired up, all you need to is to wrap it in packing foam and insert it into the blade. Instead of me explaining it (poorly), please watch this excellent video.

And here is a closeup of the end, the plastic pieces should be glued to the blade, but make sure you use a glue that is safe for polycarbonate. Double-stick tape also works. I have in fact not glued these pieces in at all, as they fit quite snugly and are held in place with friction.

While this blade turned out great, and is a lot brighter than my PL9823 blade, and can neither scroll nor change color, the PL9823 blade is just a lot more fun.

Problems? Questions? Suggestions? Check out The Crucible.

This page has been accessed 374 times since October 26th, 2016.
Last modified: March 29th, 2021 - Design by Monica & Fredrik Hübinette