Props LEDs for Resin Energy Sword

[Elyairis]

I'm working on making a resin 1:1 scale Energy Sword for Calgary Expo coming up. And I'm in the midst of finishing the mold for the blade itself.

Which brings the question, does anyone have any recommendations for LEDs that can be cast into resin? I haven't mixed elecronics and resin before so I'm not sure if I need to be looking for a specific kind of LEDs.

 

[Thenwcp]

EL wire might work really well, mostly because the light would be even all the way around and it’d be easy to lay out for your pour. Epoxy is not really conductive, so as long as you’re not making a bunch of heat any standard LED would be fine. A lot of people cast “fairy lights” into epoxy for decorations.

 

[Elyairis]

EL wire might work really well, mostly because the light would be even all the way around and it’d be easy to lay out for your pour. Epoxy is not really conductive, so as long as you’re not making a bunch of heat any standard LED would be fine. A lot of people cast “fairy lights” into epoxy for decorations.

What's EL Wire? I've never heard of this sorcery.

 

[Thenwcp]

What's EL Wire? I've never heard of this sorcery.

The EL stands for electroluminescent, and it works with a phosphor coated inner wire that’s wrapped with an outer wire and then has a sleeve over it (the sleeve is what gives it color if desired). Then a high frequency current is passed through the conductors resulting in light. It looks a lot like neon and doesn’t produce much heat. A lot of people stitch it into their clothes (if you’ve seen the glow in the dark stick figure costumes you’ve seen it). You can buy ones that run off of batteries. I’ve seen them in Hobby Lobby if you have one, and of course Amazon. Once upon a time I had them in my car for interior lighting.

 

[Dragern]

EL wire is amazing stuff, as long as it doesn't break inside of the sword it should be fine. I've used the stuff on non halo projects before
(Underwater lego lights) and it worked amazingly

 

[Elyairis]

The EL stands for electroluminescent, and it works with a phosphor coated inner wire that’s wrapped with an outer wire and then has a sleeve over it (the sleeve is what gives it color if desired). Then a high frequency current is passed through the conductors resulting in light. It looks a lot like neon and doesn’t produce much heat. A lot of people stitch it into their clothes (if you’ve seen the glow in the dark stick figure costumes you’ve seen it). You can buy ones that run off of batteries. I’ve seen them in Hobby Lobby if you have one, and of course Amazon. Once upon a time I had them in my car for interior lighting.

That is so cool, I've never heard of this stuff before but it sounds like it'd be perfect for this project. I'll have to try and find a bulk batch of it somewhere. Thank you!