LED lightsaber project

[Will Rickards]

So I have this group of kids that I want to do this build your own lightsaber project with.
I found instructions online here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-lightsaber/
Then I backtracked that to more recent instructions from the group that originally made them.
http://partsandcrafts.org/get-involved/docs-howtos/ You have to click through the google docs to the light sabers.
So now they are not wiring up the leds but using led strips.

But I'm not sure where to buy these and which ones I need.
Anybody know where to source them? I'll need red & green. And I'd like to do a mace windu style purple one for myself.
So the blades will be 2.5 to 3 feet.

But from what I can gather searching online the led strips come in spools. And you can cut them every three leds or so.
And there are these attachments that let you wire two strips together.
I'll need those and to strip off one end so I can get at wires and attach a battery pack.
I was thinking 4 AA batteries.

The updated instructions use a reed switch and a magnet to activate.
I think I'll go with that as it seems cooler than a push button.

 

[ddrueding]

I've used quite a few of these LED strips, and they are really cool. The picture below looks a lot like the ones I've used. Note the obvious cut line and the positive and negative terminals available at each cut line. If you do get the waterproof or otherwise coated ones, it is easy enough to strip some of the rubber with a screwdriver.



I've only ever used the 120v AC drivers available, but now I too need to run 16' of the stuff on 12v DC.

I've just purchased from Amazon or 1000bulbs.com in the past.

 

[Will Rickards]

Well correct me if I'm wrong but a 12V strip would required 8 AA which are 1.5V each, correct?
That's a lot of batteries to fit into the handle. I was thinking more like 4 AA for 6V.
So I'm not really finding 6V LED strip lights.

 

[Will Rickards]

I ordered one of these in red and green to test out.
It already has the battery hookup.

 

[Stereodude]

Well correct me if I'm wrong but a 12V strip would required 8 AA which are 1.5V each, correct?
That's a lot of batteries to fit into the handle. I was thinking more like 4 AA for 6V.
So I'm not really finding 6V LED strip lights.

Well, they make DC/DC converters that can boost the voltage.

 

[Will Rickards]

Hmm, yes they do. Though we have a no soldering required requirement since none of us has that skill.
And the ones I've found so far don't seem to have wire input and outputs.