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considering that whatever goes over the crystal is going to make up a lot of the structural support between the handel and the emitter, The lantern looks a little flimsy. My vote is for the cooling jacket.

AK_Jedi wrote:considering that whatever goes over the crystal is going to make up a lot of the structural support between the handel and the emitter, The lantern looks a little flimsy. My vote is for the cooling jacket.

Well, the lantern is going to be piping and lexan, which is a bullet-proof glass, so it might look a bit tough. At any rate, I asked my brother which he preferred (he thinks I'm buying it for myself) and he likes the lantern-style. I guess its a gentleman's saber

Well then it's owned by a stupid gentleman, because the lantern really looks terrible and idiotic. The barrel jacket looked a thousand times better, and is better from a functional design perspective.

Seriously, ditch the lantern and go back with the gun barrel jacket.

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Well then it's owned by a stupid gentleman, because the lantern really looks terrible and idiotic. The barrel jacket looked a thousand times better, and is better from a functional design perspective.

Seriously, ditch the lantern and go back with the gun barrel jacket.

I think the jacket looks better, but then you can't see any of the cool stuff inside, unless he can do a really wide mesh on the jacket.

edit: Think it mgiht look ok with some mesh "panes" in the lantern? like alternating every other, I mean.

I like the lantern look, but you could add an old style lantern shade to it for a little more solidity

ThatGuyFromThatPlace wrote:I like the lantern look, but you could add an old style lantern shade to it for a little more solidity

Can you find a picture? I'm afraid I don't know what an "old-style shade" would look like.

CaptainChewbacca wrote:edit: Think it mgiht look ok with some mesh "panes" in the lantern? like alternating every other, I mean.

No, that's just as bad and misses the point.

Seriously, go back to the jacket. I don't think it matters that you can't see the crystal: hell, you can't for a regular lightsabre, anyway. Going with the jacket makes it look less delicate, and it would give some interesting detail, since you'd only be able to partially see what's inside.

I don't like any sort of lantern approach whatsoever.

The problem I see with the lantern is that it's going to get covered in fingerprints. Otherwise, I think it's much cooler, aesthetically. Practically, though, it just doesn't look right, because it's part of the handle, glass just doesn't seem right on the part that's going to be held.

Spanky´s right. The jacket was a lot cooler than the lantern.

Oni Koneko Damien wrote:The problem I see with the lantern is that it's going to get covered in fingerprints. Otherwise, I think it's much cooler, aesthetically. Practically, though, it just doesn't look right, because it's part of the handle, glass just doesn't seem right on the part that's going to be held.

The "grip" part of the handle is the lower part around the cylinders made of wood-and-leather rings. The middle part (jacket or lantern) isn't held. You wouldn't want to hold onto a cooling jacket, anyway.

That would only be the case if it was held one-handed. When gripped two-handed, one hand would go over the crystal chamber.

And lightsabres get held two-handed more or less all the time.

Stick with the jacket.

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:That would only be the case if it was held one-handed. When gripped two-handed, one hand would go over the crystal chamber.

And lightsabres get held two-handed more or less all the time.

Stick with the jacket.

I'm thinking two-handed, but the grip is long enough that either way the hands won't be on the jacket. The saber is something like 20 inches long.

If it's 20" long, then from the diagram it looks to be uncomfortably thick, like holding the wrong end of a baseball bat.

Twenty inches is also abnormally long. From a design and comfort point, it would work better if it was the more standard length of 11-13" long and of a standard width, which would also mean that the second hand would go over the crystal chamber.

And stick with the jacket. Also, move the crystal down so it's in the center of the glass bulb: it's badly ballanced the way it is now.

The jacket does have holes in it, so its not like you can't see the inner workings at all. I think it would be cooler if you had to look down into it to see the detail of the crystal and everything, rather than putting it on display with the lantern.

Also, the flimsiness element. If you're holding it below the lantern, that lantern area is going to have some pretty major torque on it in any dueling at all. A latern like that looks like it would just snap off.

I asked him to make me 3 mockups to compare. There's the lantern, the original jacket with the newer controls and head, and a lantern-jacket combo which also looks kinda cool. You can't see the bulb in the jacket one, but its there. I talked to the guy, and he said that if he does lantern style, you'd definitely have a hand on the glass with a two-hand grip.

I think the lantern one looks best. Perhaps you could give it lighthouse syle prisms instead of flat glass to make it look more substantial.

Edit: or use Slots in the second version instead of holes for the metal shroud.

CaptainChewbacca wrote:

ThatGuyFromThatPlace wrote:I like the lantern look, but you could add an old style lantern shade to it for a little more solidity

Can you find a picture? I'm afraid I don't know what an "old-style shade" would look like.

bleagh. Google has failed me.
Its basically a solid wraparound split into two (or more) parts that can be slid around revealing only a part of the lamp at a time.
You could make one out of mesh too.

I am very much loving #2 right now. The combination of the latern style with the more robust looking mesh screen makes for an all around nifty SteamSabre.

I prefer the second one, the one with the jacket. The first is definately sweet, but if I have to choose it'll be the more robust one.

The combination of metal and glass is just more appealing. Whatever you decide on, they are all extremely awesome--I don't think I can type words that quite express how awesome those look

The middle one is the best.

Go for the middle one. Looks better.

The one in the middle.

I'm going to have to n+1th the second one. The whole lantern thing just looks nicer than the no cover or just mesh ones.

Instead of the one golden ring going around the jacket in the center you could make two rings which are not centerd. By doing that the crystal would be more visible.

Thanks for all your suggestions and advice. I've decided to go with design #2, and see if he can make one or two of the mesh screens open to reveal a glass pane behind it.