Development
This project brought some design challenges with it, as the client wished for the blade to light up and have a 'faceted glass' kind of effect to it. This meant that the entire blade needed to be created using translucent materials, which also meant that any seams and internal support structures could potentially be visible - especially when the LEDs are lit.
For the 'faceted glass' part of the client spec, I modelled the design to have both internal and external angular sections, with the hope of them catching both external and internal lighting and provide the appropriate look.
For the seams, I decided to utilise the look I had created for the glass facets, and lean into them with angled seamed sections, with the hope that these would allow the seams to be less obvious and blend into the rest of the design. By all accounts, the client was incredibly pleased with the result, which is all I could hope for!
As with many of my projects, I used a high-quality rechargeable 18650 battery to power the long string of 5050 neopixel LEDs. A USB-C port is stealthily placed to allow for recharging the cell, and a small switch for power control. Overall, a pretty tidy build.
Gallery
